Journey to Jamtara

16 years on, Amit Sial has finally arrived, courtesy OTT platforms

If you are a web series addict, there is no chance you would have missed Amit Sial. Be it Amazon, Netflix, Zee5 or any other OTT platform, he is simply unmissable. Ironically, despite being an intense and a trained actor, it took over 16 years for this Kanpurite to reach ‘Jamtara’ (the latest web series).

“Definitely, these web series came to me as second lifeline. Maza ane lage life ka. Yeh jo web ka mamla shuru hua, mere liye to jaadu ka pitara ho gaya,” says the actor who plays prominent roles in ‘Inside Edge’, ‘Mirzapur’, ‘Smoke’, ‘Rangbaaz Phirse’ and ‘Jamtara - Sabka Number Ayega’.

“With the arrival of OTT platforms, writers, directors, storytellers and producers — all have started experimenting and exploring the unchartered territories. I am enjoying my presence on almost all OTT platforms. Almost 15-16 years after I started my journey, finally I am in a happy space,” says the man who plays all powerful politician Brajesh Bhan in Jamtara.

All praise for new-age noholds-barred stories like Jamtara, Sial says, the digital space is benefitting many.

“This segment has opened an avenue for talented people in all departments. ‘Kamaal ka talent nikal kar aa raha hai. And sabka number aa raha hai’. With such good talent now available on mobile phones, now films too are adapting to competition from digital content which is as big as a film. In fact, both mediu-ms are lifting each other,” says the man, who despite playing significant chafilmmakers, racters went almost unnoticed in films such as ‘Raid’, ‘Titli’ ‘Bombairiya’, Love Sex Aur Dhoka and Phas Gaye Obama.

Interestingly, after an initial struggle, Sial had bagged a lead role in Tanuja Chandra’s film ‘Hope and a Little Sugar’ opposite Mahima Chaudhry. “That was way back. I was on cloud nine. And since I was playing the lead in the film I did not look up to many roles that came my way in those four years. Unfortunately, the film tanked at the box office and I ended up going back to the theatre,” reminisces the Kanpur boy.

“In Kanpur lie my roots and all that I am as an actor I owe it to the city. It was after my schooling I went to Delhi for graduation and later joined Barry John’s acting school,” says Sial, who started off, like many acting veterans, from theatre. With no success coming, he later moved to Australia for a course. “There too, I did some armature theatre but then got busy with studies and job and for 5-6 years I was off acting,” he says.

In 2002, he returned to Delhi and got into 9 to 6 job. “It was this time that I met a friend who was producing a play. The acting bug got active and I grabbed a role and that’s how I again started acting,” says Sial who started a takeaway Awadhi food joint to survive.

He moved to Mumbai in 2004 on the insistence of his friend Randeep Hooda, who recommended him for a role in a film. Though the project did not roll, years later he got to play a character in Dibakar Banerjee’s ‘Love, Sex aur Dhoka.’

“It worked well for me and I gradually started getting small roles in odd films,” says Sial whose turning point was Inside Edge, a web series based on Indian Professional League. “I play Devender Mishra, a Brahmin cricketer from UP. Hailing from UP benefitted me a lot and I got enough free hand to develop my character,” says Sial.

“The funny elements, cynicism and one of its UP kind of ‘bakaiti’ in roles I played in Mirzapur, Jamtara, Smoke and Rangbaaz Phirse’ helped me a lot in getting noticed,” says the actor who is now in no hurry.

“I am doing good projects on web. So, I am taking it easy on film front. I don’t want to disturb the flow just for the sake of doing a film. I am getting some offers but if I get a ‘dhamaal’ role then I surely will take it up,” says the actor who idolises Amitabh Bachchan.

The funny elements, cynicism and one of its UP kind of ‘bakaiti’ in roles I played in Mirzapur, Jamtara, Smoke and Rangbaaz Phirse’ helped me a lot in getting noticed AMIT SIAL ACTOR

Amit Sial