Exclusive: Akshay Kumar made sure we all ate and played together- Sadia Khateeb on her Raksha Bandhan cast being like a family

Sadia Khateeb is currently on a promotional spree for her upcoming film Raksha Bandhan wherein she plays Akshay Kumar ’s younger sister. In an exclusive interview with Desimartini, the actress spoke about bonding with the star cast of the movie and working with Aanand L Rai . The actress furthermore explained whether her debut film Shikara embroiled in a controversy affected her stepping stones in showbiz.

Speaking about her fond BTS memories with the Raksha Bandhan star cast, Sadia Khateeb said, “When it comes to the 'looking like a real family' the credit goes to the casting and the director. But when it comes to the bond, we spent a lot of time together and we chill a lot even now. We all used to have lunch together, the four of us (sisters in the movie), Akshay (Kumar) Sir, Bhumi (Pednekar) , Aanand (L Rai). We played so many games together and Sir (Akshay Kumar) used to make sure we had lunch and played games together.”

Sadia praised Raksha Bandhan director Aanand L Rai saying that the filmmaker works straight from his heart. Sadia Khateeb said, “Amazing. I mean it was a great experience completely. Aanand Sir makes films straight from his heart and while working with him, I got to learn so much. Whatever he does, he does it Dil Se! I loved the entire experience working with him.”

Meanwhile, for the unversed, Sadia Khateeb’s debut film Shikara (2020) which revolved around a love story against the genocide of the Kashmiri Pandits in 1990 was embroiled in a controversy post its release. However, Sadia clarified that the pause taken by her between her first and second project was not because of the fiasco but instead due to the pandemic. Khateeb added, “I didn't take a break because COVID-19 struck right after Shikara released in February 2020. It was not the controversial aspect of Shikara instead, it was COVID-19. The entire film industry was closed for these two years and then during the second lockdown, I shot for this film (Raksha Bandhan) after which it took one year to come out. So I don't look at that phase as a break.”

Sadia furthermore listed down the factors that play an essential role in her selecting a project. The actress said, “It's very simple, you know the project should just touch my heart. When I read Shikara, I knew I had to do this film and when I read Raksha Bandhan, I was genuinely having a lot of fun. The project should give me goosebumps and if it’s not giving me goosebumps, I know I'm not going to like it. I judge my scripts on the basis of goosebumps.” Sadia expressed her desire to collaborate with Karan Johar and Shah Rukh Khan in the future. Talking about Raksha Bandhan, the movie will be released on August 11, 2022.