JAIDEEP AHLAWAT

STILL BASKING IN THE GLORY OF HIS PAATAL LOK PERFORMANCE, THE MARVELLOUS ACTOR TAKES HELLO! THROUGH HIS BEST MOMENTS IN THE INDUSTRY AND WHAT’S TO COME

- SHRADDHA CHOWDHURY

Your 2020 was incomplete if you missed watching policeman Hathiram Chaudhary in Paatal Lok. The disarmingly humble actor who brought him to life is a powerhouse of talent who emerged as one of the biggest faces of OTT in the past couple of years. In fact, Jaideep Ahlawat was offered the part even without an audition—a true testament to an actor’s caliber. He made his debut in Hindi cinema in 2010 with Aakrosh and Khatta Meetha and has had a number of releases since then. Ahlawat first made his presence felt in Anurag Kashyap’s Gangs of Wasseypur, followed by Commando: A One Man Army and Raees with Shah Rukh Khan. But it was his performance as RAW agent Khalid Mir in Raazi that caught the eye of the mainstream audience. He opens up to HELLO! about the impact of OTT and his experiences.

Can we expect to see you in lighter, more comic or romantic roles?

Well, that doesn’t depend on me. I would love to do such roles, but for that to happen, such scripts need to come my way. Ones in which there’s a bit of comedy as well as romance. As an actor, I want to explore all shades of human behaviour. Some day, of course, you will see me in characters different from those I have essayed so far, ones that make me go, “Oh, I haven’t explored that side of myself as an actor yet.” I’ll jump at these opportunities because new and unique characters and storylines excite me. The genre doesn’t matter.

How similar or different is it working for Bollywood and OTT?