(L-R) Jaideep Ahlawat with his FTII batchmates Rajkummar Rao, Prabhas, Vijay Varma and Sunny Hinduja

When Jaideep Ahlawat began his journey as an artiste, Bollywood was not on his mind. While he performed on the stage in his hometown in Haryana, his dream was to join the Indian Army, but after several failed attempts, he turned to theatre. The actor, who has been a part of several notable films like Gangs Of Wasseypur (2012) and Raazi (2018) and some web shows, was seen in the recently released Khaali Peeli. Talking about his training days as an actor, he says, “I joined the acting institute in Pune and was there for two years. I got to train under some talented personalities like Naseeruddin Shah, Om Puri and Irrfan. It was there that I thought about moving to Mumbai.”

With no solid contacts in Bollywood, he went for auditions with the help of some of his peers, and after a couple of years, he got a break in films like Aakrosh (2010), Khatta Meetha (2010) and Chittagong (2012). “Woh kya hai, when you are new to a city and an industry, you get to learn new things. Initially, yes, it is tough, as you don’t know how and whom to approach, but that is normal. Tomorrow, if someone from a big city moves to Haryana to do farming, they will struggle, too, right? Ki kahan zameen leni hai, kaunsi zameen behtareen hai,” he explains.

The actor neither had a godfather nor a mentor. He shares, “In the industry, I didn’t have a mentor who could constantly support me or work with me. I am thankful to those who gave me good work. I was cast in Gangs Of Wasseypur at a time jab mujhe koi jaanta nahi tha. I got the part without an audition. It was my co-star, Manoj Bajpayee, who I did Chittagong with, who suggested my name. Likewise, Meghna Gulzar gave me an important role to play in Raazi. I am happy that I got to work in a commercial film like Commando: A One Man Army (2013) and also with Kamal Haasan in the Vishwaroopam franchise (2013 and 2018). Iss industry mein bahut saare log hai jinhone mujhpe bharosa dikhaya aur isi liye un logon ka yogdaan raha hai mere growth mein.”

In a career spanning ten years, Jaideep has worked with filmmakers like Priyadarshan, Imtiaz Ali, Anurag Kashyap, Meghna Gulzar and Dibakar Banerjee. He says, “I am a director’s actor. So, aap mujhse bahut kuch nikalwa sakte ho agar aap chahte ho toh. Working with these directors has worked to my advantage kyunki aap ek hi scene ko alag-alag tareeke se nibha sakte ho, and you get to learn that with them.”

Talking about Khaali Peeli, which featured Ishaan Khatter and Ananya Panday, Jaideep says, “When I heard the story mujhe kuch naya laga. I had a lot of scenes with Ishaan. Before the camera rolled and after the director said cut, we would be laughing. Thankfully, we were thorough with our prep, so we were ready to shoot the scenes.”

Bollywood's most underrated actor and the toast of the town Jaideep Ahlawat on life after Paatal Lok
Uma Ramasubramanian (MID-DAY; JUne 16, 2020)

In college, he was an Akshay Kumar fan, often deliberately missing a bus only so he could chase it like his screen idol did in a sequence in Khiladiyon Ka Khiladi (1996). He has, for so long, played the part of the avid admirer that Jaideep Ahlawat is surprised to find himself on the other side of the table today. Since Paatal Lok dropped online, there has been a constant celebration, and a deserving one at that, around Ahlawat, who plays inspector Hathiram Choudhary in the Amazon Prime Video offering. "I don't understand the term 'overnight stardom'. I don't know how to react when people acknowledge me as a star," says the actor candidly.

But describing Ahlawat as the product of overnight stardom would be lazy, if not uninformed. The actor, who graduated from the Film & Television Institute of India (FTII) in 2008, has been quietly laying the foundation of a solid career all the while as Bollywood obsessed over its next six-pack-abs hero or rolled out the red carpet for the next star kid. It's not surprising then that his first breakout role was in Anurag Kashyap's Gangs Of Wasseypur (2012), followed by Meghna Gulzar's Raazi (2018).

