Actress Samara Tijori said playing a serial killer in the new series Daldal fulfilled a long-held fascination with the criminal mind. Samara, daughter of 1990s star Deepak Tijori, said she once aspired to become a criminologist and spent years reading about serial killers and criminal psychology.

“I wanted to be a criminologist, before I wanted to act. I did a lot of reading about serial killers. I have read Mindhunter, Sexual Homicide and a lot of these books. When I got this audition, I thought, ‘This is it, all your studying is finally going to come together here.' I was sold, and I left that audition thinking I better get this,” the actress told PTI in an interview.

Daldal premiered on Prime Video on Friday. In the series, she plays Anita Acharya, a journalist who is later revealed to be a serial killer. The character is driven by childhood trauma and abuse, and targets abusers along with her friend Sajid (Aditya Rawal).

The series is based on author Vish Dhamija’s bestselling novel Bhendi Bazaar and stars Bhumi Pednekar as DCP Rita Ferreira.

Describing the audition process as unconventional, Samara said she was asked to answer basic questions while staying in character. “They asked me, ‘What is your name, what do you do’, and I had to answer those questions as Anita, which was mind blowing. It just went on and on, they said at some point you have to get angry too,” she said.

After waiting for a month, Samara said she was overwhelmed when she learnt she had been selected for the role. “I was at a cafe with a friend, and they said, ‘It's done.' I put my phone down, looked at my friend and started crying,” she recalled.

Samara made her acting debut in the 2021 film Bob Biswas, starring Abhishek Bachchan. Before acting, Samara worked behind the camera as an assistant director on films such as Dishoom and Bhoot: Part One – The Haunted Ship.

Daldal has been developed by filmmaker Suresh Triveni, known for Tumhari Sulu and Jalsa, and is produced by Vikram Malhotra of Abundantia Entertainment along with Triveni. The series is directed by Amrit Raj Gupta.