On familiar turf

Nonika Singh

“Kabhi narm kabhi garm… that is the job of an actor.” So believes versatile and gifted actor Pavan Malhotra, who in his long innings has essayed a variety of roles. Stepping once again into the shoes of a badman in his current series Pill wherein he plays a greedy pharma king, he says, “Negative character is no less or more challenging than any other part.”

If devil is in the details, the details are in the script and in the hands of a director like Raj Kumar Gupta, who has given us powerful films like No One Killed Jessica, the path to the character is lit up anyway. Of course, it’s up to the actor to see and navigate accordingly. While acting, for the National Award winning actor is a thinking job, Pavan also believes in the dictum ‘bhole man se kar lo’. Hence, the process has to be both spontaneous and organic. And those who think, oh once again a turbaned Sikh character, he is mighty amused, “as if all Sikhs are the same.”

On OTT he has essayed the part of turbaned Sikh in three out of the five shows, such as the much-acclaimed Tabbar. But, he also points out how each one, including his Sikh portrayals in movies like Jab We Met and Bhaag Milkha Bhaag, are diametrically different. This Delhi-bred Punjabi loves to play a Sikh, which helps him reconnect with his roots and the land of his ancestors and the Gurus who taught Punjabis to be brave among many other things.

While Pill streaming on Jio Cinemas deals with a significant issue of unethical drug trials and unscrupulous methods employed by the pharma industry, he can’t say whether he consciously picks up subjects of social relevance. He avers, “What you are part of is very important, but as an actor I would like to do all kinds of genres.”

For him a masala movie Mubarakan is as important as thought-provoking Salim Langde Pe Mat Ro. For someone who has essayed many Muslim characters too, including in 72 Hoorain which ran into controversy, he does not think he needs to apologise on count of the community’s representation in films. “Many like Tiger Memon in Black Friday are based on real stories and nowhere are we denigrating Islam or Muslims.”

Though he may proclaim, ‘mein bahut dara hua actor hoon’ and processes every new part, as if he were acting for the first time, insecurity is certainly not his hallmark. He not only recommends good movies like Laapataa Ladies effusively, but even actors and feels his co-actor in Pill, Riteish Deshmukh, like all good actors has been underutilised.

As for his personal trajectory, he has had the good fortune of working with the very best — Saeed Akhtar Mirza, Goutam Ghose, Rakeysh Omprakash Mehra, Imtiaz Ali, clearly there isn’t much on his wishlist as he has played the 360 degree arc. All, the Nukkad actor wants is — the show must go on… Soon to be seen in TVF’s legal drama Court Kacheri, he believes in looking at the big picture. And always tells other aspiring actors, “Chitrahar mein mat atke raho… don’t be hemmed in by mera kya scene hai… Look at the film in entirety, for if the film works, you will.”