Akshay Oberoi on Judaa Hoke Bhi: "Horror is the best way to grow an actor’s imagination"

Eight years ago, in his second major Hindi feature film role, Akshay Oberoi played a pizza delivery boy in the horror movie Pizza. This week he plays the lead in Judaa Hoke Bhi (in cinemas July 15, 2022), his second movie in a genre he believes is the most challenging for an actor. In a 12-year career, Oberoi has traversed the spectrum of genres from romantic to thriller to comedy, and horror. If a box office thunderclap has evaded him, he’s been lauded and embraced for his work and characters in series such as High, Flesh, Illegal, Dil Bekaraar and even a cameo in Feels Like Home . After taking a step away from commercial films after the failure of his debut film Isi Life Mein , Oberoi chose the independent film route, beginning with Pizza, followed by Laal Rang, Gurgaon and Bombairiya (among others). Recently seen in a cameo in Thar , Oberoi is hopeful that the Vikram Bhatt directed Judaa Hoke Bhi (also starring Aindrita Ray and Meherzan Mazda) will help him connect with a wider audience. Excerpts from an interview: How did Judaa Hoke Bhi come your way? For the last couple of years Vikram Bhatt has been trying to make scary films, like 1920, which are filled with jump scares. But now he has a new way of showing you fear – that it can be fear of loss, or something not going your way, which is more frightening than a jump scare or sound effect. Vikram and I had done some work together before and we got along like a house on fire. He is one of the smartest people I have met. Then one day he came up with this idea that what if a man loses his wife to another man? Isn’t that the scariest thing especially if it is happening in front of your eyes? Now imagine if the man has no control and something supernatural shows up. Vikram watches everything and had seen Gurgaon, High and Illegal. Mahesh Bhatt just knew that here is a boy who is popular in the OTT space, so he must be good. After we started work, Vikram kept reminding me I am not in an indy movie and there is a whole other India out there that you have to cater to. It is nice to have an audience beyond your niche. I realised I used to take myself too seriously. Working with Vikram Bhatt and Mahesh Bhatt is quite a departure from the kind of work you are associated with. Yes, and it was a conscious decision. I do these things that 12 people in Bandra watch and they give me a pat on the back but does that work really reach India? Is it massy? I thought why be hung up on only doing a certain kind of content and why not do films that go to the heartland of India? When Vikram came to me with this my brain was already working in the direction that I should take up work that reaches a wider audience while also challenging me. Let’s be honest, money is the only thing that matters in this business. I can be celebrated by my peers, my colleagues and directors, but does it translate into getting the scripts that I want, does it put me on a list of actors of note? It does not. So I decided to do something totally out of my realm and repertoire. I have done so much work and so many things have not even seen the light of day. So I know that no matter what I am thrown into now, I will not sink. And if I do fall, I will dust off and try again.

Does a horror film elevate your craft in any way? Horror is the biggest and best way to grow an actor’s imagination, because nothing of what is happening is happening in real time. Some visual effects and sound design are always going to be added which the audience gets to see and live, but the actor doesn’t get to experience it. The actor has to imagine every little beat which I discovered during Pizza. I know how much I grew during that time. I took so much from that movie in terms of technique that I use till date. The byproduct is potential box office, but the main appeal was that I had not been offered a horror movie in ages and I know how much I grew in this one as well. Bhatt films have a kind of a stamp. What is that, according to you? I think the music is the soul of their films. They have the pulse for it. A lot of their films are centred around heartbreak and so is the music, and that seems to connect with Indian audiences. There are thousands of Reels of the title song of Judaa Hoke Bhi with lovelorn performers. The Bhatts understand that our country is very emotional and full of heartbreak for some reason. I think their stamp is heartbreak and music is the way that they pull at the heartstrings. Also Mahesh Bhatt’s passion, even at the age of 73, is remarkable and infectious. Where do you go from here? I am just hungry for good roles, even if they are cameos, because I know I will learn something from working with Anil Kapoor . If I take a little role and make it memorable, isn’t that a test of my acting as opposed to how much screen time I got? This year alone I am doing five films (including Gaslight, Varschasva and Ek Kori Prem Katha) and a series. In some cases, I am the lead and in some cases, I am part of an ensemble. Maybe I am lucky that I don’t have the spotlight of a hero in the traditional Bollywood way which allows me to have fluidity and I take advantage of that – whether OTT content or a movie. For me, it’s most important to be able to look back and say look how much I learned and how much I grew as an actor because I love the craft. How do you pick up the moods and personality of a recurring character, like in a second or third season of a web series, after stepping away from him for a while? It’s so much fun. I have worked on all my characters a lot. I know them well and they are all in my head. When you get back to the show, you get to know the character more, live with them more and understand them more. In an eight episode show you can grow the character as opposed to a film where you have to tell everything in two hours. That’s why I love web series’. For instance, every time I go out and play Akshay Jaitley in Illegal, the better I do it because it’s nuanced and more detailed. I am not fishing. For the first three days on any new film set, I am fishing and then by day five I am swimming freely. Udita Jhunjhunwala is a writer, film critic, and festival programmer. Read all the  Latest News ,  Trending News ,  Cricket News ,  Bollywood News ,  India News  and  Entertainment News  here. Follow us on  Facebook,  Twitter and  Instagram**.**