‘The chemistry came very naturally; we didn’t have to try too hard. It was there already and it just flowed. It was effortless.’
IMAGE: Tamannaah Bhatia and Diana Penty at the Do You Wanna Partner trailer launch. Photograph: Hemantkumar Shivsharan/Rediff
Tamannaah Bhatia and Diana Penty form the ultimate girl squad in their first outing together in the streaming show Do You Wanna Partner, produced by Karan Johar’s Dharmatic Entertainment.
They play besties Shikha and Anahita, who turn into boss ladies with the ambitious idea of launching a liquor brand.
At the trailer launch event in Mumbai on Friday, the actors showed that their camaraderie off camera is just as special.
IMAGE: Tamannaah and Diana at the Do You Wanna Partner trailer launch. Photograph: Hemantkumar Shivsharan/Rediff
Tamannaah and Diana appeared on stage hand-in-hand, struck poses together and like true besties, didn’t miss a chance to pull each other’s leg.
“The chemistry came very naturally; we didn’t have to try too hard. It was there already and it just flowed. It was effortless,” Diana said about her on-set equation with Tamannaah.
Diana’s statement came with a warning for her co-star: “You better say the same thing.”
“Main pol khol dungi tumhari, haan! (I will expose you, okay),” came Tamannaah’s sassy reply.
SEE: Tamannaah Bhatia’s first acting teacher becomes her co-star. Find out who that is.
Video: Afsar Dayatar/Rediff
“I have some wonderful female friendships in my life, and Diana is very much a part of it. We also hang out without work. It’s important for two actors to have that chemistry in a show like this, and she was there for me throughout. She supported me on days which were very, very hard,” Tamannaah said.
Talking about the genesis of the show, Tamannaah credited her “immensely talented” director duo Archit Kumar and Collin D’Cunha (Call Me Bae) and said they wanted to make a show about how “strong women” are made.
“In the first 10 years of my career, people said I should do bubby characters. I played those characters during that phase. Then for next 10 years, they said I should play strong women. Then Archit came and said: ‘Can we actually show how powerful strong women are made? Let’s make a show on that. The journey of how powerful women are actually made,” she said.
IMAGE: Tamannaah, Shweta Tiwari and Diana at the Do You Wanna Partner trailer launch. Photograph: Hemantkumar Shivsharan/Rediff
Besides Tamannaah and Diana, Do You Wanna Partner also stars Jaaved Jaaferi, Nakuul Mehta, Neeraj Kabi and Shweta Tiwari in a never-seen-before gangster avatar.
WATCH: How Tamannaah helped Shweta Tiwari mouth ‘gandi gaali‘
Video: Afsar Dayatar/Rediff
“This show truly celebrates behenhood. We have seen a lot of bromance on screen. We have also seen a lot of love stories. But a show based on sisterhood is rare. As a woman, I always wanted to see strong female friendships and this show has so much of that.”
WATCH: Why’s Tamannaah talking about pizza?
Video: Afsar Dayatar/Rediff
“After seeing this show, people will think why they didn’t give interesting characters to Diana. She has performed like such a superstar! As an actor, I was blown away by her performance,” Tamannaah said.
IMAGE: Tamannaah and Diana at the Do You Wanna Partner trailer launch. Photograph: Hemantkumar Shivsharan/Rediff
“There’s so much emphasis on being a pretty face, but she is so much more than that. I have seen her giving her heart and soul to this character. For me, she will always be my Annie boo.”
A visibly overwhelmed Diana gently held Tamannaah’s hand and whispered, “Thank you.”
IMAGE: Team Do You Wanna Partner at the trailer launch. Photograph: Hemantkumar Shivsharan/Rediff
Do You Wanna Partner will stream on Amazon Prime Video from September 12.
