Devarshi Shah: Friendship is not the hook point of OK Boss

Gujarati actor Devarshi Shah is currently in news owing to his heartwarming performance in Oho Gujarati’s web series OK Boss. He played the role of a friend who truly stood by his mate.

Devarshi opened up about the concept of the show, what he thought about it, his future projects and much more, in an exclusive chat with OTTplay.

Excerpts from the interview:

What made you pick OK Boss?

When Kewal narrated the show to me, I liked the office space and the drama it narrated. I was more interested once I read the whole script. This is a corporate drama. We wanted to give it a different take - on how friends turn into frenemies. I had enjoyed working with Kewal previously.

Friendship has been explored by Oho Gujarati itself in Chaskela. Did you see that show? What were your views on that?

I enjoyed the show. Friendship and love story is actually always going to be there in any kind of plot. It always serves the bigger purpose. Here (in OK Boss) too, there is much more to the show than just friendship. Why is there a conflict, in an office setup, is a lot of garnishing on the cake. Friendship is not the hook point of the show.

In comparison to Chaskela, that show is nostalgic. You pick up the phone and talk to your friends after watching the show. OK Boss is a corporate drama, while Chaskela is a friendship drama and internal conflict between them.

What was your experience working with Aarohi?

It was lovely. We had worked together on smaller things previously. We even met a couple of times but weren’t friends who used to hang out. So, there was a sense of comfort between both of us. We really enjoyed giving the takes.

Tell me more about your character.

Mayank Patel would take a bullet for a friend. There is a mystery around why there is a conflict between Mayku and Dhaval (Aarjav Trivedi). He’s the kind of guy who puts others first.

What has working on a web series been like?

It’s very interesting. I was offered more web shows previously but those weren’t what I wanted to debut with. I wanted to portray characters that people could enjoy and be with for a longer time. When OK Boss came around, there’s a journey of every character, which got me intrigued. I would love to do more of these.

How is shooting for a Gujarati web series different from shooting for a Gujarati film?

There isn’t much difference, except production-wise. Otherwise, actors just have to do their jobs so it doesn’t really affect us. Films could have 200 people while web shows need 20. Creatively, I don’t find much of a difference. You work with a deadline with web shows, but that’s the part and parcel of the job.

Is there any difference in pay?

The remuneration again depends on the kind of production you are working with. Nobody would get a film budget in a web budget or vice-versa.

Is your next project Raado going to be a theatrical release?

Yes, it’s going to release in cinemas only. I’m not sure if it will release on OTT. We’ve never had discussions on that.

Apart from Raado, I also have Jai Shri Krishna at hand. That is also ready and is also taking the theatre route.