Arshad Warsi on Durgamati: I wish it released in theatres

Murtuza Iqbal

Arshad Warsi will next be seen in Durgamati which is slated to release on Amazon Prime Video on 11^th December 2020. It is a horror film and stars Bhumi Pednekar in the lead role.

We recently interacted with Arshad and asked him if he feels that the impact of the film would have been better if it released in theatres, the actor said, “100 percent, there’s no doubt in that. A film like this, especially a horror genre, you need to see it in a theatre where it’s pitch-dark, sound effects are there, and special effects are there. The film is in its glory and that’s the way to see a horror film, otherwise, it dilutes the effect that the director is trying to show in the film. So yes, I wish it released in theatres, people would have enjoyed it much more.”

Durgamati is a remake of Bhaagamathie, and Arshad told us that he saw the Telugu film after wrapping up the shoot of the remake. The character Arshad is playing in the Hindi remake was portrayed by Jayaram in the original Telugu film.

When we asked Arshad, if he feels any pressure about comparisons with Jayaram, the actor said, “Comparisons are always going to happen, it’s bound to happen. That’s one of the reasons I didn’t want to see it (Bhaagamathie) because I knew if I see it somewhere I will be influenced. I have done it the way I would have done it. I just did my job. So, my fear more than anything is that I just hope I have not done a terrible job that’s all I am worried about. I just hope I have done a decent job that people say ‘he didn’t embarrass us, he did a good job. Jayaram was brilliant and Arshad was not bad’. That’s it, I am not competing with anybody and I don’t want to compete with anybody.”

Directed by Ashok, Durgamati also stars Mahie Gill and Jisshu Sengupta.