There is a sense of pride in Gitikka Ganju Dhar’s voice when she speaks about Dhurandhar. The actor plays Shabnam Jamali, a Pakistani politician’s wife in the espionage thriller. Stepping onto a set populated by Ranveer Singh, Sanjay Dutt, Akshaye Khanna, R Madhavan, and Arjun Rampal can be both intimidating and inspiring. Yet, she feels differently. “The biggest star for me was the film’s director Aditya Dhar. We are both Kashmiri Pandits, and I keep telling him how proud we all are, as a community, of his craft as a director,” she says.

(L-R) Gitikka Ganju Dhar with Rakesh Bedi in the film