Exclusive! Kathmandu Connection 2 actor Prashant Narayanan: I think it's very stupid when actors say that they had a lot of ‘fun’ on sets

Throughout the course of his almost three decade long career, Prashant Narayanan has essayed a plethora of roles and characters, in films spanning across languages. The actor is all set to grace the screen yet again, in the upcoming second season of Kathmandu Connection.

The new season will see Prashant essay the role of the dreaded gangster Wajid, giving a face to the powerful character for the first time in the series. Interestingly, the character was offered to Prashant when he was working on Rangbaaz: Darr Ki Rajneeti, a show where he plays a disciplined policeman. In an interview with OTTplay, Prashant discussed how he came to be a part of Kathmandu Connection, his dynamic with his co-stars, how he managed to bring a ‘human touch’ to Wajid, his working principles, and more.

The second season of the SonyLIV show, which also stars Amit Sial, Gopal Datt, Aksha Pardasany and Anshuman Pushkar, will be released on December 23.

Excerpts from the interview…

What made you say yes to the show?

Actually I was shooting for Rangbaaz (Darr Ki Rajneeti) with Sachin Pathak and Siddharth Mishra. Siddharth was the writer of the show. So I think the conversation about this particular thing had started off there, where they were mentioning, you know, that they have something else in mind apart from Rangbaaz. I remember thinking “Okay, fine, it must be something along these lines itself”. In Rangbaaz, I'm playing this very honest, disciplined and diligent cop. So, when they offered me this particular role, it was quite a shock to me. It was quite surprising that you know, the same director, the same writer have offered me a role which is the complete opposite of what I was playing in Rangbaaz.

In Kathmandu Connection, I am playing Wajid, who is referenced with Dawood Ibrahim. For me, it was quite a shocker, but at the same time, I was pretty happy about the fact that you know, that some people have that kind of confidence with me, that I can pull this off.

In the upcoming season, you portray Wajid, who has been an unseen character until now. Did you feel a lot of pressure playing the hyped character, who is definitely an important and powerful player in the series?

No, no, I like pressure. I think pressure is for the privileged. I always function better when there are pressures involved. Otherwise, it is no fun. In fact, another pressure was that we had this really gorgeous location in Delhi that they had used as my(character’s) residence and my area of operation, and all that. It was really gorgeous, but they only had four days. So the only physical pressure about it was that I had to do almost around 30 scenes in four days. So it was quite a pressure situation there. But with the help of Sachin and the entire crew, it was done quite efficiently. That was the only pressure that I felt, but it was nice and I liked it.

When essaying the role, did you go by only the inputs of the writers and directors, or did you try to bring something of your own to the role as well, and improvise?

There is no reason why they should take me if I'm going to think that they have written the Bible. I generally don't function like that. I function on the fact that when I’m there, in front of the camera, what goes through my mind at that particular time is what is real. So I tend to keep the script at a referential level and try to do things which are more of the spontaneous kind, which looks more real,which looks less practised and less rehearsed.

I like to follow the script, but that doesn't mean that I 100% follow everything which is given as instructions, because I don't follow instructions very well. I like to do things, which I feel is very honest in that particular situation and which will work in the long run.

Through the course of your career, you have essayed a number of different kinds of roles and characters, across languages as well. What made Wajid’s character stand out from the rest of the roles that you did?

I think it’s almost like asking which one of your babies is your favourite? I'm very personal with all the roles that I do, because I put in that kind of love to all of them. That is the reason why, if you watch any of our movies, you really enjoy it, because I have given that kind of love and respect to that particular part. I don't do many projects all at one time. I only do one thing at a time. I don't do multitasking, as far as acting is concerned. I do one thing, I do it properly, I forget about it, and I go for the next one. Thank you, next please, like that.

This is also a very special role. It is special, because it is a role which has been played by a lot of people. So the whole idea of me wanting to do this role is not to kind of see how different I am, but just to play somebody who's known to everybody. I just wanted to give a personal touch to it. I have given this particular role a human touch, which is going to make it not just powerful, but at the same time vulnerable, like any other normal human being. It is just that he is kind of more powerful than any other normal person around him.

We do get to see a small glimpse of Wajid in the teaser.

Yeah, the glimpse of mine that they kept in the teaser is slightly mischievous,evil and even fun loving. So it is all a mixture of all that that I've put in. So it will you'll enjoy watching this particular guy, especially me coming on to the second season. I've always been lucky with this number two. I'm just hoping that it's a super success and we already should start talking about the third season just because they have given a face to Wajid this time.

You’ve joined the show for its second season. How was your dynamic with the rest of the main leads?

I only have to do some stuff with Anshuman. With Amit and Harleen I didn't have anything personally as in we are not sharing screen like that. When shooting withAnshuman, that was the first time that I was meeting and seeing him also. So it was a new experience. It was good.

I’ve read that you had been an assistant director at one point. Can we see you behind the camera any time soon?

I started off as an Assistant art director, then an assistant costume designer, then an assistant director, and I’ve also directed a lot of plays.

About being behind the camera any time soon, I don't know. People keep asking me about it but then I realise it is too much of work to be behind the camera. To be in front of the camera is much easier. The people behind the camera, the directors and the producers, they do a lot of hard work. So I always feel very bad when I hear actors saying it was so much fun on the set, we had a lot of fun etc. I feel very bad whenever any actor says anything like that, and I think itis downright stupid. It's not their father's money that they have fun with it. It's somebody else's money and you are supposed to go there, do your work, finish it as soon as possible and go home. Don't waste anybody else's time. Every minute that you're spending over there in your fun, is there somebody else actually paying for that fun? So if you're the producer then you have fun No, do whatever the hell you want to do.But if you're not a producer then you don't have fun, you just do work. You're being paid for that work that you can do that.

I never have fun on the sets. I just go there, I do my work and I go home.

Is there a particular genre of project that has become your favorite, or is there a particular kind of project that you want to try your hand at?

Oh, no. I mean, I'm pretty lucky enough to get all sorts of roles, and all sorts of characters, some of which are very, very difficult. Most of the difficult characters generally come to me only, and I'm very happy about that. So I don't have anything particular in mind, that I wish something like this had come to me or something like that had come to me etc. Whatever is happening is good enough.

So many people are already thinking about me(for so many roles). So why should I put pressure on my own self, thinking about ‘Oh I wish this had happened or that had happened’. People are thinking about me in all sorts of roles. Even recently, I was shooting for Rangbaaz as a cop, and the next thing that they offer me is Dawood Ibrahim. It is a total day and night kind of a thing. The whole idea is to to perform that in such a manner that it looks very plausible and it is very believable.

Raghav Kumar, in Rangbaaz, and Wajid in Kathmandu (Connection) season 2 are two totally different people. I like playing people, I like playing characters. If I wanted to do only the same kind of things, play only the same kind of roles, I would have taken up a government or office job or something. I mean if you want to take up acting you should take up good, different roles. Otherwise don't do it, go back home.

That's what I think. I'm very particular about my work and I'm very happy that I'm doing exactly what I think I should be doing, without getting into too many pressures of doing things. I don't want to feel like I'm being forced to do things by a manager or anyone else. I'm interested in what I'm doing now, instead of worrying about the future.For me, it makes total sense to function like that. Why put so much pressure on yourself?