Karan Wahi has a busy year ahead. He will soon start shooting for an Alt Balaji web series. “I expect it to be a game-changer, for you would have never expected me to do something like this.”
“It is sad that the industry refuses to go beyond the tried and tested. I am often told that you don’t fit the role. How can you or the actor be sure unless he/she tries.”
“As far as I am concerned, a good actor can do just about anything. If you take a look at Bhaag Milkha Bhaag, Farhan Akhtar really immersed himself in the character. Similarly, you could see glimpses of Dhoni in Sushant Singh Rajput’s portrayal of Captain Cool.”
“The only exceptions are when you play a character that has a different physical requirement than you. All the remaining boxes, including essaying an aged person, are ticked. I can look old with makeup, right?”
“Besides the above web series, I also have a music video which should be out very soon. Then I am in talks for another digital project.”
“The web gives us the liberty to play much more realistic characters. For example, I played a Bong in Fuh Se Fantasy, unlike TV, where he would have spoken with a Bengali accent. I have many bong friends who live and work in Maximum city and they too don’t speak with the above regional twang.”
On a return to GEC fiction, he says, “Only if I get a start to finish project where I know the character. I can’t spend 25-28 days being unhappy. But I do anchor some shows, so it is not that I have severed all Tellywood links.”
“There comes a time when you have to take a call between creativity and money. And after being around the tube successfully for 15 years, I think it is time to take a leap of faith.”
“Here I must thank formats like Sacred Games, which give the web series format the much-needed respect and success. This, in turn, will translate into more work for many technicians and artists like me.”
When asked about the overdose of s*x on the www landscape, he says, “While I agree s*x sells, sadly some people take advantage of the lack of censorship by only making the show around it.”
“If you take a look at Sacred Games and Mirzapur, both these products also had a lot of sex. But no one is complaining, for these critically acclaimed shows had a very strong storyline, subsuming everything else.”