MUMBAI: Delnaaz Irani is donning the role of a cop for her new show "Hijack", which will air on Tata Sky Adbhut Kahaniyan. She said that her role is inspired by Rani Mukerji's character in "Mardaani" and also praised her for portraying the role of a police officer with panache.

"Hijack", a crime thriller, will see her essay a cop named Shivani Singh and has been produced in partnership with Shemaroo Entertainment and Sky High Pictures. 

Talking about her character, the "Kya Mast Hai Life" actress said, "My character is inspired by Rani's character in 'Mardaani'. I have seen both the movies, and I think Rani has done a fabulous job. I have always been a huge fan of hers, more so with 'Mardaani'. I have tried to replicate her style, and I have done it how she was in the movie." 

"Even when you think of Rani, you think of a sweet, delicate kind of girl, you do not think of her as a police officer. But she did it. So even with my personality, if Ujjwal and the team thought of me as a cop, I am sure they must have thought of something and I don't think I have disappointed them because there are a lot of people in the team who called me up and said that they are super happy with the character and the episode. The channel is happy, and everything has gone right," she added. 

The actress recently joined the cast of "Choti Sarrdaarni " too, but revealed that "Hijack" was the first show that opened the door to other genres for her. She also accepted that though she was a little nervous, she was happy with the challenging roles coming her way.

"It feels great to be doing a crime thriller for the first time. To be very honest, I was not sure. This is a show produced by a very dear friend of mine called Ujjwal Anand. We did a show together years back, and he started his own production house and he called me one fine day and said that he is doing a crime thriller, so I want you to be like Rani's character in 'Mardaani'," she said. 

"I started laughing and asked him if he was sure. Then he said that if nobody takes this step, then who will. And I am giving this opportunity to prove your mettle. So I was a little nervous, but as an actor, I am waiting for more challenging roles to come my way, so I was extremely happy and I said why not. Honestly, this part came to me before 'Choti Sarrdaarni'. So this show began a new genre for me. That strong-character genre or the cop one, something besides comedy, started with this show," the "Shararat" actress added. 

Well, Delnaaz mentioned that she designed the look of the character herself, and said, "It is a very bold and dabanng character and I even created the look myself. I chose denim with linen shirts of different colours, which would give that kind of look. I tied my hair behind, nothing glamorous about it and I did my make-up. And just gave a very strong tone and spoke the lines in a very different manner." 

Though a lot of negative things happened in the year 2020 starting with the pandemic, career-wise, the actress is in a happy space. She said, "Surprisingly, 2020 has brought in a lot of changes career-wise. After 'Hijack', I got 'Choti Sarrdaarni', and in the show, my role is being appreciated and it's so well-received that I am sure there are going to be a lot of roles coming my way, which are going to be extremely different." 

"As an actor, I am very happy and I thank 2020 for at least making a difference somewhere. I think it's ending on a very good note, at least for me. I am super happy that this year has brought a lot of happiness towards the end. I am sure bigger things are waiting for me," Delnaaz signed off.