For actor Amol Parashar, the online space was where he had his tryst with onscreen acting. Amol, an engineer and theatre enthusiast, became a popular name through the characters he portrayed in online shows, much before the OTT boom. In a candid chat with us, the Sardar Udham actor speaks about the rise of OTT, playing a legendary character like Bhagat Singh and handling trolls with vinamrata.

Amol has carved a niche for himself by playing a variety of roles in different web shows and has seen the rise of the medium. “When I did the first season of Tripling, there was no word like OTT. Web series used to come out on YouTube then. By the second season, there was a vast difference, and a bunch of platforms had come up. Then, of course, the pandemic happened and blurred all distinctions. I’m not a person to sit and judge ki arey pehle aisa hota tha, ab aisa hai. Now everything – films, TV shows, reality shows, documentaries – everything invariably goes on OTT eventually,” he says.

He further adds how the increasing volume of content has increased the scope of diverse roles for actors. “Before this there were only certain kinds of roles for films, and TV shows would run for years. The scope was a little limited. There is a greater quantity of work now. Every week you get to watch something new, and people are sitting with lists of what they want to watch,” he adds.

Amol had stepped into the shoes of legendary freedom fighter Bhagat Singh for Shoojit Sircar’s Sardar Udham. When asked if he was apprehensive of doing a role that has been played by many successful actors before him, he shares, “I was quite nervous. The character itself is legendary and I have grown up watching various talented actors essay the role before. So, there was a fear of not being able to do justice, or people perceiving it differently. I was anxious, more so with a character like this which has preset expectations. But taking up such a role is a risk every artiste takes.”

He recalls how he spoke to his co-actor Vicky Kaushal and Sircar about his doubts. “I’d spoken to Shoojit sir and Vicky also about this and they said ‘Arey tu aaja, apan karenge, bohot mazza aayega’. The goal was to do something different from what others had done with the character. We wanted to bring authenticity and not think much about what had been done before,” he adds.

With popularity and fame come the trolls on social media who have an opinion about everything a public figure does. Talking about it, Amol says, “Thankfully, I haven’t experienced so much negative attention online. I also have tried on my part to be honest in my interaction with people. I don’t think anyone should talk down to people, even in the virtual world. I have always kept conversations respectful. So, when people comment on something, and you reply with humility and vinamrata, they also mellow down. The escalation stops there. It is tiring and exhausting at times to engage in conversations with people who are there just to pick battles. But I try to avoid any kind of unnecessary rudeness. And if you don’t have the bandwidth, don’t engage.”