Bizarre! Why Shabana Tried To Remove Jyotika From Dabba Cartel

‘It’s
really
creditable
to
these
guys
who
said,
“You
can
do
what
you
want.
We
are
not
going
to
replace
her”.’

Shabana
Azmi
feels
that
the
growing
prominence
of
casting
directors
in
the
Hindi
film
industry
has
led
to
a
sea
of
change,
allowing
more
‘fascinating
faces’
to
be
cast
in
authentic
roles.

The
actor,
who
completed
five
decades
in
cinema
last
year,
was
speaking
at
the
trailer
launch
event
of
her
Netflix
thriller
drama
series

Dabba
Cartel,
co-starring
Nimisha
Sajayan,
Shalini
Pandey,
Anjali
Anand,
Gajraj
Rao,
Sai
Tamhankar,
Jisshu
Sengupta,
Lillete
Dubey
and
Bhupendra
Singh
Jadawat.

Directed
by
Hitesh
Bhatia,
the
show
follows
five
ordinary
women
and
how
their
low-key

dabba
service
spirals
into
an
unexpected
venture:
A
high-stakes
drug
delivery
operation.

Asked
what
changes
she
had
seen
in
her
50-year
career
in
films,
Azmi
said,
“For
me,
the
advent
of
the
casting
director
has
brought
a
huge
change.
Look
what
the
casting
director
has
done!
They
have
freed
Hindi
cinema
from
stock
characters.

“So
we
have
got
the
most
fascinating
faces
which
are
authentic.
And
what
that
does
to
mainstream
actors
is
when
you
are
surrounded
by
authentic
characters,
you
start
sort
of
pulling
up
your
socks.”

Shabana
also
feels
that
a
more
realistic
portrayal
of
characters
is
a
welcome
change.

“One
of
my
favourite
examples
is
Rishi
Kapoor
in

Karz.
It
was
such
a
huge
hit,”
she
says.

“But
you
can
see
that
he’s
not
playing
the
guitar,
he’s
just
drumming
it.
He’s
not
doing
anything
with
the
chords.
Today,
it
is
impossible.
I
don’t
think
any
actor
could
get
away
and
I
don’t
think
that
any
actor
would
think
it
is
okay.

“The
actor
would
take
on
the
challenge
and
learn.
This
in
itself
is
growth
of
actors
all
around.
Also,
the
fact
that
we
are
now
taking
many
more
interesting
faces
and
that
the
stories
don’t
have
to
be
only
about
a
pretty
boy
and
a
pretty
girl,
that’s
brought
a
huge
change
for
men
and
for
women,”
she
adds.

Shabana
feels
grateful
for
still
being
able
to
do
the
kind
of
work
she
enjoys
doing.

“I
happened
to
be
at
the
right
place
at
the
right
time.
The
fact
that
I’m
working
with
younger
actors
who
are
bringing
in
completely
different
sensibilities
from
mine
is
always
exciting,”
she
says.

“Most
of
the
young
actors
come
with
trepidation
that,
‘What
will
happen
next?’
They
realise
soon
that
there’s
nothing
like
that
and
they
become
so
comfortable
that
I
have
to
remind
them,
‘I’m
your
senior,
behave
yourself’,”
she
quips.

Watch:
Shabana’s

dhamakedaar
dialogue
from

Dabba
Cartel

Set
in
Thane,
which
adjoins
Mumbai,

Dabba
Cartel
marks
the
first
series
collaboration
between
Netflix
and
Excel
Entertainment.

Working
on

Dabba
Cartel
was
a
“ghar
ka
maamla”
for
Shabana
as
the
show
is
co-produced
by
stepson
Farhan
Akhtar
and
created
by
his
wife
Shibani
Akhtar.

“Dekhiye,
ghar
ka
maamla
hai.
Bahu
ne
hukum
diya,
beta
produce

kar
raha
tha.
Meri
aukaat
main
naa
bolun??
she
asked.

At
the
event,
she
said
she
tried
to
remove
South
star
Jyotika,
who
also
stars
in

Dabba
Cartel
from
the
series
but
the
producers
stuck
to
their
guns.

“I
have
to
make
a
confession.
I
tried
to
remove
two
girls
from
this
(show).
One
is
Jyotika.
She
doesn’t
know
this
but
I
said
this.

“It’s
really
creditable
to
these
guys
who
said,
‘You
can
do
what
you
want.
We
are
not
going
to
replace
her.’
And
I
am
grateful
that
you
(pointing
to
Jyotika)
played
it.
It
was
my
mistake.
It
would
have
robbed
me
of
the
pleasure
of
working
with
you,”
she
says.

Watch:
Why
Shabana
wanted
to
remove
Jyotika

Watch:
The
reason
Jyotika
could
not
say
no
to
this
show 

Written
by
Vishnu
Menon
and
Bhavna
Kher,

Dabba
Cartel
will
premiere
on
Netflix
on
February
28.