“I have always chosen my projects based on the team”: Ridhi Dogra

Mumbai| Lakadbaggha, India’s first film about an animal vigilante starring Anshuman Jha, Ridhi Dogra, and Milind Soman, will be released this winter. The film marks popular television star Ridhi Dogra’s Bollywood debut and is a unique action film focusing on hand-to-hand combat techniques. The first trailer for the film, which stars Anshuman Jha, Ridhi Dogra, Paresh Pahuja, and Milind Soman, has a pop vibe to it.

The plot revolves around an ordinary boy on an extraordinary mission: to combat the illegal animal trade industry. Arjun Bakshi, an animal-loving vigilante, discovers an underground illegal animal trade cell operating from Kolkata port while attempting to protect his adopted Indian stray dogs. He discovers a rare species of Indian Striped Hyena (Lakadbaggha) that has been kidnapped from Corbett National Park and is being sold on the black market while investigating. The film aims to spark discussions about sensitive topics such as encouraging Indian breed adoption among dogs, illegal animal trading, animal poaching, and having a voice for our (p)awesome friends.

Ridhi, who has been making waves on TV & the Web, is making her Bollywood debut with the movie. “This film is special at many levels. At the heart of it is the story. Not every day you see a film that has a good mix of content with masala. This film dwells on the plight of animals and their welfare. Those instantly made me want to do it as my bollywood debut. The second thing was the action and the character I got to play. At this point perhaps I can’t say much, but I will say – I definitely wanted to do something different than the characters I’ve played on the web – for a first film and this film and my part in it gave me that experience. I have always chosen my projects based on the team. Anshuman’s choice and his passion for animals & the stellar international team at work, I wanted to be a part of the story from the very first reading.  Anshuman is just so clear and incredibly planned in how he wanted to take the process of the film – his precision & clarity is a joy as an actor for me & rubs off on the team.”