Exclusive: Shiv Panditt on why he picked Shershaah; wants to play Chandrasekhar Azad on screen soon

Shiv Panditt has been in the industry for over a decade now and more recently, he has become one of the popular faces on OTT. The actor now has a release in Sidharth Malhotra-Kiara Advani starrer Shershaah. Shiv plays the role of Colonel Sanjiv Singh Jammwal in the movie.

Shiv might have been popular on TV and in films but this was a big opportunity for him, considering he got to work with Dharma Productions and Shabbir Boxwala. The actor, during his exclusive interaction with OTTplay, also spoke about why he would love to play Chandrasekhar Azad on screen instead of Subhash Chandra Bose. Apart from that, he also narrated his experience after meeting Colonel Jammwal and working together on the film.

Excerpts from the interview...

What is the first thing you saw in Shershaah that made you say yes to the film?

There were a couple of factors. A) The opportunity to play a real-life hero. I play Colonel Sanjiv Singh Jammwal. He was fondly called Jimmy and is one of the heroes of the Kargil war. He's a very close friend of Vikram Batra. To be able to play an army officer on the big screen is a big win for a young actor like me. I've never played an officer in the armed forces before. B) Collaborating with Shabbir sir's Kaash Entertainment and Dharma Productions with a terrific director like Mr. Vishnuvardhan. All these things combined make it very difficult to pass up on an opportunity like Shershaah.

Tell me more about your character.

I play Captain Sanjiv Singh Jammwal. There were two teams that went to capture one of the peaks. One was a team led by Shershaah (Vikram Batra) and the other was led by Sangram (Sanjiv Jammwal). He was fondly called Jimmy. He's a Colonel now who is stationed in Delhi at the moment. I got the opportunity to understand his mental state. He told me a few incidents which I can't repeat publicly. I know the difficulty he had to go through leading those boys to capture that peak.

You have explored films and web series widely. Which would be the area you are most comfortable in?

The lines are very blurred. It's not like you have to act like in a web series. So many feature film directors and headlining and directing web series. I'm very happy that there are web series today. Many stories which wouldn't have been told earlier on normal TV channels, can now be told on OTT. They are carrying real interesting content and have something for everybody. So I think I'm just attracted to the content, script I'm offered, who I'm working with and will he be able to guide us in the right way. That is the attraction for me. There's no difference in the way I act in a web series, from films. I'll put my best foot forward in both.

If you had to play the lead role in someone's biopic, who would that be?

I would love to do a biopic on Chandrasekhar Azad. A lot of people know about his contribution towards the Independence movement but he is one of the first few commandos of the Independence movement. He wasn't photographed and was effective as a general. He had many followers. While Subhash Chandra Bose is really revered and he is one of the more celebrated figures of the Independence movement, I feel that Chandrasekhar Azad is a real unsung hero. I would love to do a biopic on him.

What are your upcoming projects?

I can't reveal much but I have a feature film and something coming up on the web.

Is there any update on Chakravyuh 2?

No, there's no update on that yet.