‘We lucked out as 2020 had no Salman, Akshay sort of big films’

With his unconventional career choices, actor Akshay Oberoi made it obvious that he’s more concerned about the story, and not the screen time he gets. In fact, he’s ready to do even a fiveminute role if it’s interesting. “I don’t understand when people say, ‘Mujhe sirf lead role karna hai’. For me, saying yes or no depends on the story, character and whether it’ll help me develop my craft,” says Oberoi, 36, who has been part of films such as Laal Rang (2016), Gurgaon (2017) and Bombairiya (2019).

He adds that he has no issues in playing supporting roles or being a part of ensemble casts. “I want to improve consistently. Rest of the discussions that happen are just noise to me,” he continues, “I’ve been through the worst in my career. I’ve seen many rock bottoms and picked myself up every time. So, I don’t let the trappings bother me anymore.”

Despite the pandemic, Oberoi had a pretty decent 2020, with his web projects Flesh, High, Illegal and Hum Tum and Them doing well.

“I think we lucked out because there were no Salman Khan, Akshay Kumar sort of big film releases, so the attention fell on these shows and films,” says the actor, who has his hands full with upcoming projects, including a Hindi remake of Tamil film Thiruttu Payale, a thriller, KTina and web series, Inside Edge 3.

Interestingly, after Gurgaon, he did negative parts in Flesh as well as Madam Chief Minister. Asked if he worries about getting stereotyped, he tells us, “This didn’t occur to me as I’ve played romantic, horror and other parts, too... I consciously try to make each character different.”

OTT is going to be a big part of the future and the pandemic only sped up the process.

AKSHAY OBEROI, Actor