"Raazi was the turning point in my career. It brought me respect, and that happened only because Meghna believed in me," recalls Ahlawat, who hails from a world far removed from showbiz. "I come from a family of farmers in Kharkara, Haryana. However, when I told my parents I want to be an actor, they supported me."

Life may have witnessed a turnaround post , but going forward, the actor hopes to continue finding compelling stories. "One must continue to look at the world from a lens that gives you a reality check. An actor must not get swayed by the praise. The idea is to tell different stories while exploring them from different angles. But that will be possible for an actor only if he has a variety of offers. So, I hope this translates into more choices."

One would imagine that he is flooded with offers, but he remains tight-lipped. "Nobody knows what the next move is. I am in talks with a few people, let's see how things work out." A second season of Paatal Lok, perhaps. "Anushka [Sharma, producer] had said it is a possibility. They have yet to decide. I hope it happens because I would like to be part of the second season."

The Sudip Sharma-created series won much acclaim for holding a mirror to society and showing how it plays an active role in creating criminals. However, a section of viewers felt that the nine-part offering normalises violence. "There are barely four violent scenes," defends Ahlawat, adding, "Unless you are shown the other side of the coin, you will never be able to figure out the bitter truth. Unless we show Hathoda Tyagi [the character played by Abhishek Banerjee] killing a few people, how can we give him the tag Hathoda? The show was not made to glorify violence."

Are criminals justified in their actions? That could be the question you will ask after you catch an episode of Pataal Lok, says the cast
Aastha Atray Banan (MID-DAY; May 17, 2020)

If you go by the premise of Pataal Lok, which premiered on Amazon Prime last week, it would seem that heaven, earth and hell, co-exist in one place. And maybe the people belonging to these "levels" are innately the same.

The new web series, directed by Sudip Sharma, questions the idea of the upper, middle and lower class, and the notions we harbour about members of each. As actor Neeraj Kabi, also seen in Talvar and Ship Of Theseus, says, "The show will make you cultivate some empathy for the criminal." It follows the story of Inspector Hathi Ram Chaudhary, played by Jaideep Ahlawat, who earned acclaim for his role in Gangs of Wasseypur. Here, he is a washed-out Delhi cop who lands the case of a lifetime when four suspects are nabbed in the assassination attempt of a prime time journalist, played by Kabi. Actor Gul Panag, last seen in Bypass Road, plays Hathi Ram's wife.

The show is said to be loosely based on The Story Of My Assassins by the controversial senior journalist Tarun Tejpal.

We spoke to Ahlawat, Kabi and Gul about the realisations the show led them to.

Edited excerpts from the interview.

What were your first reactions to the story and concept— of having all the three levels exist on the same level?
Gul: For me, I was finally getting a part that was not urban. I was also working with a stellar cast. As somebody who is a keen observer of writing trends, the subtext, and the social and economic divide explored in this script, we hadn't seen that before. It was a unique story.
Neeraj: It was very interesting how the characters were sketched. Each character has his or her own space, and place to exist, and they all co-exist. That appealed to me. It also explores the nuances of human psyche, and how every human, good or bad, has an innately soft side. Just like the four suspects.
Jaideep: For me, it was the character of Hathi Ram. He is a vulnerable person, who is now stuck. He has to prove he is not a failure, and is trying to find his space. The story is about what's inside all of the characters, not their outer circumstances.

Ultimately it's a show about class—upper, middle and lower. How do you think it handles the ideas we have about socio-economic strata?
Jaideep: The distinctions we have made, we realise, they are not true. The lines get blurred as we find out the truth.
Neeraj: All the three classes exist because of the other, and can't do without each other. I think we may have these questions about the middle class being a working class, and the lower class being the criminals, and the upper class being the good people. I think "who is the criminal?" will undergo a change.
Gul: I think we will figure what is innate human nature, and that everyone has the some shade of grey mostly.

In the middle of this is also a journalist, and the media, which has been maligned in recent years, but also our link to the truth.
Jaideep: The person who is supposed to be telling us the truth, is he really?
Gul: The media needs to question the establishment, otherwise it is not doing its job. The problem is if a new channel is either pro or anti establishment, it starts building a narrative accordingly. So the story's facts may be right, but the spin on it is what matters. That's the kind of issue the show also handles.

