Exclusive! Ankur Bhatia: Actors are getting their dues with the OTT boom, it's a blessing!

Ankur Bhatia has been seen in a lot of great movies with some huge personalities of the industry such as Aishwarya Rai Bachchan in Sarbjeet, Shraddha Kapoor in HAseena Parker and more. The actor has become the talk of the tinsel town due to his performance in Aarya as the antagonist. 

OTTplay caught up with the actor to talk about his latest web series Aarya 2, his views on the OTT platform and more. Excerpts:

Talking about the transition in his character and the show, the actor said, “We started the second season where we left off. So the essence of Sangraam is the same but of course, he has some new kinds of hurdles. It's an interesting arc to the story and my character. It will keep the audience more engaged with the show. One thing is for sure that he is big trouble.”

Speaking about being back on the sets after the pandemic, Ankur mentioned, “When I came for the second season this year, it was my first day on the shooting set after the first season of Aarya. Due to the pandemic, I was not involved in any of the projects. And we started the shoot of Aarya 2 from exactly where we left off in the first instalment.”

“So the very first day I was actually not sure how to begin and I talked to the director about it as well but as soon as I put on Sangram’s costume and step of the set, it all came so naturally to me. In season one we went through a rigorous process of workshops and that actually stayed with me and helped all of us a lot,” he added.

The actor has worked with some of the huge female stars of the industry including Aishwarya Rai Bachchan in Sarbjeet, Priyanka Chopra in Zanjeer, Shraddha Kapoor in Hassena Parker. When quipped about the experience, he answered, “I have not been from a theatre background, so I learnt everything on set. So from my first film Zanjeer, I learnt a lot from Ram Charan, Sanjay Dutt, Priyanka Chopra and then it got followed in Sarbjeet with Aishwarya Rai Bachchan. “

He further added, “With that, I always used to try and understand the arc of the film and my character in it. I used to work on weaknesses as well and have always used to take the bits and pieces from the actors in order to learn more. It has been phenomenal working with these great actors.”

“Sangram has this heat and rage in his attitude and his voice, so I constantly tried to work on that. During my early days, I didn’t know the action that well, so I learnt that. Acting is a process and you constantly need to learn new things from time to time,” the actor concluded.

We’ve learnt that the actor bagged an important role in the upcoming action thriller web series titled crackdown. When Asked to unveil something about his next project, Ankur revealed, “So the upcoming one is season 2, which is in the continuation of season 1. I’m playing a Pakistani army officer and it’s a thriller web series so it has got quite a lot of action and it’s fun shooting for this one right now.”

Speaking his thoughts about the It’s a blessing for the actors right now. OTT has provided a platform for all the actors to showcase their talents. So many actors have gotten dues for their years of hard work in the industry due to this boom. 

Most of the actors, who got overshadowed in their earlier projects are also getting their dues. I have done films like Zanjeer and Sarbjeet but the kind of feedback and the work that I’ve received after Aarya hasn’t been received by me earlier. 

When quipped about his upcoming Ali Abbas Zafar directorial venture alongside Shahid Kapoor, Ankur said that he can not reveal much about it. “It’s going to be an action thriller film, that’s all I can tell you right now,” he answered.

"Apart from the Shahid starrer and Voot’s Crackdown 2, the actor mentioned that he is in the process of signing a film and a web series soon. Though, I can not reveal the title of those projects right now," he added and signed off.