Hemal Dev is an actress in the South and Marathi Entertainment industry. She is quite active on Instagram and will be making her Hindi TV debut with Star Plus upcoming show ‘Vidrohi’ based on the life of a Freedom Fighter and a Warrior Princess. Hemal plays a Warrior Princess in the show and has done a lot of preparation for the same.
Tell us something about your character in the show ‘Vidrohi’?
The character I play, Princess Kalyani, is a very ahead of her time kind of woman and that is what I love the most about her. In the 1800s, when women did not even have access to basic rights, Kalyani being fearless, self-dared to speak her mind no matter what! She was brought up that way and was an extremely confident woman. She will fight for the right thing and not shy away from taking the correct decisions even
if that means going against her code or the society for that matter. I think that is the most important characteristic of Kalyani that has inspired me to a great extent and it makes me aspire to be more like her.
Tell us about the various preparations that you have done for your character?
A lot of preparations went into bringing Kalyani to life. I had to take up some extensive training in sword fighting and I was also introduced to the skill of horseback riding. A lot of work went behind developing my body language for the character. Sword fighting also helped me do so in many ways. I had to take up Hindi diction coaching classes as well because the Hindi that we speak on the show is very authentic to its time and complete justice to it had to be done. So yes, a lot was done to prepare for this role.
Tell us about your look / costumes for this show?
The look that we have gone for in terms of costumes for Kalyani is extremely stylized but at the same time it is very true to its time and where she comes from, that is, Odisha. A lot of research was conducted to create the perfect look for Kalyani. It is strong yet has a feminine touch. It is quite royal too of course as she is a ‘Rajkumari’. All in all, the look is a dream, come true as every girl dreams of becoming a princess
one day and I am living that dream.
Tell us about the bond you share with your co-star Sharad Malhotra?
The bond I share with Sharad is tremendously special to me as I had never imagined I would be able to call him a friend someday. It was extremely nerve-wracking to meet him for the first time as he is such a huge star and I honestly did not think he would be as friendly as he has been. He is one of the sweetest people that I have ever met and I mean that with all my heart. He genuinely tries to make sure that everyone around him is comfortable and due to that, it helps us perform better by not letting the barrier between a star and a newbie be of any issue. I would like to give him all the credit for making me feel so comfortable on the sets so I could efficiently perform, leaving aside my nervousness. So kudos to him for that!
Have you taken any particular inspiration for your character? If yes, then tell us why and how has it helped you portray your character?
Before beginning to shoot for the show, I had watched a lot of ‘Mulan’ which is a Disney movie. I watched it because the protagonist Mulan, is a female warrior character and I really wanted to get my body language right, so in a way yes, I have taken some inspiration from that character if not a lot.
Have you shot any outdoor sequences for your show?
Yes, we have shot a couple of outdoor sequences. Unfortunately, cannot reveal the names of the locations we shot at, but we have been shooting in a few forests here and there. The storyline is not just drama, so it is unlikely for all the shoots to happen indoors. There are a lot of things that happen outdoors as well. I cannot reveal much but I am sure the audience is going to be super thrilled when they see the kind of sequences that we have shot.