Vikrant Massey and Kriti Kharbanda welcomed the audience to their world of double wedding and double dhamaka today in Zee 5’s release 14 Phere. The Devanshu Singh directorial tells the story of a couple, Sanjay and Aditi, played by Vikrant and Kriti respectively, who lie to their parents about each other’s families to get them to approve their marriage. The film also features Gauahar Khan and Jameel Khan.
Kriti was to start the shooting of the film in the first week of November 2020 when she suddenly caught the Malaria virus and had to undergo treatment. Consequently, the shoot of the film had to be pushed a little too, but the actress recovered soon and joined the shoot by November end. Talking about that situation, Kriti shares, “If it had been a film that I didn’t enjoy or I didn’t like the company of the people around me, it would have been very difficult.”
Kriti insists that the effect of the malaria was not just on her physically, but mentally too. “I knew that I was physically very weak and mentally very under confident. It did take a toll on my skin, hair and weight in more ways than one. I started feeling not like myself and didn’t feel good, looking into the mirror,” she shares.
Then, it was her co-star and director who took the onus to make her feel like herself again. “Both Vikrant and Devanshu caught up on that, and every morning when I would walk on to the set, they would shower me with compliments that I knew were coming from the heart. But I also knew that they were trying to tell me that they were seeing something in me that I wasn’t, so I shouldn’t worry about it. So, I feel grateful that I got to work with this team and they actually helped me in my mental recovery,” she smiles.
Image source: SpotboyE archives, Instagram/kriti.kharbanda