As Fardeen Khan returns to the arclights with Netflix’s Heeramandi, he feels all the nervous
excitement of a newcomer. “You know, you’re not sure whether people want to see you. You’re not sure whether you’re relevant in any ways.You’re not sure what they think of your work, how you’re remembered. You know, all these things go through your mind. You know, you kind of second guess a lot of things.The way you counter that, you know, is just you stay focused and you keep your eye on the job, on the ball, and you just stick to doing your job. And you stick to doing your job. And I consider myself extremely, extremely fortunate for being given this chance to work again, especially with, you know, the kind of projects that I’m working on.”
It’s been twelve years since Fardeen started working, and fourteen years since his last release. “I adopted the attitude of a newcomer. I mean, a lot had changed. I was looking at a whole new landscape.The kind of films that were made, the people making the movies. You’re talking about twelve years, that’s more than half a generation. Audiences had changed, tastes had changed.It was, on some levels, was nerve-wracking. On some levels, it was very exciting. Because I felt like I was making a debut all over again.But you bring in more life experience. There’s a certain confidence within you. You know, you separate the wheat from the chaff for yourself.You’re more settled as a person. You’re a little more wise, or less stupid, whichever way you look at it. And of course, it’s, you know, the other aspect is getting used to how you look. Time has gone by. You look different. You emote different.You feel different. It takes a bit of getting used to. I was fortunate to work with people I had worked with before.”
Fardeen admits the OTT platform has changed the game. “In so many ways, the OTT platforms have opened the creative floodgates. It’s such a such a great time to be an actor, to be a writer, to be a director, to be a storyteller, to be part of this whole wonderful medium that we’re all working in. So very, very fortunate, Subhash.I consider myself very fortunate to also have this opportunity to work again. After twelve years, you know, you have certain inherent fears and insecurities. It is only but natural. There’s so much that has changed.And that kind of adds to compounding those fears and insecurities.”