Exclusive! Divyendu: An actor can be in a whole film or series and not have anything substantial to say

Divyendu is known as one of the most versatile actors in the industry. The actor rose to fame with his stint as Munna Tripathi in the famous crime-thriller series, Mirzapur alongside Pankaj Tripathi and Ali Fazal.  

He has recently been seen in SonyLIV's family-drama series, Salt City alongside Piyush Mishra and Gauahar Khan. In a candid chat with OTTplay, the actor shared his experience of working in his latest show and also talked about his upcoming ventures. Excerpts:

The dialogues in the series, especially your dialogues, appear impactful. Was it all in the script or something was spontaneous?

As an actor, one tends to definitely improvise. It's been a while now so honestly, I can't remember much but as an actor, I always prefer my shots to be engaged with respect to a well-written script. If it's nicely written, as an actor, you can jump on it and go higher but at the same time, you have to be careful that you don't fall off. Within that boundary, I like to improvise as well as discuss improvisation with my co-actors and director. So, yeah, why not?

How would you describe Salt City in your words?

It's about a dysfunctional family. I've seen Salt City in a messed-up way. It's like this great-looking, pretty, quirky room, not it's all wood and plain. It's about how you learn to come back. We tend to push things under the carpet and not really talk about them but your room will look pretty only when you take stuff out of the carpet and change it nicely and accept the reality.

What is Mumbai to you?

Mumbai is where hopes come from. Being an outsider who did not know any industry person, I come here and do my thing. People have liked and accepted me like that. I know one thing for sure that people face here. It is the city of dreams and everything but Mumbai is a city that tests you as a person and it tests your character. Mumbai is a place which looks very glamorous but people need to have some kind of passion to really take back from the city. Here, people who don't know anything could ride on their luck for some time but even that would run out after a while. So, Mumbai is a bit of a sinister city.

This is a show that is a good combo of actors and stars. While you have a Piyush Mishra, you also have a Gauahar Khan and of course, you. So, what was it like, working with them?

I had a good time, especially with Mishra Ji (Piyush Mishra) playing my father. We almost have a love-and-hate relationship. It's almost like a gung-ho. It's about the pain that starts especially within the families in our country. They go through that pain. Me and Piyush bhai, we share that kind of chemistry in the show. As an actor, I had a brilliant time working with him. So, like I said, the whole bunch - a good, talented bunch of people - working with all of them was a pleasure. At the same time, they all have such different sur as actors. I hope we all come together and make it sound like a nice harmony.

This series has a lot of actors and it is about a family that is dysfunctional. They want to talk but there's no one to listen so there is chaos. You would also be a part of these moments. What was shooting that like?

(Laughs) Who knew love could have such dark skeletons? And to think they exist in our society. I truly feel that as Indians, how we are, all of us are not living honestly. When it comes to relationships, as people, we always want to be happy with everything without actually caring about the other person. It's also about expecting the other person to be like that too. So, yeah, while doing this, a lot of things cropped up. When you watch this show with your family, you would realize that something's not right. To solve that problem, you need acceptance of that problem. We all have to, in our own way, work or maybe talk about it. Acceptance is very important. You need to realize that is the problem.

Do you believe that every actor will get a fair opportunity in the series? Because there are so many and not everyone could have that much space.

(Laughs) I don't know yaar. It's about how the writers have written the different characters. Obviously, in a show or even film for that matter, you can't say the story of every character. Keeping that apart, in Salt City, you see an arc to every character. It's never about the men hogging the roles yaar. You can be in a whole film and web series and not have any substantial thing to say. You can not be in every scene but need to have something which contributes to the screenplay of the project. We have that with Salt City.

Your upcoming projects?

My next release is a comedy called Thai Massage. It's an Imtiaz Ali production. I've done a show for YRF and it should release by year-end, hopefully.