 "Jaideep Ahlawat: I wanted to be an officer in the Indian Army, but life had different plans")
Jaideep Ahlahwat had once mentioned that with _Paatal Lok_ ’, he felt he had arrived. Ahlawat is one of the most thinking actors in the entertainment industry, and he is one of those actors who actually feels the role he plays.
He talks to Firstpost about his role in Bloody Brothers, his journey in the entertainment industry, and how he always wanted to become an army officer, but life had different plans.
Excerpts from the interview:
Tell us about your role in Bloody Brothers.
It’s not a dark role that I play because no role can be absolutely dark. But it’s a dark comedy. The web show is about two brothers, and how their lives completely go out of control after a tragic car accident. I play the role of a lawyer, and the story goes into many shades. It’s a family drama, thriller, and also a dark comedy. So I would say it’s a mix of many things. It has a lot of twists and turns, and there are places where the audience feels that okay, I can solve the mystery, and suddenly there comes another twist that will make you think as to where the show is heading to. Since it is a show about two brothers, it was very important for the chemistry to click between the two actors.
With OTT, there are no black or white characters, but grey. What do you have to say about that?
The characters are very close to reality, and in life, there is nobody who is fully black or fully white, and that is the magic of OTT to bring out the authenticity of the characters. Humans are grey, and they behave differently in different situations. Like in real life, somebody may be very good to you, but that same person may not be good to someone else and that’s how it is portrayed.
On your journey in the entertainment industry…
Paatal Lok was the turning point in my career. I am happy that I have a good balance of films and shows both in OTT and for theatrical release. I am from a town called Kharkhara, which is in Haryana. I never wanted to be an actor till my graduation. I always wanted to be an officer in the Indian Army. But I guess life had different plans. But I couldn’t clear the SSB entrance exam to become an officer in the India Army. That was a very low phase of my life. I was frustrated and was very angry as to why I failed in fulfilling my childhood dream of becoming an army officer.
To run away from that unhappiness of not being able to join the army, I started acting in plays. I worked in theatres for three years, and then joined Film and Television Institute of India, Pune and studied there and got trained to become an actor. Then I came to Mumbai in 2008. I did Gangs of Wasseypur, Commando, Raazi. But with Paatal Lok, there was no looking back. And now, filmmakers have more faith in me as an actor. The best thing about being an actor is that I can live a thousand lives in one life. So what if I could never clear the exam of becoming an army officer, but I can play the role of an army officer, and that is the positive side of becoming an actor.
How has the digital platform changed the entire narrative? There is no hero or heroine, and all actors are on the same platform?
The digital platform is much more democratic. They don’t put people into any kind of boxes. The digital platform has not only opened up a plethora of opportunities for us but at the same time, it has made the audiences very powerful. Now, content is the hero, and when the audience don’t like a certain movie or a show, they are just going to move on to another one.
You have also played a gay role in _Ajeeb Daastaans_ . How did you prepare for that?
The entire narrative of gay roles has changed over a period of time. Initially, it was all about caricatures, but now it is handled with a lot of sensitivity. The script was so beautiful that I didn’t have to do much preparation. I played the role of a small-town guy who was struggling to come out. I made sure that I should understand the feelings of a gay person, and handled it with a lot of care. As an actor it is very important to connect with the role that you play, and that’s exactly what I do.
Bloody Brothers will release on ZEE5 this Friday on 18 March.
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