Nearly two decades after Indra Kumar launched the Dhamaal franchise, Dhamaal 4 returned with its signature chaos. Ajay Devgn, Riteish Deshmukh, Arshad Warsi and Jaaved Jaaferi reprised their roles, with Sanjeeda Shaikh joining the new cast.
Sanjeeda, who explored both comedy and action in Dhamaal 4, said the role helped her break away from her 'serious actor' image. Before this film, she was last seen in Sanjay Leela Bhansali’s intense period drama Heeramandi.
In a conversation with Hindustan Times, Shaikh said, "Dhamaal 4 happened to me because Indra sir (director Indra Kumar) called me, and he met me after watching 'Heeramandi'. And unka pehla sawal tha ki 'Aap toh bahut serious actress hain (You are a very serious actress),' because Heeramandi was very serious."
Sanjeeda said she asked the filmmaker to give her a shot at proving her comic timing. "I sat with him and I think he heard me laughing and I laugh like a man so he said, 'Okay, this is fine," she said.
Sanjeeda Shaikh revealed that she was told Dhamaal 4 would involve comedy, but ended up performing several action sequences. She joked that while Ajay Devgn handled the comedy, she was busy doing the action.
She said, "In all my scenes, if you've seen, there is action involved. Toh mujhe actually ullu banaya gaya, mujhe bola gaya tha ki comedy karni hai lekin mujhe action karwaya gaya. (I was actually fooled; I was told I had to do comedy, but they made me do action)."
Sanjeeda further added, "Main sach se boloongi. Ajay Devgn set pe hain aur mujhse saare action sequences karwaye ja rahe hain (Ajay Devgn is on set, and I am doing all the action scenes). It had just become a joke on set."