Drashti Dhami catches Karan Johar off guard with her reply featuring Kangana Ranaut on Koffee Shots with Karan. Watch

Filmmaker Karan Johar will soon be seen in conversation with the lead cast of the web series The Empire Kunal Kapoor, Dino Morea and Drashti Dhami. A promo of the same was shared by Disney+ Hotstar. 

In the promo, as the three took to the couch on Koffee Shots with Karan, Karan asked questions to each one of them. From Drashti, he wanted to know: “Who is the current female actor that you consider as your role model?” Drashti was quick to reply: “Your favourite Kang…Priyanka Chopra.” Karan replied: “I am keeping a straight face.” Dino was in splits. 

Drashti also mentioned her nervousness while acting with the other two and how she had to constantly go through her lines while they (Karan and Dino) knew theirs well.

Dino’s look in the series has been talked about a fair deal, even since the first look was revealed. Karan said: “I saw your look and it is a badass look.” Dino remarked: “I followed an animal; I went with a panther.” Karan then asked: “So what kind of an animal are you off screen?” Dino’s replied: “I am puppy; everybody loves a puppy.”

There was a question to all three of them: “On a battlefield, who would be clicking selfies?” Kunal immediately replied: “I think you.” And agreeing with him, Dino made a gesture of clicking a selfie. 

Finally he asked Kunal: “What paigham (message) would you send to Abhishek Bachchan?” To which the actor replied: “Mere bhai, kabaddi kabaddi kabaddi.” It may be recalled that Kunal is married to Abhishek’s cousin sister, Naina. Abhishek also owns a Kabaddi team, Jaipur Pink Panthers.

The Empire is based on the book – Moghul: Raiders from the North – by Alex Rutherford. It stars Kunal as Mughal emperor Babur and Dino as his arch rival, Shaybani Khan.

Also read: The Empire director on GOT comparisons: ‘They have dragons and zombies. How can people compare?’

The show has been controversial with most reviews criticising it for being a poor copy of Game of Thrones and Padmaavat. Director Kabir Khan too called certain portrayals of Mughals in Hindi films ‘problematic and disturbing’. 

Reacting to it, The Empire’s director Mitakshara Kumar told Peeping Moon, “See, everyone is entitled to have their own opinion. I have not read this interview, so I don’t know what he said. Kabir Khan is an experienced person and I have immense respect for him. If he is saying something, there must be some weight behind that. What I have seen of Mughals in Indian cinema is Mughal-E-Azam and Jodha Akbar. I think they are beautiful portrayals also because both are love stories. We are living in disturbing and difficult times.”