Divya Khosla Kumar and Yash Daasgupta on Yaariyan 2, Their Roles, and Working with Vinay Sapru and Radhika Rao

The romantic Malayalam play Bangalore Days is the inspiration for Yaariyan 2, the spiritual successor to the 2014 movie Yaariyan, which hits theaters on October 20. Laadli, portrayed by Divya Khosla Kumar, who also directed the first movie, has an enduring friendship with her cousins Meezaan Jafri and Pearl V. Puri. With the musical, Tollywood star Yash Daasgupta makes his Bolly debut.

Divya visited Calcutta last week to promote the movie, and Yash hosted her while she was there. The two were interviewed by t2 at Refinery 091 in Sector V, Salt Lake, about Yaariyan 2 (a Durga Puja release) and other topics.

Divya, Over the last two days, Yash has given you a good overview of Calcutta. How was your experience, exactly?

Divya Khosla Kumar: I really like it! We visited the Kali temple (Kalighat), where I could truly sense the clean energies. We also visited Howrah Bridge and Princep Ghat, which are both magnificent and lovely.

And what have you so far enjoyed about Calcutta cuisine?

Divya: In my hotel, I've largely eaten Bengali cuisine.
She did consume some Bengali delicacies, said Yash Daasgupta. Rosogolla was baked by her. She had cooked rosogolla, which she liked, but she was genuinely craving mishti doi.
Divya: It blew me away! Even though I don't have a sweet craving, that baked rosogolla was delicious!

What has the reaction to the teaser been like for Yaariyan 2 so far?

Divya: The reception to the film's promotion in Mumbai and Jaipur has been overwhelmingly enthusiastic. Everyone will be able to connect to the film's theme of human interactions, which is its beauty. The relationship between the cousins—Meezaan Jafri and Pearl V. Puri portray Laadli, Divya's cousins—begins the scene. Usually, our first and closest pals are our cousins. However, as we become older, we form new friendships and connections, and things with our cousins change.
Yash: You essentially get married! (Laughs)
Divya: That's how it works; my character marries Yash's character, and then our romance begins. Yaariyan, which may refer to any sort of relationship, is the word for friendship.
Yash: The film's soundtrack serves as its foundation and will help it to connect with viewers. A genuine musical movie is finally coming out after a long wait. The movie has eight songs. So yet, just two have been issued, and both have become popular. Each song has its own distinctive flavor. My favorite song so far is Saanson ki Mala, but I'm also eagerly awaiting the release of Sunny Sunny.

What part did cousins play in your life as a child?

Divya: I remember playing with my cousins very well. Our favorite game was chhupan chhupai (hide and seek). We were a close-knit group. We still have a family WhatsApp group, but as you get older, the kind of intimacy you formerly had tends to fade.
Yash: I don't have any brothers or sisters, and neither do I have any cousins. Because to my father's transferrable employment, we often changed places. I'm relieved that I wasn't required to portray the cousin in this movie. (Laughs)

How closely do you identify with the roles you play?

Yash: I believe I can respond to this query for Divya as well. I believe that Laadli was motivated by Divya's real-life persona. like the way she speaks and acts... I often saw how during a take, one of our directors—Radhika Rao or Vinay Sapru—would say to her, "Divya, tum jaise uss din baat kar rahi thi waisa shot chahiye."
Divya: He is accurate. Actually, that's the real me on the screen! (Laughs)
Yash: I feel that my persona, Abhay, is like wine. The viewers will grow to like him even more as he develops during the movie. He has a variety of hues, and he also has an unexpected quality. I have a good feeling that the audience will get emotionally immersed in the problems in the Abhay-Laadli marriage and the emotions that result from them.

I did connect with Abhay on a lot of levels. The directors also put a lot of effort into our job. They wanted us to keep shooting until they discovered perfection in every shot, which often meant 25 or 30 takes. I thus had enough of time to embody Abhay and comprehend him.
Radhika and Vinay are really strict taskmasters, and occasionally we would wind up filming for 30 hours straight, according to Divya. We would arrive on stage unsure of when to leave (laughs). Even when we had a fever, we would shoot.
They never truly enabled me to leave my identity as Abhay, Yash says.

What acting lessons did you each take away?

Divya provides some entertainment, but in a positive manner, says Yash (smiling). She is silly and hilarious. I tend to be quite serious, but she would sometimes say something that would make everyone laugh and instantly lighten the mood after a hard day of shooting. She also put on the producer's hat and did a great job managing a lot of other things on site. And throughout, she stayed true to her persona.
Divya: Since I played the part! (Both chuckle)
Divya manages everything well, and women are always better multitaskers than males, according to Yash.
Divya: Yash is a really serious and devoted person. He is also a highly skilled actor and a diligent professional. He taught me a lot of things.

Yaariyan was directed by you, Divya. Was directing Yaariyan 2 never intended to happen?

Divya: I simply want to focus on acting right now. I would want to direct again since it brings me so much creative delight, but that will happen later, not right now.

Do you find it difficult to control your directing impulses while you're an actor on set?

Divya: After doing both, I can categorically state that directing is far more difficult than performing. Being a director puts a lot of mental strain on you since you are in charge of the whole organization and must often manage all departments at once. I'm content right now to be an actress.

What was it like working with Vinay Sapru and Radhika Rao, who are renowned for the emotive frames they add to their movies and music videos?

They are quite picky about everything, Divya. They even sat through a handful of the hundreds of different outfits I wore for the movie with me. True perfectionists, they are. People often comment on how I seem in the movie. There has been a great deal of effort... Although I am attractive, the clothes and hairstyles have taken a lot of work. I will always appreciate how brilliantly they captured me on camera.

They had also acted as my directors for (the song video) Yaad piya ki aane lagi, and they did a great job. But Yaariyan 2 is, in my opinion, their finest effort to date. In terms of emotions, the movie is really powerful, but it's also a lot of fun.

Yaariyan 2 was released during Durga Puja, so I'm sure that makes it much more meaningful for you, Yash.

Yes, and I am really anticipating that, Yash. We have massive blockbusters opening virtually every week, so I'm glad we're launching at a time when movies are performing so well in theaters. Bengali cinema was similarly affected by the slump that Hindi films had in theaters since nothing was picking up at that time. We believe Yaariyan 2 will get a lot of affection.

Are you considering Yaariyan 2 as a significant stepping stone to Bollywood, Yash?

Yash: I'm not entirely sure... Simply said, I trust the trip. Although there is a lot of talk about nepotism in Bollywood, working with T-Series was a pretty simple process for me. I'm hoping this movie gives me a lot of opportunities, and producer toh saath mein hi baithi hain! (Laughs)