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MOHIT MADAAN speaks to NIKITA WADHAWAN about his upcoming film, nepotism in Bollywood and his style of acting

After his Hindi film debut in the 2015 with romantic comedy Love Exchange, actor Mohit Madaan will be looking to impress audiences in his forthcoming Aksar 2, a sequel to the 2006 thriller which starred Emraan Hashmi and Udita Goswami. The sequel too will be directed by Anant Mahadevan, but this time the lead couple will be Madaan and Zareen Khan. Though mostly tight-lipped about his new movie, Madaan does talk more about his life, journey and the difficulties he is facing in the industry.

Dream job

We all have grown up watching larger than life Bollywood movies, trying to emulate our favourite scenes or our favourite actor. For some it is a juvenile behaviour but for others it’s their dream and for Madaan it was way to touch people’s lives. “I strongly feel that acting is another way to persuade people by uniting an idea with an emotion. The best way would be by telling a compelling story. By enacting, you not only weave a lot of information into the story, but you also arouse your audiences’ emotions and energy,” Madaan says.

Nepotism and Godfather

Bollywood is quickly becoming a family owned business with the bulk of our top stars being star kids or related to the people in the industry. After actress Kangana Ranuat sparked a controversy when she tried to imply Karan Johar as bacon of nepotism, other actors also came out and spoke about their experiences.

So, for someone like Madaan who is an outsider, things have definitely not been a smooth ride. Madaan says, “When I started acting I was told, if you don’t have a godfather, it’s difficult to survive in the industry. Now that I’ve spent a fair amount of years, I can say that it’s not entirely true. It took me a while to build my network and get noticed. But I believe if you are focused and believe in yourself and your talent, then there’s no need to take shortcuts. Things may get delayed, time will test you, but they will most definitely happen,”

Silence zone

Bollywood of-late has started exploring different and interesting subjects but horror has not been its strong point. Albeit Aksar 2 just like its predecessor is a thriller, Madaan is also mysterious about his upcoming film and working with his co-star.

“I was nervous at first. But Zareen is a very comfortable actress to work with. I knew what my role was and we just blended,” Madaan adds further about his role in the film, “My character is there throughout the film. It’s pivotal to the plot and I cannot give much more details as it will open up the story,” he adds.

Instinctive actor

Industry has categorised it’s actors into two sections. One who is a director’s actor, someone who follows the directors words to the ‘T’ like Amitabh Bachchan and the other who brings his\her panache to the role like Raveer Singh. Madaan categorises himself as the latter.

“Reliance on the director’s point of view is certainly required. I’m a big believer in acting instinctively. An actor shouldn’t be afraid to do what his or her instincts tell. One must also keep the director’s vision in mind, and try to be own self while performing it. While acting you’re not just selling your vision of that character but you’re selling what you can uniquely do as an actor,” he says.