EXCLUSIVE | John Kokken on his show 'The Freelancer': 'The role demanded someone who's physically fit'

John Kokken is a name that’s well known in the South Indian film industry, and he’s now gearing up for Disney Plus Hotstar’s upcoming series The Freelancer where he essays the role of an intelligence officer. He speaks exclusively to Firstpost about a lot of things that went behind the making of the show and the character he has donned. Edited excerpts from the interview How did you prepare for your role you play in the show? I play a very tough and result-oriented intelligence officer, the role demanded someone who’s physically fit and I’ve always been into fitness. It didn’t demand any kind of skin show but someone who’s physically fit so that was an important aspect about the role. It’s also a character who’s not very loud but soft spoken, he knows how to negotiate, interrogate people and get the work done. To me, that was an interesting challenge. I’ve played the bad guys, loud and villainous characters, this is a subtle, soft-spoken and warm officer. What are the locations you’ve shot the series at? My portions were primarily shot in Mumbai. Being someone who has grown up in Mumbai, from school to college to two years of hotel management, it was special. One very memorable moment was shooting at St. Xaviers college from where I did my BSE. Life had other plans as I went on to do my hotel management after that. What does the title signify to you? We all have been exposed to the concept of the mercenaries, especially in Hollywood films and series like The Expendables and Extraction. The Freelancer is an adaptation of a book called A Ticket to Syria. The show is about Mohit Ahlawat who plays the role of Avinash Kamat and how he goes against all odds and help someone. This is a spy thriller and this is the first time that Indian audiences are going to see mercenaries. It’s very international the way the series has been shot so I’m very kicked about the fact. What is your take on the rise of the OTT platform? We are heading towards a different era. It’s more like a theatre as we speak today, things have changed as we earlier had movies and now we have web series. It’s an indispensable platform that’s always going to be there. It’s the future, but cinema I don’t know. The large screen will be limited to mega-budget movies, other than that, OTT is the future. What are some of your favourite espionage thrillers? Most recent one is Speical Ops, I just loved it. I loved the way each character was in it. I loved how the bad guys were kept as suspects till the end, it made for a good watch. I binged watched it, it was so good. I saw the show again with my father-in-law who’s in the army. It’s one of the best series I have ever seen.