Mithila Palkar and Dhruv Sehgal talk about their new audio show Little Things: Jab Dhruv Met Kavya

There’s hardly anyone who didn’t love watching the simple moments and situations in Dhruv and Kavya’s life beautifully enacted by Dhruv Sehgal and Mithila Palkar. After enthralling the audiences for four seasons in Little Things, the adorable couple are back with their back story in audio format. Little Things: Jab Dhruv Met Kavya is all about the lovebirds’ little moments of serendipity that turned them into soulmates from total strangers and the actors share the details of the audio show in the following chat:

So, Little Things will be back with a prequel in audio format, how excited does that make you?

Mithila: Yeah, it visits Kavya and Dhruv’s life before they met and goes through how they met each other and became inseparable soul mates.

If we could get a glimpse of how Kavya and Dhruv were initially, without each other?

Dhruv: Without each other, I think we were pretty much the same. Definitely, we were very young and I think both Mithila’s and my characters were a little nervous. They're always anxious. But I think we feel there's a sense of comfort within ourselves and with each other once Kavya and Dhruv start dating. So there’s a little more turbulence but in an innocent way… like children navigating through life.

How difficult or easy had it been to emanate the young vibe in audio format?

Dhruv: Since we are portraying their younger versions, we can't talk in the exact same way. So, I mean, depending on how each of us interpreted the character, there were some changes in the voice modulation, in the kind of speech pattern and how low do you go, how high do you go, and how do you even laugh, because as you get older, your laughter changes too. So those were some exercises and brainstorming that we did which were very exciting.

In the Little Things series, there’s a lazy homely pace with many moments of silence. How are you playing with the pace here?

Dhruv: Since you're not relying on visuals, there is one factor less to keep an audience engaged and you can't have long pauses. But there's a good amount of music to replace the void and keep the breeziness and life-like quality intact. It never feels like something which is totally odd or unreal.

Is this your first audio project?

Mithila and Dhruv: Yes, very much.

How difficult or how easy had the audio medium been for you?

Mithila: The difficult part is that you're only using your voice to emote. In a visual medium, you have your facial expressions and I talk a lot with my hands. In an audio medium, it's just your voice. So, that is challenging, but I'm glad that I explored the medium through Little Things because these are the characters that we have lived with for many years now and we know them like the back of our hands.

What are the nuances you brought to Kavya’s character?

Mithila: Both Dhruv and I feel your laughter too changes as you grow up. So obviously the way we talk has changed over the last four seasons. And we have grown up with the character so even like in real life, we sound different. I sound a lot different than how I used to in 2015. So, definitely, that was a bit challenging to put me in that time zone again because I remember when I was recording it I was told that I was sounding very grown up and mature. So, I rewinded the time and worked on it a lot.

Dhruv, what about you?

The way we approached my character was just that heighten your emotions at the time of happiness and at the times of stress. I tended not to underplay because Dhruv in his younger version would be a little more excited and expressive, a little more open and a little freer. He was just a boy who did not know that he was making mistakes.

Are you as glutton in your personal life as Dhruv is?

Dhruv: I'm worse. I feel I have a sickness, to be really honest. I love Maharashtrian food the most. I think it's the most underrated. I like Kolhapuri and Satara food. I like the rassas like the tambda rassa, pandhra rassa and the Maharashtrian stew, Alni. I even like the simple Rani rice with Varan, which is Maharashtrian daal. But I am not as mad about Bhajji as Dhruv has been shown in the show.

And Mithila are you a Biryani monster like Kavya in real life?

No, but to a great extent, I do like biriyani.

Dhruv: Yeah and if it is Chinese, then she gets confused.

Mithila: That’s true and in fact, during the last season because we were shooting in Hyderabad, the city spoilt me totally.

Are you keen on doing more such audio projects?

Dhruv: As actors both Mithila and I always get excited by content. So, we don't necessarily look at it as an audio or visual format. I prefer to be form-friendly. If someone approaches me to write a nice audio play and it’s stimulating for the mind and the bank balance, I’ll do it for sure.

What are the things you think people will love about this audio prequel?

Mithila: They'll enjoy the sweetness and bitterness and soundness and cuteness of the relationship. This is just them getting to know each other and meeting each other for the first time and so I think that’s something that the audience should enjoy.

Dhruv: I think they’ll like the innocence of it and I like the fact that it's a show which you can put in your ears and do your daily chores.

Have you yourself listened to any audio shows?

Dhruv: I haven't listened to any audio show in a fiction form but I've heard a fair bit of podcasts, both Indian and international and I loved them. For me, the best time to listen to a podcast is when you're cooking because you spend a good 40-50 minutes hopefully making something and you have a nice voice to elevate the experience.

Mithila:  I haven't, but I have recently taken to listening to audiobooks a lot and I find it more engrossing than reading.

Are you both casual dressers in real life like Dhruv and Kavya?

Mithila: In daily life, I'm exactly like Kavya and I'm taking the liberty of speaking on behalf of Dhruv also. Dhruv is also a very chilled-out dresser. For events and all, I have a team taking care of my ensemble but otherwise, I’ll be found in pyjamas everywhere. I also love wearing saris, especially handloom cotton ones because they sit well on you. And I really like bright colours.

 What are your upcoming projects?

Mithila: There are a few things. I've done a Telugu film Ori Devuda directed by Ashwath Marimuthu

Dhruv: I’m writing a series for an OTT platform and it's set in Mumbai. It's a human drama and I may direct a couple of episodes.

Little Things; Jab Dhruv Met Kavya is currently streaming on Audible.