Actor Roshan Mathew has had a fruitful stint in Hindi films so far. The actor, who started with Tamil theatre and has featured in Malayalam films, got an opportunity to showcase his flair with Anurag Kashyap’s Choked (2020). The 32-year-old then went on to star alongside Alia Bhatt in Darlings (2022), where his work came in for praise again.

Talking to us about Ulajh, his first Hindi theatrical release, Mathew says he is satisfied with the response the Jahnvi Kapoor-starrer has received. “In the times we are [in], we don’t have the luxury of a film just staying in theatres long enough so that people can trickle in and discover the film as word spreads,” the actor says.

Mathew is also grateful for the easy transition to OTT that big-screen films get these days. “Luckily, today, nobody has to wait years until it (a film) comes on a TV channel or you look for a pirated copy. I am hoping Ulajh finds more of its audience in the days to come as it stays in theatres and then when it comes later on OTT,” he says.

Do box-office numbers matter to the actor? “If I said it doesn’t affect me at all, I would be lying. We do movies because we believe in them. Who wants to make a movie no one watches? We ideally want everybody to watch it and enjoy it,” he answers.

The 32-year-old, however, does realise that not everything can be controlled. “You have to do your work with all honesty and give it your best shot — especially as an actor, in front of the camera. The rest of it is going to be unpredictable. Before this, there were movies I have been really excited about, projects I strongly believed in, but [those films] did not find an audience in theatres,” he wraps up.