Shedding his good boy image

The actor talks to NIKITA WADHAWAN about his upcoming films, moving on from TV and much more…

Popular TV actor Gautam Rode, who is known for his pious roles, is all set to shed his sanskaari image and explore his dark side in director Anant Mahadevan's upcoming Bollywood thriller Aksar

2. Although from the trailers, the film is being perceived as an erotica, the actor clarifies that it is a suspense thriller and just the song is sensual. “Would like to stress on the fact that this is not an erotic thriller, this is a suspense thriller. Although the trailer now looks like the former, once you see the film you will see the difference,” says Gautam. The actor also warns the audience not to watch the film expecting an erotic as they will be disappointed. Excerpts from the interview:

It has been a while since we have seen you on the big screen...

Yes, for six years non-stop I did TV. I grabbed on this opportunity as this was a different character to play. On TV we generally see characters who are either positive or negative, there is no in between, but in this film I play an investment banker who reacts to situation the same way a normal person would. He has to play the game of life if he needs to survive in the real world

This is the first time you will be seen in a suspense thriller, so how was the experience?

As an actor I got to play with the role a lot. He is good and bad depending on the situation, there are various dimensions to him which was interesting to explore.

By the looks of the trailer, the movie seems like an erotic thriller when it is a suspense thriller…

That was a deliberate decision as the in the trailer song is very sensuous and we played with the lighting. We didn’t even kiss in the song, if we had then it would become sexual. We did not want to cross that line, even personally I did not want to cross it. So, I would like to tell the audience that don't come to watch an erotic thriller, come to watch a good content suspense film.

Not kissing on screen, was it an attempt to not spoil the good boy image you have from TV?

No, I don’t want to be stuck to once image. I want to try different things. The situation demanded a song like that, we didn’t put it just to gain more eyeballs. Moreover, the lighting and the situation were perfect for this song. If we had kissed it would not look appropriate. Although the film does have a kissing scene but when it was required.

How was it working with Zareen Khan?

It was good. She is a very natural actor and at the same time she has a good command over Hindi. And as a person she is very straight forward, what she feels she will tell you on your face.

People who have moved on from TV to films are reluctant to do any TV serials again, what about you?

No, I don't mind doing TV again. TV ne tho mujhe banaya

hai. But I want to play different characters. Don’t want to be stuck in the same rut. The only problem with TV is that if your show does well then it will go on for years and you can't do anything else. But if I get some seasonal shows I would love to do that.

Many actors complain that TV content has become regressive today... do you agree?

No, I don’t agree. There is a lot of content in TV it just depends on the actor what type of show he wants to do. But you can’t make shows like they do abroad, we don't have the audience for that. Few months’ back we thought that web series would take over TV completely but that didn’t happen. For those stories to be made and connect with the mass audience will take years.

What are your plans ahead?

Right now I just want

Aksar 2 to do well. My full focus is on only on that.