Purab Kohli: It’s interesting to see how Bollywood films aren’t achieving the numbers

Criminal Justice is heading for its third season and it’s still being headlined by Pankaj Tripathi . Joining him this time are Purab Kohli and Gaurav Gera. In an exclusive interview with Firstpost, they talk about what attracted them to the script of season 3, the trend of boycott that has spread like fire in the jungle, and much more.

Purab, Gaurav, what can we expect from season 3 of Criminal Justice?

Purab: Gaurav, your name comes first in the roll call (Laughs).

Gaurav: Since you’re giving me so much respect, I’ll go first. It’s a great story told that is happening again. Season 3 is just like season 1 and 2, with great cast put together and a show well made. I think that’s something you should expect out of it.

Purab: I second what Gaurav said. I think Criminal Justice is known for a great courtroom drama, great performances, and great actors. Not that I’m saying Gaurav and me are great actors, that’s a known fact (laughs). These are the things that attracted me to do the show. In the last couple of years, I’ve worked in a lot of remakes of shows. Out of Love is the remake of Doctor Foster, Criminal Justice is also a remake, but interestingly, season 3 has not been made anywhere in the world. This is the first time it’s being made in India so it’s quite a proud moment for the show, and the makers have cracked a very interesting story.

To both of you, as actors and audiences, what is the one quality that fascinates you about such stories, such thrillers? Is it only the final twist or is it something more?

Gaurav: I think it’s the whole journey of the story, and not just the end of it but the whole process of the case, what took place first, it’s the process, it’s the story which is very, very exciting.

Purab: For me, it’s the layers the character has, I’m talking about my character, and all the other characters that have multiple layers, especially the characters around whom the case is centered. You might have seen the trailer, there’s a death involved. Ever character is feeling multiple emu at the same time. All these things put together make us very excited to go on a set everyday, it’s not just the lines you’re throwing to the camera.

Gaurav, I have to ask you this, you blew the internet up with your character of Chutki. How did you conceive the character and did you imagine the popularity that would follow?

Not really, I didn’t expect it to go that wild but I hoped it did. In that hope, I kept making the videos and it suddenly went crazy. I think it was the beginning of Dubsmash also, before TikTok, so because of that it really got pushed. People were very excited to know where these dialogues were coming from, so that really helped the videos explode.

Purab, people loved you in Rock On, but the one performance that has personally stayed is Awarapan. How did you approach that character?

Wow, Awarapan feels a lifetime away. Honestly, there was very little preparation as far as this film is concerned because I remember, I’d already finished working with Mohit Suri on Woh Lamhe so we had a certain amount of relationship and understanding and he knew what I was capable of. When he cast me for Awarapan, there was a reference because this was also a remake. He showed me the original film and the character was already interesting and I had many ideas which I wanted to talk to him about. Unfortunately, we didn’t get any chance because he was quite busy and I was cast very late for the film. I arrived in Hong Kong a night before I was supposed to shoot a scene where Emraan Hashmi kills me. I told Mohit, ‘Listen, I have some ideas about this character,’ and he said let’s discuss this on the set tomorrow. And we literally did that, he asked me to just have fun with the character. It’s a fun character and make sure you’re also having fun. It was just like an impromptu session, we just went there and enacted. There were no rehearsals or discussions on what should be done. The first take happened and Mohit said, ‘Great, go for it.’ When I look back at Awarapan and that character, I am like ‘Wow’.

A lot of trends and discussions and debates are happening on social media these days. South is overtaking Bollywood, Boycott Bollywood. What is your take on this?

Purab: In terms of box-office numbers, it can be seen that south Indian films are taking over. I mean boycott Bollywood, I don’t know too much about that. I don’t know how much it works really, I’m not an expert or a guru to judge that. One really has to see the kind of films that are being made. It’s interesting to see how Bollywood films aren’t achieving the numbers. Overtime, we see trends happen, I think from KGF and Pushpa, we are seeing a trend that’s being set into the full nation. Will this trend last forever? Amidst all of this, there’s The Kashmir Files that did really well. It’s just a trend and we have to see where it goes. I don’t have any opinion on boycott Bollywood for sure.

Gaurav: It’s time for great content because I consume a lot of content. I see the great stuff that rises. I have seen south films that are not in the typical RRR zone but they are also some beautiful films. Thankfully, because of these OTT platforms, we get to sample these. So I just feel it’s time for great content.

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