Diana Penty pairs up with Diljit Dosanjh, who plays Detective Sherdil, to solve an eponymous murder mystery that dropped on Zee5 on Friday. The former model, who has successfully transitioned into acting, opens up on the film and her career.

Congratulations must still be pouring in for Chhava. How does it feel to be a part of the highest-grossing film of the year so far?

It feels very, very special. I know that I had a small part to play, but whenever a film does well, it’s great for everybody that was a part of it, you know; it just becomes a really special memory. And I couldn’t be more grateful to have been a part of it, and to have gotten to play the character that I did, a Mughal princess, which was different for me and to represent a small part of history. She didn’t have a lot of dialogues. The silences can be more difficult for an actor. And I wanted to take that as a challenge. Overall, it was a great experience.

Your long modelling career must be something that you look back to with a lot of pride.

I do, and honestly, I have to credit my modelling career to where I am today, because if I hadn’t been a model, I would probably not have had the opportunity to be an actor, because I don’t think people would have noticed me. I think that, at least in our industry, modelling is a stepping stone to joining the film industry.

You delayed your entry to films because you wanted to prioritise modelling. Weren’t you offered the role of Nargis Fakhri in Rockstar?

It’s not as simple as that. It’s actually a much longer story. (Director) Imtiaz Ali was looking for a new girl for Rockstar, and he had seen me in a TV commercial. We met but he and I were both very aware of the fact that I had no acting background or formal training as such, and he was getting into filming very soon. So it’s not like there was a lot of prep time. He put me through a few workshops and said: “Let’s see how it goes”.

We did a couple of weeks of acting workshops and theatre exercises and voice modulation and all of that. But he felt, and I completely agreed, that I was not ready. I was very shy and introverted at the time.

Diljit Dosanjh and Diana Penty in Detective Sherdil on Zee5

That didn’t show when you were on the ramp!

Yeah, but in person, I’m an introvert. Now I’ve opened up a lot and gotten a lot more confident. But when I started out, in my late teens and early 20s, I was very shy. The character he was looking at was a loud, outspoken, bindaas kind. It scared me to even think about how I was going to be able to pull off something like that. And I think he realised that as well.

You made an impactful debut with Cocktail.

It was, again, a matter of being at the right place at the right time, and just being patient. That happened a year later. (Producer) Dinesh Vijan and (director) Homi Adajania were looking to cast a new girl for Cocktail, which coincidentally was written by Imtiaz Ali. And I think Imtiaz had kept me in mind since Rockstar. I think he suggested my name for the character of Meera.

Coming to your latest venture, Detective Sherdil, how would you describe your character of Natasha?

Natasha is a very good detective — very no-nonsense, practical person, and a little serious.

Diana Penty

There is a lot of tension between her and Sherdil towards the start. Is there some history between them?

Yeah. I don’t think they’ve gone into details in the script but it’s quite evident that there was some history, and they don’t quite get along well. That adds to the humour of the film.

The plot is set in Budapest. Is that where you actually shot it?

Yes, yes. We shot everything in Budapest. We did a 45-day schedule there in the middle of COVID.

What kind of challenges did you face?

At that time, Hungary was one of the few countries that was fairly open. Their Covid cases were very, very low. So there were no restrictions as such. It was very conducive to shooting and many other films were being shot there, even Hollywood films. So we were able to shoot without stress or quarantining.

You had senior actors in your cast like Boman Irani and Ratna Pathak Shah. How was the experience?

I’ve known Boman Sir for many years. In fact, we’ve worked together in my first film. I’ve known him since my growing-up years. It’s always great to shoot with people that you’ve known and are comfortable with. And Ratna ma’am is also so good at what she does! There was so much to learn just being on set with them. We became friends. Our WhatsApp group still exists. We’d make plans to meet every evening, go to a new restaurant, try out some new bars... and we’d make a plan on the WhatsApp group. Everybody would meet in the lobby, and then we’d do some research, find all the good restaurants to eat at in Budapest. It was really, really fun.

Can you tell us a bit about the storyline?

It’s a whodunnit murder mystery, and I obviously can’t give out too many details, but it is definitely one of those films that keeps you engrossed to the end.

Was the mansion an actual building?

We did shoot in a real mansion. We also shot in one of their well-known public libraries. We did a whole scene in there for a few days. We shot outdoors, we shot in an apartment… multiple locations, actually.

Was this your first work with Diljit Dosanjh? How did he come across?

It was, yes. He seems to be successful in everything he does. Everything he touches turns to gold. We met for the first time in Budapest a day before the first day of the shoot, when we did a kind of reading. And he was lovely. I didn’t know what to expect. But he turned out to be a down-to-earth guy, very respectful, polite, soft-spoken. He seems like an introvert. He made everyone on set very comfortable. And what I liked most is that he was very non-interfering in other people’s work. He would just come there, do his scenes. He never once interfered with the director or said: “No, this should be like this.” He was very respectful of everybody.

And finally, what comes next from you?

I have my debut OTT series releasing towards the end of this year. So I’m really looking forward to that. But I can’t mention much at this point.

What about your film with Amitabh Bachchan? When will Section 84 release?

Hopefully, it will release soon. For me, being able to work with Mr. Bachchan and to play his daughter was just like a dream coming true, For some reason, every time I imagined doing a film with Mr. Bachchan — it’s everyone’s dream to work with him — the first thing that would always come to my mind is I wanted to play his daughter. And it was bizarre that it actually happened, and I was able to do that in my first film with him. We finished the film in 2024 and I’m very much looking forward to its release.