Updated: December 20, 2020 7:40:50 am
This is how these stars shone this year; have a look! (Designed by Shambhavi Dutta)
This was the year the pandemic locked people in their homes and forced viewers and visual content creators to pause, think, rewire, and transition from the big screen and physical cinemas to platforms. OTT (over-the-top content) online. It gave new impetus to growing creative output as OTTs looked to acquire original content and filmmakers set about creating film for OTTs. A host of actors, who have come to us previously in small roles, took over the medium this year with powerful performances in unusual roles: from a serial killer to a child bride, from a nurse turned doll to the brain of one of those from India. biggest scams – in movies and web series. Here’s a look at the actors who made their presence felt and their featured roles.
Divyenndu
Divyenndu, 37, is aware of the dangers of his unconventional approach.
As a child, Divyenndu loved when his parents asked him to recite a poem or sing for guests. “I would spruce it up with something theatrical or other,” says the actor whose role as Munna Bhaiya in the web series. Mirzapur on Prime Video it has been a success. “When people ask me when the acting worm bit me, I say I was born with it,” he says.
Jitendra kumar
Jitendra Kumar never thought that he could become an actor.
Jitendra Kumar had never harbored any dream of being an actor. Theater and acting happened by chance when I was studying civil engineering at IIT Kharagpur. After that there was no going back. A fellow student, Biswapati Sarkar, pushed Kumar, which facilitated his entry into the world of online content in 2012-13. As his videos went viral, Kumar became a familiar face. The year 2020 looked promising with two major premieres: as the romantic lead opposite Ayushmann Khurrana in Shubh Mangal Zyada Saavdhan (the film, directed by Hitesh Kewalya and Rohit Sharma, released in February), and the web series Panchayat (premiered on Prime Video this April).
Abhishek banerjee
Abhishek Banerjee, who moved to Mumbai in 2008, landed a number of flicker-and-miss roles in movies.
SOON after Abhishek Banerjee finished filming for Paatal Lok in June 2019, he went on a month-long trip to Europe with his wife, Tina Noronha. The actor had found himself strangely angry, anxious, and even possessive of his wife when he was filming for the web series as the serial killer, Hathoda Tyagi. Traveling was his way of leaving behind the intensity that the character demanded.
Mumbai was on lockdown when the release of Paatal Lok was announced in April. “The ad brought back memories of Hathoda Tyagi,” recalls Banerjee, whose portrayal of the negative character earned him wide recognition.
Pratik gandhi
Pratik Gandhi, on the smash hit of his OTT debut, Scam 92: The Harshad Mehta Story.
“When we were doing Scam 92, we knew it was something unique. It’s one of the first financial thrillers based on true events, for example, but we never imagined it would have an impact of this magnitude, “says actor Pratik Gandhi, of the massive success of his OTT debut, Scam 92: The Harshad . Mehta Story, directed by Hansal Mehta, which garnered rave reviews in October on Sony LIV.
When Gandhi arrived for an audition at casting director Mukesh Chhabra’s office, he had no idea what to expect. They had given him a very vague idea about the program. So he was thrilled when he landed the lead role of stockbroker Harshad Mehta. “When Hansal asked me if I was willing to play Harshad, I said, ‘yes’! I later learned that Hansal hadn’t even looked at my audition tape. For the last 15 years, I have been running from column to publication, sometimes auditioning several times a day, for a break, so I was quite taken aback. But Hansal said that he had seen my work in the Gujarati film Wrong Side Raju (2016) and did not need any further validation of my work, ”says the 40-year-old.
Tripti dimri
Bulbbul is a fantasy drama, set in Bengal in the early 20th century. Portraying two stages in the life of Bulbbul.
Are you already out of the Bulbbul character? Tripti Dimri, 26, has answered this question multiple times since Anvita Dutt’s compelling directorial debut Bulbbul premiered on Netflix on June 24. Wrapped in glowing Banarasis and an air of enigma, Dimri took over the main protagonist with ease. It’s not easy to leave such a powerful character behind, but Dimri has done his best.
Shalini Vatsa
A decade after her first film, Vatsa still periodically wonders if she enjoys what she does.
Shalini Vatsa’s journey charted its own course. His Lata Kutty, who transforms from a no-nonsense nurse into the doting lover of the gangster Sattu (Pankaj Tripathi) in Anurag Basu. Ludo (released in November), has “a funny and quirky side.” She plays Lata Kutty with great comedic flair, fitting in Ludoeffortless whimsical world. This character “was something I hadn’t explored on screen until now” and was “very different from my previous strong women roles in Sacred games (2018-19) and Gurgaon (2016), ”says the actor who had been unsure about a film career for years. Her first film role, as Dhaniya (in Peepli [Live], 2010), was to be the last. She then landed a small but significant role as a Gauri domestic worker in Carry off (2012). But his desire to continue acting in films developed only after the film directed by Hansal Mehta. Shahid (2012), in which she played Prosecutor Tambe. “People talk about having a wish list. Even without having one, I have worked with directors who would have appeared on my list, ”he says.
Jaideep Ahlawat
Ahlawat says he is aware of the role blocking played in increasing the audience for OTT platforms.
The role of a weary, introverted cop in the nine-episode show has been the best and most challenging in Ahlawat’s decade-long career. “You can find a Hathiram around you: a middle-class man who is fighting on all fronts: work, personal life, but who is trying to live his life and achieve something. People could relate to their emotions, ”says the actor from Kharkhara village in Haryana. While the Paatal Lok team was unable to come together to celebrate the success of the show due to the pandemic, Ahlawat says he is aware of the role the lockdown played in increasing the audience for OTT platforms and generating word of mouth. in mouth for the program. .
Shreya dhanwanthary
He had been waiting for a role like in Scam 1992.
“I’ve been in the industry for a decade, but nothing mattered until Scam 92,” says actor Shreya Dhanwanthary, 29, who plays the complex role of journalist Sucheta Dalal in Scam 1992: The Harshad Mehta Story, directed by Hansal. Mehta. “I did Ladies Room (TV miniseries, 2016) with Yash Raj Films, and it became a big thing, and it also received critical acclaim. But people didn’t say it was the same girl from a Samsung phone TV commercial and the lesbian rock girl from a Fastrack commercial. I would become a chameleon in various roles, ”she says. Then came the 2019 film Why Cheat India opposite Emraan Hashmi, and a role in Manoj Bajpayee’s much-talked-about web series Family Man (2019), “but things have changed in a phenomenal way only since Scam 1992.” Hyderabad-born Dhanwanthary, whose miniseries A Viral Wedding, in which she wrote and acted, was released in May.
© The Indian Express (P) Ltd
.
