After 28 years in politics, actor Raj Babbar has now decided to recommence his career as an actor. In November last year, the former Member of Parliament, made his comeback with the web series Dil Bekaraar that marked his debut in the digital space.

“After my term ended, I thought of resuming acting. Fortunately, Dil Bekaraar came my way. Now, I’m being offered many films and web series,” he says, adding he featured in small roles in his friends’ films while busy with politics.

Like everyone else, Babbar, 69, has been caught by the OTT bug and wants to be a part of more web shows. “During the lockdown, I watched a few good shows and some amazing performances by actors from India as well as the world. That, subconsciously, had an effect on me. OTT platforms are a win-win situation for actors as well as filmmakers and writers. The medium completely belongs to them and we, actors, can do wonders now that we can showcase so many nuances,” he elaborates.

But what has truly captured his attention is the return of good content. “I grew up watching films made by filmmakers Guru Dutt, Satyajit Ray, Raj Kapoor, Ritwik Ghatak, Mehboob Khan, V Shantaram, and B R Chopra. I feel the kind of cinema these stalwarts used to make is coming back, thanks to OTT,” he says.

Quiz Babbar about the young lot of actors and he says, “They’re energetic and brilliant. They work hard and have the power to grasp the audience’s attention. They’re aware of the current atmosphere and so, they become prepared.”

When Akshay Oberoi started his career with Isi Life Mein in 2010, he wanted to become the poster boy of Bollywood success. Over time, the industry taught him valuable lessons, imparting to him the importance of quality over quantity. The actor has since then built an impressive resume of digital offerings, choosing diverse roles that display his craft. In a quick chat, he discusses inhabiting the distinct worlds of his two shows — Amazon Prime Video’s Inside Edge 3 and Disney+ Hotstar’s Dil Bekaraar, an adaptation of Those Pricey Thakur Girls.

Edited excerpts from the interview

I read the book recently after shooting for the series. We have stuck to the source material. [Director] Habib Faisal may have tweaked a few things because he knows what works better for the visual language. If you ask Anuja Chauhan [the novel’s writer], I am sure she’ll tell you that the script respects the source material.

The show beautifully planted seeds for what we are doing today. In the start of the series, there is a dialogue: “It’s not like Prakash Padukone is bringing home a celebrity,” [which references today’s reality]. The seeds of modernisation were sowed then. [We are depicting] progressive families through the story. We were trying to be true to the decade and planting ideas that are relevant today.

I grew up in New Jersey and had no idea about cricket. I had not held a cricket bat until the show came my way. But Karan Anshuman and Kanishk Verma [director] met me for the role. The part is so relevant and addresses such a sensitive topic that I wanted to do it. I practiced cricket every day for two months. I had seen season one by the time I had signed the show. After coming on board, I watched the second season. By then, I had already fallen in love with cricket.

It is my job to represent society and this is a part of society that is underrepresented. It was a huge responsibility and an honour to play the part.

That is ridiculous. If the role is that of a murderer, do you have to cast a murderer? I have a skill set and have been working on my craft for 15-20 years. The point of acting is to get into somebody else’s shoes. The reason actors exist today is because they are paid to depict fractions of society that have nothing to do with them.

On the set, I was sensitive to the part and ensured that I didn’t make it caricaturish. The biggest victory was when the community reached out and thanked me for representing them accurately. That is more important to me than anything I have read. I experience love and sexuality as a human being. That is all that is needed to play the part. I am portraying feelings of love, and just because I am not part of the community, doesn’t mean I can’t represent it authentically.

Chandrachur Singh is heartily embracing OTT and moving with the times. After making a comeback with the Emmy-nominated web series Aarya, the actor is now seen in Dil Bekaraar, the OTT show based on Anuja Chauhan’s book, Those Pricey Thakur Girls. He plays the role of a politician with negative shades in the series which takes the viewers back to the 1980s.

“I was excited to play an antagonist. It gives me a chance to do something different from the image that confines me into a particular style of performance,” Singh says.

The actor is popularly known for his roles in Maachis (1996) and Josh (2000) by the people who love art cinema. But he says commerce and art can’t be defined just by the genre. “Of course, Maachis is a very special film. But I also enjoyed working on Josh because I was working with Mansoor (Khan; filmmaker). I’m grateful to Gulzar ji (writer) and Rekha ji (actor) that I could work with better makers,” he adds.

While Maachis won him many accolades, the actor was never seen in such a movie later. Ask him why and he says, “There was so much work happening at that time, I could not accommodate those projects. They were all good films and eventually, this is destiny’s play.”

Having worked in both mediums, he says that he does not find any difference between working on an OTT series or a film. “It was no different than working on a film. I didn’t think that it was a different screen. I love working in both formats and look forward to working in both in the future,” Singh concludes.

Director Habib Faisal builds an old-world charm with Disney+ Hotstar’s latest series, Dil Bekarar. Set in the ’80s Delhi, the show — featuring Sahher Bambba — is a screen adaptation of Anuja Chauhan’s novel Those Pricey Thakur Girls. Portraying a literary character comes with its own set of expectations. 

“A lot of homework went into fleshing out the role. Besides organising workshops for us, Habib sir supplied me with video material and links to use as reference for news reading, articulation, body language,” says the actor who played the character of Debjani Thakur — a strong-headed woman working as a Doordarshan anchor.

During the prep of Dil Bekarar, Bambba purposely stayed away from reading the original novel to give the character “her own interpretations”. “In the lockdown when my sister was reading the book, I never thought I would feature in its adaptation. It was a conscious call to refrain from reading the book. [When I got the script], I spent time to understand the character and her emotions.”

However, while the gazillion workshops prepared her for the show, it was still a challenge. “It was a challenge to crack the milieu of the ’80s. Habib sir gave us [several] book references and spent hours talking about the era to underline the sentiment of the period.”

The series also features Raj Babbar, Poonam Dhillon and Padmini Kohapure. It “was a learning experience” to work with the veterans, says Bambba. “I was an awe-struck learner on set. Habib sir and Tarun Mansukhani [who directed a few episodes], brought their passion to the table. I hope the audience latches on to the simplicity of this series.”