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Your role in Mrs Undercover came as a shocker to many…
When the makers approached me for this, I was initially sceptical, but soon, jumped on it. I knew that this is a scary proposition and will be an uncomfortable experience. The behavior patterns of my character were extremely menacing and it obviously doesn’t come naturally to me. However, I also felt that this is perhaps the only reason why I wanted to become an actor – to be able to play characters that are not rooted in reality. So, it was great, I certainly enjoyed the role.
Writing, acting, directing – you seem to balance many hats…
Well, that has always sort of been the idea – to go beyond my comfort zone and do something out of the box. As an artist, I am not someone who would simply give the shot and retire to his makeup van to eat a salad. I need to be constantly on the move, testing out new waters. It is all about constantly learning, unlearning and doing many things along the way.
Tell us a little bit about Afwaah and it’s lukewarm response at the BO….
To start off with, the movie was never meant to be a propoganda tale, it was made with the intent to get attention. It was just satire. And this whole genre of satire has sort of gone a little obsolete in the last few years. Back in the day, we had cartoonists who would do cartoons on political leaders and their reforms, and they all would take it positively. That was a satire – because satire is not just a social commentary, it is also a comment on us as a society and how we see and react to things around us.
How did the idea of Permanent Roommates come about?
Honestly, since there was no OTT at that time, we had no idea whether something like this could be made in the first place. To start off with, the first episode was created as a brand video for a home rental company, however when we shot for it, we realised that we can spin a whole story around it. It was a unconscious accident, but it worked out so well in the end.
Do you think because your characters are mostly rooted and down to earth, you become more relatable to the audience?
I think it depends more on the platform that the project is being viewed on. Take the big screen for example – the audience comes in with the expectation of a spectacle, they want to see something larger than life, almost like a fairy tale. However, if you are watching a show about three siblings (Triplings), you can’t make them larger than life and that too, on an OTT platform. They have to be relatable and next door, catering to a wider audience. So, once you understand that, then a lot of things fall into place, including your performance, story and character graph.
