Operation MBBS was a role that was out of my comfort zone – Ayush Mehra

Actor Ayush Mehra started his career in the entertainment industry with tv commercials and short roles in Bollywood. But ever since the time the web series platform came, he has been accepted very well by the audience as they have showered immense love on him in his previous endeavors. He made a stunning debut in Bindass Originals’ series, Life, Lafde air Bandhiya followed by some credible work in Yeh Hai Aashique. He also made an impact with Zoom Studios’s web show, ‘Mom & Co.’. He recently bagged the role of Dice Media’s ‘Operation MBBS’ for which he has been receiving accolades as well. This is Ayush’s second collaboration with Dice Media after ‘Please Find Attached’. Ayush got in a candid chat with IWMBuzz to talk about his entire experience. Read the conversation to know more

How do you think web space has helped young actors like you in getting critical recognition?

It has helped a lot, because the web is now a new medium and has provided newer avenues not only for young actors like me but, directors, writers, DOP’s, even for established Bollywood celebrities! Because there are so many platforms now and everyone is looking for fresh content all the time, you know it is a win-win situation for everyone, where the ultimate goal is to only create good stuff. The idea of good content, unlike before, doesn’t need to be restricted to films alone. I’m lucky in a way that I happened to be around at a time when the web is growing nicely and I get the opportunity to be part of this growth. I really like the way it is progressing and the way it has helped me because initially for me it was just doing ads and then trying to get a film or doing TV, but at some point, TV also stopped creating out of the box content, so the opening up of the web, is something that just brought up so many new avenues and now it doesn’t matter which platform you’re working with as long as your script is interesting and you believe in it.

Do you personally think web space is at par with movies or is there still some to achieve it?

It’s not nice to make a comparison, because there are some web-shows which are highly budgeted, in fact, more than films and they tend to be better than films, whereas some films like Baahubali is something you really can’t create on the web because of the sheer scale and economics of it. A lot of economics has to go on the web, to be at that level, but I’m sure in a matter of two to three years, the web might be at the power of cinema and might even surpass it. There are some shows right now wherein in a year probably five are made which give a ‘Takkar’ to films, but I feel in a matter of two to three years, there will be like 30 or 40 such series that will be made. This is a win-win for the audience because good content should come out from anywhere and at any time.

Tell us about your most favourite memory while shooting for Operation MBBS

I have a lot of memories, especially shooting in that college. I met a lot of fans there; it was very surreal and humbling to meet people who knew me from my previous experiences. Sometimes in the middle of the shot, they would just walk into me to get a picture and that was really nice and sweet because as a young actor you hardly get to experience that. That was a very good memory. Also, the fact that I got to work with Dice Media and Amrit Bhai, our Director were few of the most life-changing experiences for me, because I have been working with Filter Copy for the last two years, and now getting my own Dice Media show was obviously the best thing that could have happened. In fact, I also had to audition for this role to get it. So, it was fulfilling when Amrit Bhai called me and said you got the role.

Have you personally watched any television show or movie earlier which was about doctors and their life? I mean TV shows like Sanjivani have been big hits. Have you watched anything like that?

Of course, I have watched Sanjeevani and Dill Mill Gayye! Because my sister was a huge fan of Karan Singh Grover at that point in time. But that show did not focus more on medical, it was about love and stuff like that; I hardly saw any medical thing that was happening. But, I didn’t mind watching the show as it was really fun at that point in time. Our show is a little more focused on medical students, so this talks about how one becomes a doctor, what are the struggles, what are the pressures, how you scrape through the exams, the friendships and more! Operation MBBS is about the journey of becoming a doctor and that’s why this is a unique show, which hasn’t been made before. When I was approached for the auditions, they told me that it’s a web-series on medical students’ lives. We’ve seen a lot of shows/movies on engineering students but not on medical students, so that’s what interested me in the first instance!

Lastly, what is the kind of appreciation you have received since Operation MBBS?

I have received a lot of appreciation for Operation MBBS and it feels great because it’s a role that is out of my comfort zone. I am from Bombay, but a lot of people appreciated my UP accent and told me that I got it right; that was a very nice feeling. I really trained hard for it, like I had a 15 to 17-days workshop and that was the only time we had to get my UP accent right and because my director was also from UP, I knew I was in safe hands. So, I trained with the Director and the Director’s brother every day for 8-9 hours and I had to lose 7 kgs to look like a student. So, it was quite challenging in that way and when you read the comments, you realize that people are not praising Ayush, but Nishant. I think that is something where you feel you have achieved what you were trying to do. I also wanted to do something very different and push my boundaries, because as an actor you need to grow, so this was a very important series for me in that aspect, where I really wanted people to not have a typecast of me in their minds and probably know that I could do much more things which are loved by everyone.