Abhilash Thapiyal who is widely known for his role in Aspirants as SK Sir, spoke to the team of MissMalini about his recent film Blurr alongside Tapsee Pannu. He is not just an actor, but also a content creator and radio jockey. He spoke about the variety of characters he’s played and how he has taken on these many characters over the years. Read on to find out…
We asked him about how he prepped for his role in Blurr as Chander
It was actually Ajay Sir’s perspective more than mine. I am actually a director’s actor, how he sees the world is how I execute it. My approach has always been like that in all the projects, be it Faadu, with Ashwiny Ma’am, or Aspirants. So here also because I got finalized after the shoot had commenced. I had shot for another character. I was supposed to play the hotel manager, and I had shot for that. After I was offered this part. I never saw myself playing a negative part or an intense character like this. It was all Ajay sir’s vision, I just executed whatever little I could. I think the credit goes to him for this.
He also spoke about how it was working with Tapsee on this film
This was very different because she is a very dear friend. We have known each other for good seven to eight years now. And we also worked together on my first film. The dynamic that the two characters have is pretty intense and is nowhere close to the real world we live in, not like they are friends or know each other. There is this scene in the film where I had to kiss her, and that became very complicated. Because I’m not a trained actor so I didn’t know how to approach it. These intimate ones were quite tricky and tough for me as a character and also the dynamics with her in the film. But she made it very easy. She would help and guide me, and you never felt like you are working with a star.
From the sets of Blurr…
From playing SK Sir in Aspirants to an intense role like Chander in Blurr, how difficult or easy was it for him, here’s what he had to say
I think these three performances, SK Sir, Chander, and then Faadu. People have started seeing a different side of me. Before Aspirants, people always saw me as a fun guy, with a good sense of humour. So I used to always get roles like that. Now suddenly that perception has changed, they saw a different side of me in Aspirants. When they saw Chander they saw a completely different side of me, I was also shocked. And with Faadu, I had to play a drunkard and I don’t drink. So that was a completely different character. I also explored myself as an actor. The reviews were good, but the reaction industry people gave me, made me very happy. When you are not an actor, you are always seeking validation.
We of course inquired if there is a new season of Aspirants on the cards…
Definitely, there is. Aspirants will happen for sure. People want to know what happened in SK Sir’s life. I have just finished a film called Maidan, with Amit Sharma, which I think will release in May. I finished another project with amazon, with the NH10 director, Navdeep Singh. Just going through a couple of things, understanding. I haven’t signed anything new.
I cannot wait for him to explore more such characters and bring them to life on the big screen.