For Sanjay Suri, detaching himself from wrenching personal tragedy became the key to play the antagonist in Avrodh 2

The underrated actor plays the radicalized-yet-savvy Ehsaan Waziri in Avrodh 2: The Siege Within

Sanjay Suri

There isn't much that Sanjay Suri hasn't explored as an actor during his two-and-half-decade-long career. It was the 1999 film Pyaar Mein Kabhi Kabhi that lent him his first acting break and through the years, he grew to become synonymous with a sensibility that was always slightly outside the main scope of the Hindi film industry. Sure, he didn't achieve the stature of a bonafide Bollywood hero but that never deterred him, it would seem, from exploring an entire range of opportunities as a performer. Thanks to the advent of the OTT media that actors like him continue to reap exciting opportunities and one such is Avrodh 2: The Siege Within which sees him play Ehsaan Waziri, a suave but conniving Pakistani terrorist who wishes to bring India to its knees through an intricate financial attack.

In a recent IANS interview, Suri spoke at length about the preparation that goes into a role like this, the objectivity he needs as an actor towards such controversial characters, and more. Objectivity, or detachment rather, would be the operative word in the current case for Sanjay Suri, considering the personal tragedy he endured many years ago when his father, Mr. Virinder Suri was shot down by militants during the 1990 exodus in Kashmir. His family was forced to flee the region along with many others and while one can never shake off such horrors, Sanjay Suri has chosen to overlook them for the sake of his craft.

About playing the morally dubious character of Ehsaan Waziri in Avrodh 2, Suri says: "Coming from Kashmir, where I lived a life and have an idea of both sides of the situation, it is easy to bring my sensibility to the narrative, of course following the script. But I do not want to bring my personal agony to it, I had to disassociate myself from my past experience; otherwise, I wouldn't have done justice to the character."

He would also refer to the life of a soldier in the same interview and enunciate that it is important for an actor to keep their personal experiences and perspectives aside, as much as possible. ""when you are at war as a soldier, even though you are a son, a father and husband to someone, your priority is different when you are in the line of duty. Similarly, when I am playing a Pakistani terrorist, I had to keep Sanjay Suri and his personal life experience aside, and only focus on how the actor plays the character with conviction. I think I negotiated well in my head, before approaching the character," he added.

And while his character comes in the most radicalized form, the writers have filled it with some nuance that Suri can flirt with. Ehsaan Waziri is no ordinary fundamentalist, he shares, and there are many interesting little details to absorb. "Firstly the show is a work of fiction, inspired by some real-life incident; so it has a lot of fiction. The character I am playing is a radicalized Pakistani man, highly educated, westernized, and intelligent, who is doing a huge financial attack on India. This terrorism is different, it does not make noise but it hits hard at the target. Playing such a character was challenging for sure," he says in the same IANS interview.

Avrodh 2: The Siege Within also stars Abit Chatterjee, Ahana Kumra, Aahana Kumra, Anant Mahadevan, Krishna Hebbale, Mohan Agashe, Neeraj Kabi, Rajesh Khattar, and Vijay Krishnan. The series, written for the screen by Bijesh Jayrajan and Sudeep Nigam, is based on the book titled India's Most Fearless by Shiv Aroor and Rahul Singh. Raj Acharya directs the second season which is currently streaming on Sony LIV.

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