Well-known film actor Rahul Dev seems to be enjoying the webspace. He is playing the title character in the new ALTBalaji web series, Who’s Your Daddy. IWMBUZZ caught up with him for a chat on the same.
What is your mojo in Who’s Your Daddy?
I play a retired army subedar who lives with his son and mother. Disciplined Prem Singh Bhandari has a tough time with his smart street son Soggy (Harsh Beniwal), who runs a DVD parlor (set in early 2000, Delhi ). The latter also peddles porn. It is a situational comedy while my character does not do anything funny; things around do take a humorous turn. The crux of the story is that a widower like him should also give love a second chance.
How bold is your character??
Though the series does not have any significant sexual, edgy content, the promo has been cut to give a similar feeling.
Are you lucky to be getting diverse roles in the digital arc?
Yes, about time, don’t you think? I have been around for twenty-years being part of several hits films across languages (Hindi, Tamil, and Telegu, etc.), etc. The artist in you always desires for something different. I had played the tough, no-nonsense trainer in the ALTBalaji’s Test Case. Naib Subedar Kirpal Bhatti also helps captain Shikha Sharma (Nimrat Kaur) catch her rapist. I do get army roles (smiles). Then I have just played a radicle terrorist preacher in Zee5, Operation Parinde. Monty Singh was very restrained and smart. We have borrowed our plot from a real-life jailbreak which happened in Punjab back in 2016.
Your small screen innings was brief?
Yes (Ishqbaaaz and Devon Ke Dev…Mahadev). Its hasty TRP driven grammar does not suit me my taste. While TV does make you a better actor requiring to enact pages of dialogues which you only get on the morning of the shoot. Yet it is not apt for more profound roles calling for self-transformation. I know it is often said that TV gives you a huge reach as compared to films, but I beg to differ, for that audience is still genre-specific (family drama or comedy etc.), unlike the universally watched movies. Web, on the other hand, is another excellent medium like films and theatre, offering differentiated content.
What keeps you going?
Sheer luck as you keep needing to keep proving your worth in a vast pool of actors. Hard work and perseverance is a given. Our industry should try something like The Irishman.this Hollywood film about the life of gangsters has enlisted services of thespian artists like Al Pacino and Robert D Nero. Instead of taking other actors for the youth part, here, the makers have digitally made the senior artists look younger on-screen, thereby adding authenticity to the narrative.
Future projects?
Girish Malik directed film Torbaaz. This Afghanistan based suicide bomber story starring Sanjay Dut and Nargis Fakhri, among others, has been in the works for a while. There is some friendly debating going on among the producers, whether first to tour the festival circuit or go in for a theatrical release. There is also talk of an OTT release.