By now I can confidently say that Netflix India’s Class is a success. But do you know? This show becoming a hit has also changed things in a great way for its cast. And while we at MissMalini have been catching up with the amazing gang of Class, I recently even spoke to Moses Koul who played Sharan Gujral in the show. Let me tell you when I watched the show, Sharan was one character that left me quite intrigued and if you have seen the end, you would know why… He is a surprise, a dark one, but he was also charming in many ways, and pulling it all off was Moses who decoded his journey of the show with me.
Talking about all the adulation received, Moses says…
It feels surreal. I’m a first time actor, in fact, Class is my first audition in life. I have never been in front of the camera, never delivered a line, let alone a performance. For me, the joy of it all started when I just got an opportunity to act through Ashim Ahluwalia who’s the showrunner, and Kabir and Gul who are also the co-directors. So I was just happy doing that. I had no idea about whether there will be an adulation or not.
Talking about Sharan, Moses shares…
Sharan is a very grey character. He is the modern day Shah Rukh Khan from Baazigar in my opinion. Mostly people’s reaction to him will be negative in nature because of what he is and what he does. But Sharan and I are polar opposite people, so with the adulation there’s also this great confusion where I’m getting a lot of people creeped out. They take some time before they approach me or say anything because they’re like Sharan is so dark. That’s also a part of the adulation which I’m honestly learning to appreciate.
He further added,
The fact that actors would be scared or skeptical about taking up Sharan’s character is the reason why I took it up. And I’m I’m not being arrogant or cocky in saying that, I know a lot of people who are vying for a certain kind of career in Bollywood, Hollywood or OTT platform, but I’m a musician first, so for me, I had no skin in the game. I was like give me the character that’s the most challenging part, someone who is further away from my personality and let me see what I can do with it. I remember having a very long chat with Ashim about it. There was no conversation about, if we could tone it down. It was more like, this is what is written, but it would be so cool if we were to show it this way or if we could amp up this thing. But none of it had to do with the edginess of the character, because in a web series that already has 10 other cast members you have to be on your A-game in every single scene. Especially with Sharan who only blossoms or comes into his own after episode 4-5, there was a very obvious challenge to play him in a way that he’s never suspicious until he actually commits the deal. So I feel like that was more of a challenge start than the boldness of it.
Well, when the role is so intense, bold, and layered there is surely a method to leave it behind and commenting on the same, Moses explained…
Every actor has a method to get in and out of a character, towards the second half of shooting I figured out how I could get out of Sharan’s psyche. There was a point in the middle where it would get to me at some points because we were shooting in the pandemic, but towards the end I figured how to get out of the skin. What Sharan has left behind in me, is that there are many things I wouldn’t do, but while playing the part I had to empathize with him, I couldn’t judge him. The moment I do that I can never be able to play the role. I learned pure, unadulterated empathy to give the other person a few minutes to listen to them.
This is surely a great beginning for Moses, and while he continues to work on his craft, he plans to play some very cool roles in the future. In fact, he is in talks too, as for season two he and I are yet to find out what is happening on that front. Till then let us stay tuned.