Sushant Singh, the actor who debuted in Ram Gopal Varma’s (RGV) classic Satya in 1998, as Pakiya, has come a long way. What makes Sushant an actor in the league of experimental artistes is that he has always challenged himself by doing roles that are out of the box. His latest outing as detective Adi Bhagat on Flipkart Video’s new interactive crime show Kaun? Who did it? proves why Sushant is an artiste who brings a cinematic edge even to a web series.
Screen presence
His sharp performance as the retired cop who is forced to go back to solving cases seems to have impressed audiences. The concept of an interactive crime show is what attracted the actor to be part of this project. Once onboard, he says, the challenging part was to prepare for the show. “Adi’s character is quite interesting. I could have made it obvious like other detectives, and with his back story he could’ve have been a brooding man. But it would have been boring to watch for the audience, and for me to play it. So, I made him a slightly eccentric, unpredictable and quirky character who drops witty one-liners. The limp (which is a prominent feature of the cop, Adi) reminded me of Dr House, one of my favourite characters. It was my suggestion to get the boots with a brace, and I had to practise walking in them, which was quite painful. But the entire experience was fun, and we improvised further when we started shooting,” shares the actor, who is a fan of Indian detectives such as Karamchandand Byomkesh Bakshi.
His approach, attention to detail, and ability to surprise audiences are skills he learnt from his first director RGV. Having worked with the producer-director in Hindi films such as Kaun, Jungle and D, and in the Telugu political action thriller Rakhta Charitra I and II, Sushant says there is a lot that he learnt from RGV. “I truly cherish those memories. I imbibed his approach of not doing things in the most obvious way. He would surprise audiences with his intelligent storytelling. Apart from that, his way of managing people and artistes were other skills I learnt. He discovered a lot of actors, writers and directors and the Hindi film industry owes a lot to him,” says the actor.
Play of words
His outing in South Indian cinema is not restricted only to Telugu. Sushant’s most recent film in Kannada was the Kichcha Sudeep-starrer Pailwaan. The actor says being a part of Telugu and Kannada films has been quite challenging for him. “My acting might have looked effortless but it hasn’t been easy at all. I have to really work hard on my dialogues because of the language barrier. But I enjoyed working in Pailwaan. The director and Sudeep helped me with the language, the syntax, and I tried to make it as fun as possible, but I couldn’t improvise. All said and done, I like working in South Indian films because it’s a very different experience,” he says.
Next, the actor will be seen in Good Luck Jerry. “It is a madcap dark comedy and stars Janhvi Kapoor in the lead role. I will be starting the shoot in Patiala soon,” says Sushant whose latest web series Jeet Ki Zid on Zee5 has garnered quite a lot of interest online.
ayeshatabassum@newindianexpress.com
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