EXCLUSIVE | Netflix's 'Kota Factory 3' actor Mayur More on the show: 'I didn't have much time to prep because...'

The iconic show Kota Factory has entered its season three and will stream on Netflix from June 20. It stars Jitendra Kumar, Mayur More, Ranjan Raj, Alam Khan, Ahsaas Channa, Revathi Pillai and Urvi Singh. The new season sees the entry of Tillotama Shome.

In an exclusive interview with Firstpost, Mayur, Alam, and Pratish Mehta spoke about the evolution of the characters in third season, and their prep for the characters they essay.

Edited excerpts from the interview

How have the roles evolved in the third season of Kota Factory?

Mayur: Meenal’s role has just entered from the 11th to the 12th standard. The kind of journey all the friends have had, we have matured a bit. There are a lot of small things that happen among friends, and I got to know a lot about it, for example, the masturbation scene in season two. These are some issues and topics that people in small cities do not talk about very often. We have been able to see all these things, observe all these things with a much bigger perspective; so that’s the kind of maturity our characters have reflected now. But the academic struggles of the students remain the same, and Jeetu Bhaiyaa has gone somewhere else.

Alam Khan: Yes, our characters have truly matured ever since we started shooting for the show in 2019. We have tried to breathe life into our respective characters and make them beautiful. And only time will be able to tell whether my character becomes serious towards the end or not.

Mayur, how was your prep for the role like?

I didn’t have much time because I was shooting for something else. I thought I would be able to get as much time as I wanted, but unfortunately, that did not happen. When I reached on the sets, I was able to get 2-3 days more to prepare for my character. Also, I knew Pratish as a co-actor but hadn’t worked with him as a director. He had already directed Films so he had his share of experience. It was our responsibility as an ensemble of actors to give him the kind of confidence he needed as a director and to cooperate with him. Even he didn’t have much time when he came to know that he was supposed to be directing it. The biggest challenge for all the actors was to make sure that we give our best to every scene. The narrative was about Vaibhav’s loneliness in this gigantic world and how he would cope up alone in season one. Once he reaches Kota, he realizes the situation is completely different from what he expected. He was driven by a lot of confusion but fortunately, met a lot of wonderful friends. He found a teacher like Jeetu Bhaiyaa. In season two, he tried sharing his experience with others. So that’s how his journey has been. And as much as I know him, he always tries to apply whatever he has learned.

Pratish, what was playing in the back of your mind when you started this project? And then coming up with a new one?

I was always attached to season one and season two and was always fascinated with this world that we have created. Season one dropped on YouTube so there’s a thing called CTA that comes towards the end of the episode. I was watching them and wanted to have the Call To Action. I belong to Ujjain and the shoot of season two was happening in Bhopal. I was called to play a character who’s an old student of Jeetu Bhaiyaa, so it was more or less like a cameo for me. Season three was more exciting because we could explore Kota in many more ways and all the credit goes to Raghav. It’s kind of French cinema and it was both difficult and exciting.