Watch | R. Madhavan and Surveen Chawla on ‘Decoupled’

The two actors will soon be seen in the Netflix show created by Manu Joseph

“My character sometimes says the most obnoxious lines,” says R Madhavan, who plays Arya, a sarcastic and outspoken pulp fiction writer in the dramedy, Decoupled. “My challenge as an actor was to see that he doesn’t become a negative character. That he can say anything and still get away with it because of his innocent intent.”

Created and written by author Manu Joseph (Serious Men), Decoupled uses the frame of comedy to look at a couple in Gurugram navigating divorce.

Surveen Chawla, who struck gold with the second season of Sacred Games in 2019, plays Arya’s wife Shruti in the show directed by Hardik Mehta. “My character is that one person [in the show] who brings sanity back and normalises things in the midst of the sarcasm and the ego.” Calling it a modern story, Chawla adds that it would resonate with an urban, English-speaking audience.