Absence of work terrifying for actors, says Viineet

F rom background characters to playing a corpse and even a ghost, Mukkabaaz star Viineet Kumar says he has done all kind of roles in his career in the hope that these appearances will eventually translate into bigger parts. It was a struggle for nearly two decades for the actor, who was first noticed with Anurag Kashyap’s 2012 gangster drama GangsofWasseypur as Danish Khan and later got his due with the filmmaker ’s boxing drama Mukkabaaz.

The actor said the blink-and-miss appearances never bothered him because the thought of not having work was more frightening. “As an actor, if there’s one thing that sends shivers down my spine, it's the absence of work. For a ver y long time, I didn't have any work. So I’ve done roles where I'm just standing in the background, in the hope that next time when I work with the same people, maybe I’ll get a line, then a scene,” Viineet said.

The struggle to stay afloat in the city while chasing his acting dreams led Viineet to pick up ever ything that came his way. From playing a corpse to fighting zombies on Netflix’s horror series Betaal, life has come full circle for the talented artiste. Viineet said he has a “lot of hunger ” in him as an actor and finds himself constantly in search of roles which can take him on a journey he hasn’t been on before. “This gives me immense joy and it’s now a part of my system. I don’t say yes to a script quickly but if I do, I surrender completely. I never calculate how much hardwork I have to put in. The key, for me, is to take up a new work and not have even the reflection of your past per formance in it. It’s challenging but so much fun. In Betaal, you’ll not see any resemblance to what I’ve done in the past. When you understand thr nuances of your character, the rhythm, something fresh is born,” he says. Ready to stream from May 24, Betaal will be the first series which Viineet has headlined and the actor said he’s keenly awaiting the audience response. “Ever y actor wants his work to reach a wider audience. A few years ago, no one had thought that an actor ’s work can travel to 190 countries, a lot more than a theatrical release... The fact that people of different cultures will watch something together is exciting. Betaal has a strong global appeal,” he added.