'No Extra Conversation', Riddhima Pandit on working with Neeraj Pandey

Riddhima Pandit stunned viewers with her limited yet greatly impactful role of Priya Sawant in Netflix’s Sikander Ka Muqadaar. While talking to PopDiaries in an exclusive interview, she revealed a lot about her experience on the set and her career. 

For the film, Riddhima worked with Director Neeraj Pandey, who is known for directing films like Baby, Special 26 and Rustom. When asked about her experience working with Neeraj, she revealed that she was a nervous wreck when she saw him for the first time. She said, “He was so lovely to work with. He is so in his lane, and he makes sure you feel comfortable, and there is no extra conversation. Just to the point, you have a question, you have the freedom to ask directly.” As an experienced actor, she has worked with multiple directors, yet no one is like him.

While talking about the cast, she explained that due to the hopping between multiple shoots, she didn’t get to sit down and interact much, but the experience was nice. Under Neeraj, she claimed to be so focused on her work that she wouldn’t even touch her phone, something that was new to her. 

Riddhima also talked about her no-glam look for Sikander Ka Muqadaar. She said, “I, as an actor, am used to being painted and presented, and I love how Alia Bhatt has changed the whole narrative. She’s made it, ‘the lesser, the better’ since the time she got married to whatever she shoots.” She did agree with being nervous on the first day to see her bare face on camera. But after seeing the end product, she felt a lot more comfortable and was able to focus on her craft more.

Riddhima is known to be always experimenting with her craft and switching platforms and modes, and she said, “I believe as an actor it is very important to keep acting.” Since she had no work for the last six months, she approached her theatre friends to let her act just so she could keep acting. She loves to act, to a point where she is willing to mould herself for any platform so that she can act.

She has a very different ending for her character, Priya Sawat, apart from the one in the film. She said that a lot of her friends approached her, saying that there was a lot of scope for her character. “Towards the ending, we (Avinash’s character) could have had a happy ending, but I personally believe that there’s a reason why a genius like Neeraj Pandey sir have thought across,” she said, claiming she has no problem with how it turned out. However, she wishes her character finds true love in the end.

What’s next for Riddhima, you may ask? Well, she said that she is starring in a Marathi film, her first regional film that is set to release on February 14, 2025, and is a sweet love story. 

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