When the lockdown started in March, Namit Das was a happy soul. He knew that he had two months to do the things he always wanted to do before he gets busy with promoting his new OTT series ‘Aarya’ along with Sushmita Sen and Chandrachur Singh.
The ‘Wake Up, Sid’ actor, in a chat with Showtime, said that there were many ifs and buts with the whole experience of releasing this thriller series but the team managed it all quite well.
He says, “Ram Madhvan (director) is a genius. He made the whole process seamless. What I loved about this set was that everyone worked as a team and no one came in with an intention to outshine the other.”
Playing the role of Jawahar was a challenging one for Namit. He says, “There’s a scene in the series where my character gets beaten up. That particular scene was very difficult for me because I couldn’t get the motive of it. I couldn’t understand it because there were multiple emotions Jawahar has to show. That’s how he is meant to be because, in every scene of my character, there are multiple things happening at the same time. He’s a liar, manipulator and a drug addict. Sandeep Modi (co-creator) really helped me understand that clearly.”
From playing the sweet, innocent boy in ‘Wake Up, Sid’ to being the bad guy in ‘Aarya’, the actor feels like he’s come a long way.
“It’s been an interesting journey, especially after ‘Aarya’, as there is a certain sense of cohesiveness that’s coming right now through everything I’ve done so far. The audience is realising that I’m able to show my versatility with my roles,” says Namit.
As for working with Sushmita Sen, he says, “When I met her on the set for the first time, she was so warm. I mean, she was the first Miss Universe and pretty much everyone’s first crush,” he laughs. “She was really easy to work with.”
With two more releases, ‘Mafia’ and ‘A Suitable Boy’ releasing on OTT platforms in July, he feels that OTT is here to stay and will co-exist with every other medium.
While he continues being busy with promotions, he’s proud to have learnt new skills during the lockdown.
He says, “From someone who couldn’t even boil water properly, I now make chicken curry and rajma chawal. I also read a lot but that’s taken a backseat now that work has started.”