KILLer instinct

Sheetal

Ever since the announcement of the strategic marriage of Karan Johar’s Dharma Productions and Guneet Monga’s Sikhya Entertainment to dish out entertaining content, people have been excited. While very few had the opportunity to view their first film in partnership, Kill, during its premier at Toronto International Film Festival (TIFF) in September, 2023, it’s now releasing in theatres in India on July 5.

Hailed at TIFF, it went on to win first runner-up for People’s Choice Award: Midnight Madness, which only added to the buzz surrounding the film. It’s also the first Hindi film for which Hollywood studio purchased the distribution rights in US and United Kingdom. As the lead star-cast of Kill — Lakshya Lalwani, Raghav Juyal and Tanya Maniktala — landed in Chandigarh for the film’s premiere ahead of theatrical release, they called working in the film as a golden opportunity, especially when three big names — Dharma, Sikhya and Lionsgate Studios — were associated with it.

Young guns

Dressed in black, the three young and dashing actors were in sync, wearing matching t-shirts with the word kill inscribed on them in Hindi. Lalwani and Tanya play the love birds, Amrit and Tulika, respectively. While travelling in train, an unfortunate run-in with bandits, led by Fani (played by Raghav Juyal), and threat to Tulika’s life, makes Amrit unleash havoc! Lalwani has transformed physically and trained in martial arts for nine months to essay a NSG officer. He shared, “I have done six years of television and consciously took a sabbatical to do films. In between I got an opportunity to do Dostana 2, but it didn’t go well and then another film that I had signed got shelved. So, when I got Kill, there was no option but to work hard. The reaction of the crowd in Chandigarh has been amazing.”

Apart from Hollywood-level stunt choreography, the angry face of Lalwani in the film has been greatly appreciated. He said, “I have been working for the past 10 years in Mumbai. Life has not been entirely fair to me, but that’s the case with every other person. So the anger keeps on increasing and when you get the chance to let out through a right medium, you do it.”

The way up

About the three big collaborators, Raghav added, “It’s a huge thing for me. I had travelled in a train from a village in Uttarakhand to work in Mumbai with very little money. I worked really hard, did many odd jobs to survive. I came to here to become a dancer, but everything that I am getting is a bonus for me.”

As for Tanya, she shared, “Our writer-director, Nikhil Nagesh Bhat, faced a similar incident in his life and the story is based on it.”

For Raghav, the transformation for his character, Fani, was challenging in a different way. “More than physical transformation that many have witnessed in the trailer, it’s the psychological journey to become an unpredictable bandit like Fani that was challenging. It took me around two months to catch the rhythm of my character.”

Raghav had no qualms about playing a negative character at such an initial stage of his career. Answering in Punjabi, he said, “Mainu bahut changa lagda haiga negative character karna (I really love to do grey shade characters). It’s because you get a lot of things. It’s not a straight line, there’s a lot of space to work around.”

Word of advice

From a reality show participant to the host of a dance reality show to an actor, Raghav’s journey has been phenomenal. As for budding artistes, his advice is, “Please learn and enrol in a course. If you think you have many followers, it won’t suddenly make you an actor or earn you roles in films. To become an actor, you have to watch plays, act in them, and do things that enhance your skills in the craft. Also travel in local and public transport, as you will meet many people and you can learn a lot by observing them.”

Fun banter

Raghav Juyal, while summing up the fun they had during shooting, remarked, “Majedaar tha… meine jo isko (Tanya Maniktala) train se fenka …” To which Lakshya Lalwani added, “Aur fir jo mein isko (Raghav) peeta…” Raghav also mouthed his dialogue from the trailer — abe aise kaun marta hai be — and the audience went gaga over his lingual skills.

To pull off authentic scenes of pure action and violence, Lalwani got bouts of anger recalling all those faces who were unfair to him. “Un sab chehron ko yaad kiya jinhone mere sath anyay kiya tha,” he laughed.