The first time Pavail Gulati received a congratulatory text from Anurag Kashyap was when he worked on Yudh (2014). Years later, the filmmaker reconnected with him after watching his performance in Zoya Akhtar’s Made in Heaven (2019). “He texted me, saying, ‘I loved you in the show. You deserve bigger and better.’ He asked me to meet him after 10 days,” recounts Gulati. At the time, he had little idea that the meeting would set the stage for the upcoming thriller, Dobaaraa. “I followed up 10 days later, and he texted back at 1.30 am, calling me for a meeting at that hour. He was shooting for Sacred Games 2. I assumed he’d give me a part in it, but then, he told me about Dobaaraa. He said I would play a cop in the film. At the end of the meeting, he said, ‘Lead role hai.’” 

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