Home » Interview » Made In Heaven season 2 actors Arjun Mathur and Jim Sarbh: It's not our responsibility to educate the audience but simply to act | Exclusive
Made In Heaven season 2 actors Arjun Mathur and Jim Sarbh: It's not our responsibility to educate the audience but simply to act | Exclusive
Jim Sarbh and Arjun Mathur play pivotal characters in Zoya Akhtar-Reema Kagti's created show alongside Sobhita Dhulipala.
Aug 12, 2023
Arjun Mathur, Jim Sarbh (PC: Instagram)
Prime Video's Made In Heaven season 2 has been one of the most anticipated series this year. The latest show has received fairly good reviews from the cinephiles as well as critics. Along with Sobhita Dhulipala, the drama series also stars Jim Sarbh and Arjun Mathur in pivotal roles.
In a recent chat with OTTplay, Arjun and Jim shared their thoughts on the latest instalment, the love they received from the audience and more.
The first instalment gathered unanimously great and positive responses, while Made in Heaven season 2 has been receiving mixed reactions from critics and fans. Talking about the same, Arjun shared, "Look, we know that we've not made a bad show. However, we're also very aware of how high the audience's expectations are. And we've just done our best to put our best foot forward. And beyond that, nothing is in our control there. So I don't put myself too much with these thoughts.
He further added, "Yes, it is perhaps we may be lagging behind audience expectations. Because like I just said, the expectation is super high. However, from what I can see the reviews are all good. But hopefully, in some days we'll start learning what exactly it is that didn't work."
On the other hand, Jim informed that he still needs to go through the whole show as well as the reviews, however, he hasn't come across any negative reactions yet.
The LGBTQ angle has been showcased so profoundly in the last season, especially with Arjun's characters however, this time the makers have taken it up a notch, and we can even see a grand LGBTQ wedding. Talking if the filmmakers and they as actors feel responsible for bringing up and educating people on such topics, Jim and Arjun shared their thoughts.
Jim mentioned, "The job of an actor, in my opinion, is not to educate. It is to try to play a character as truthfully as you can. This question is more for the makers of the show. I feel the writers and creators. As an actor, it's our job to take on a project that we think is interesting. Well, we think that our character has an interesting arc or we get to show and experience things that we don't usually get to experience you know. So, I think the strength of Karan's (Arjun) character lies beyond just his sexuality. Sexuality is an important aspect of it, but I think that otherwise, he's as a person, like many other people who are experiencing guilt being guilted, going into cycles of self-abuse and escapism, and then, you know, trying to find emotional catharsis through this entire experience."
"We can't be taking the responsibility to educate, to be honest. The only responsibility I take is to simply act truthfully and express the emotions of the characters that are taken up," added Arjun.
Talking about his favourite wedding storyline among all of them in this season, Jim mentioned, "There's very lovely. Episode, I think Episode Five, in which, Radhika Apte plays a Dalit activist who's fighting against certain prejudices. And that one has stuck with me. I've been thinking about that one."
Meanwhile, Arjun revealed, "I will speak for the one that is memorable filming for me. For some reason, it's not the grandest or anything at all. It's possibly the smallest one, the South Indian wedding. And I don't know, because I think in that episode, it was something about Karan's connection with that child. I think that that has stayed with me a little bit."
Jim Sarbh has carved a niche in the industry with his versatile performances across his projects through the years, when asked if it's a conscious choice to always look and act differently, and what is his takeaway from each of the characters, the talented actor replied, "Well, they are different people. So I guess I'm always excited differently. I tried to look at the demands of the script, I try to see how my character fix fits into the overall story. I tried to see what the character does. How does my character act upon the plot and the events I kind of move backwards from there and start trying to build the character in such a way that he can effectively do that. And then, of course, there's the writing and the individual beats of each scene, which have a certain rhythm.
"Usually, if the writer is skilled, which in our case, they are. Then there's a rhythm to the scene. In this, there's a bit set up the clear jokes and then again now that I know what my character does overall then I apply that same logic to the scene of what am I trying to do in the scene and to myself or to other characters or to something like what is the effect my character suppose having the number backwards from there, so I guess these things inform their differences," the Padmavat actor added.
Arjun has been in the industry for over a decade and has done a subsequent amount of work, however, Made In Heaven has garnered the actor a great recognition. When asked if OTT has been the biggest help in that, the Gone Game actor replied, "Yeah, I suppose so because, for filmmakers, it eases them the pressures of the box office and gives them the freedom to cast any actor, whose name they don't need to market their project basically."
However, now they have the pressure of most streams. The system is like cancer and it gets in everywhere. But as far as this goes, I'm just very fortunate because this is just that one project that had all the variables in the right place and right time. It's just the perfect storm. From makers to the script and the talent that came on board, the platform and the fact that the audience is spread out all over the world."
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