Ishaan takes Janhvi on an e-rickshaw ride at Rumi Darwaza

It took more than a dozen bouncers and just as many police personnel to control the crowd that had gathered at the

Rumi Darwaza

in Chowk, Lucknow, when they saw actors Janhvi and Ishaan there. The two actors, who were on a two-day visit to the city to promote their film '

Dhadak

', visited

old Lucknow

to see the monument on Sunday evening.
Janhvi and Ishaan loved the monument and couldn't help but admire it, even as the crowd started to swell all around them. Munching on a bhutta, Jahnvi looked at the Rumi Darwaza in awe and said, "I love visiting such historical places. In fact, Ishaan and I were just talking about the architecture and how it's so different from whatever we've seen in Jaipur and in Udaipur."
"We were comparing this with Rajasthan's architecture and it's very different from there. This has more of a Mughal touch to it, but it's beautiful nevertheless," said Ishaan, adding, "We definitely do love visiting such kind of historical places but never with this kind of attention that we're getting here now. But it's lovely to be here, regardless."

Ishaan and Janhvi got onto an e-rickshaw near Rumi Darwaza (BCCL/ Pics: Aditya Yadav and Farhan Ahmad Siddiqui)

In a mood to enjoy the cloudy weather and the attention showered over them, Ishaan got onto an e-rickshaw that he spotted at the road leading up to Rumi Darwaza, while Janhvi hopped in at the back in the passenger seat. "This is interesting," said Ishaan and later quizzed the driver Idrisi on how to drive it. And before anyone could blink an eye, Ishaan had driven off with the rickshaw with Janhvi screaming at him to stop, but also thoroughly enjoying the ride. After riding for a good half a kilometer, amid protests and laughter by Janhvi, the young actor brought the rickshaw back to its owner.
Looking fresh and pretty in a chikan kurta and palazzo, Janhvi was quick to point out that she often dressed in a the local style to gel more with the place. "I like to get into the feel of the place. Even before we went to Rajasthan for our recces and stuff, I'd packed my salwar-kurtas to feel more local there." While Ishaan, dressed in stressed jeans and a t-shirt, said with a chuckle, "I allow the place to lend the feeling to me. I haven't come to Lucknow looking traditionally Lakhnawi, but perhaps, I will leave looking that way."
Ask them about their plans for Lucknow and Janhvi said she'd already made hers, "I had two major plans for Lucknow. One was to try the Tundey kebabs and the other was to have malai makkhan. I've had the kebabs, which were amazing, so now only malai makkhan is left." Tundeys is understandable, but makkhan malai being a somewhat lesser know dish in Bollywood, prompted us to ask Janhvi how she got to know about it and she said, "I do my research before I visit any place. I want to know what to eat, what the best things are that I must try at the place. It’s always better to be armed with that knowledge," she stressed.
Sharing a great off screen chemistry, Janhvi, who clearly enjoys her co-star's company, said that she found Ishaan’s energy exhausting at times. "He's always so high on energy. It's at times difficult to cope with him but he’s got a superb sense of humour. I’m always laughing when I’m with him," she said. Her co-star meanwhile, didn’t let the opportunity of teasing her go and said, "I find her laughter irritating!"
But the two agree that it was a close bond that they shared that helped them work in sync in the film. "It was very easy for us, Janhvi and I, to work in sync. Although we haven’t known each other since we were kids, we met only pertaining to this film. But I think what really helped, besides a natural kind of gelling and connection that you have with a person, was that we also got to spend a lot of time with each other during the preparatory stage of the film. And I guess that’s when we got closer and we got in sync with each other," said Ishaan.
With the duo eager to talk about their film, they quickly veered the topic to 'Dhadak' and said that they both had a lot of expectations from the audience. "No one cares about our expectations," said Janhvi with a laugh, adding, "I guess we're worrying about everyone's expectations from it. But we hope that it gets a lot of love, because whatever we could do, I think we did it during the shooting stage." "Of all the work that we’ve put into this film, I expect it to be very high on feeling," added Ishaan.

Ishaan and Janhvi danced to the title track of their film at a mall in Lucknow (BCCL/ Farhan Ahmad Siddiqui)

Mention about the trolling of the song '

Zingaat

' and Ishaan and Janhvi burst out laughing. "We have actually been enjoying the trolls. There are some really good jokes. I'm amazed at people's sense of humour on social media," said Janhvi while Ishaan seconds that. "I understand that there is a strong sentiment attachment towards the Marathi 'Zingaat', it's been so loved and so widely heard, but I think we’ve tried to stay true to our film. We’ve even translated the lyrics from Marathi to Hindi," added Janhvi.
But it’s not that the young actress is not immune to the trolls that she’s been getting for her 'Pappi' dialogue from the film. "It affects me when someone doesn't enjoy your work after all the hard work you've put in it. It does affect me because after all I am new to this. But it does motivate me to do better next time and hope people will be a little less judgmental about it. I would want people to have a more open mind," she said.
"Watch the film and don’t base your views on those three minutes that you've seen in the trailer. And that goes for any film. Don’t judge the film before you’ve seen the whole of it," urged Ishaan.
Later in the day, the duo made an appearance at a city mall and danced to the film’s title song and the high-on-energy 'Zingaat' to a jam-packed audience. Janhvi and Ishaan also interacted with the crowd and clicked selfies with a few lucky ones.
—Adnaan Rizvi