National award-winning actor-director Adinath Kothare’s latest project City of Dreams 2 is earning him acclaim. The Paani director who catapulted to national prominence with the Best Film on Environment Conservation/Preservation award at the 66th National Film Awards and the Best Actor award at the New York Indian Film Festival, plays the role of a righteous and headstrong politician in this gripping series streaming on Disney+ Hotstar. The artiste will be next seen in '83 starring Ranveer Singh. He talks about his future projects.
How did City of Dreams 2 happen to you?
While shooting for ‘83 with Ranveer Singh and the team, where I am playing the character of Dilip Vengsarkar, I met Elahe Hiptoola, the language consultant for the biopic. She referred me for the look test of City of Dreams whose casting director was Shruti Mahajan. After an extensive look test, I bagged the role.
Did you watch the first season and is there any character that you find striking?
Yes, I loved the first season. The storytelling was extremely gripping. The character from season 1 which I truly felt was striking was Priya. The way she presented the character of Poornima Gaikwad, with such authority and all her different shades, was commendable. Also, Siddharth Chandekar’s character was very interestingly presented and Atul Kulkarni as usual has done a fabulous job.
Tell us about your character and what new element does it add to the show?
I play Mahesh Aravle in the new season. He is a headstrong politician but at the same time, he’s very honest and really believes in his value system which results in a lot of hurdles in his path. He is introduced at a very crucial point at the beginning of the show which creates a major twist in the entire tale putting Poornima in a very vulnerable position. He brings a lot of interesting shades to the character and due to his behavioural qualities, a lot of drama unfolds in the season as the story progresses.
Which one do you enjoy the most, acting or direction? And why?
Honestly, I enjoy both, but at the moment I’m enjoying my journey as an actor because I'm getting really interesting characters to play. Being an actor, I get to live the lives of each and every character I play and it’s a beautiful experience; a different journey. And being a director is something completely different as it requires one to live with the entire story and create and present that story in front of the audience as one's own child.