Exclusive! Pavan Malhotra : I am conscious when choosing web series, only looking for versatility

The 64-year-old actor Pavan Malhotra, who appeared in web series like Grahan, Tabbar and Shiksha Mandal, says OTT platforms opened another window of opportunity for him

Pavan Malhotra

Pavan Malhotra is one of those veteran actors who cinephiles will definitely remember. Be it Black Friday, Delhi 6, Jab We Met, Bhaag Milkha Bhaag, Children of War, and more, the actor has consistently delivered excellent performances in every film that he appeared in so far.

The actor seems to be continuing his streak of success in the OTT sphere as well. Although the actor has appeared in only three web series so far, every single one of them earned him appreciation from viewers. Tabbar and Grahan, that released on Sonyliv and Disney+Hotstar respectively, won multiple awards too.

In conversation with OTTplay, the actor was asked about how he looks at the growth of OTT platforms and why he is doing so fewer web shows, and the veteran actor opened up about the same.

Pavan told OTTplay, " I think for an actor like me, it is another window of opportunity that has opened with OTT shows. I am very consciously choosing every project for OTT. Look, I am someone who has been looking for characters that are different from one another. I mean Salim Langra is way different from Tiger Menon of Black Friday. Versatility was never a problem for me but maybe the length of the role was. The OTT web series started quite some time and I was constantly refusing to be part of one, until Grahan came to me. My greed as an actor is not visibility, but looking for challenges."

Recalling his early days, the veteran actor mentioned how the medium was never a matter of concern for him as he is a theatre actor.

"Look, I come from Delhi, theatre. We are stage actors and for us, on-camera acting started with Doordarshan. So quite easily I shifted from stage to TV. Initially, I was working on TV series but then the saas-bahu saga started. I can't fit myself there so I left TV and whatever meaningful role I was offered in film, I did," said Pavan.

However, he mentioned that it is because of the web series that he got to play characters that are well-edged out.

"You see, if you watched Grahan, for the first few episodes, my character Gurusevak had very few lines. It was in the last episode, with that courtroom scene that for 10 minutes Gurusevak speaks! So yes, one show is almost equivalent to 3 films, and that is why actors like us get to play well-edged out roles in web series," Pavan signed off.

The actor was last seen in the latest web series Shiksha Mandal, which is streaming on MX Player.

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