Jaideep, since you play a cop, what do you think of their place in society, or the kind of life they lead?
Jaideep: A policeman is tied to the system, and can't do anything alone. They have to go through a system and they are lost in red tape. So this cop is trying to prove himself, and has familial concerns too.

Coming from sanitised backgrounds, and playing the characters that you do, what realisations have you encountered about India while doing the show?
Neeraj: I think, you will empathise with the criminals. You will see that crime originates in the middle and upper class, and the lower class might only be executing it.
Gul: The backstory of the assassins is key. There is a history of oppression — class and caste. They are people who when pushed against a wall, will react. Their journey pushes them over the edge. Are we making excuses for them? It will raise some uncomfortable questions.

After playing mentor to Alia Bhatt, Jaideep Ahlawat takes on the quintessential villain turn in Ishaan Khatter, Ananya Panday-led film
Himesh Mankad (MUMBAI MIRROR; May 14, 2020)

Jaideep Ahlawat made his acting debut with Ajay Devgn’s Aakrosh and earned praise for his turn as Shahid Khan in Gangs Of Wasseypur. The Anurag Kashyap directorial led to roles in films like Vishwaroop, Gabbar Is Back, Commando and Raees. However, it was Meghna Gulzar’s Raazi, produced by Junglee Pictures and Karan Johar, that put him on the radar of casting agents looking for dependable actors. The Alia Bhatt and Vicky Kaushal spy thriller completed two years on May 11. “It’s a very special film. Raazi upgraded me as an actor and gave me a better understanding of scripts and characters,” Jaideep acknowledges.

Harking back to the first day of the shoot, the actor says, “Gulzar saab and Vishal Bhardwaj were on the set. I touched their feet, sought their blessings and gave my first shot. I had just one scene with Vicky in the film, but we go back a long way. He was an assistant director on Gangs Of Wasseypur,” Jaideep reveals.

The actor believes success brings responsibilities with it, but adds that it’s the writers and directors who give an interesting arc to his screen turns. “Characters in commercial cinema are infused with an element of quirk for entertainment. As an actor, I want to be associated with all kinds of films and commercial cinema is like a cheat day for those on a diet; it helps maintain a balance,” he laughs.

Next up for Jaideep is Ali Abbas Zafar’s debut production, Khaali Peeli, in which he plays the antagonist to Ishaan Khatter and Ananya Panday’s leads. “It’s a typical masala film with action, romance and drama. I play a quintessential Hindi film villain, like the ones we grew up watching. He is true to his word and has his own swagger,” he smiles, adding that his co-stars are hard-working, fun and energetic. “I don’t have much screen time with Ananya, but Ishaan and I share an interesting dynamic,” the actor signs off.

Jaideep Ahlawat on working with his screen protégé and hitting the right notes as ‘strict yet compassionate’ Khalid Mir
Natasha Coutinho (MUMBAI MIRROR; May 15, 2018)

It’s no mean feat to hold your own in a heroine centric film that is headlined by Alia Bhatt and also features talented actors such as Vicky Kaushal and Shishir Sharma, among others. According to Jaideep Ahlawat, who plays the protagonist’s mentor Khalid Mir in Meghna Gulzar’s espionage-thriller Raazi, the role required considerable prep. “Khalid is a strict yet compassionate man in the 1970s and also around 15 years older than me. I had to put on weight and learn ‘Hindustani’. It was also important to get the psyche right. I read up on Indian politics and the workings of intelligence agencies like ISI (Inter-Services Intelligence), CIA (Central Intelligence Agency), RAW (Research and Analysis Wing) back then,” informs the FTII alumnus who was first noticed as the fearless Shahid Khan in Anurag Kashyap’s Gangs of Wasseypur.

Then, there were workshops in combat-training before the shoot that helped him understand why someone like Mir had to let go of emotions. “He has made a lot of sacrifices in his career and lost a lot. He doesn’t show his feelings anymore because he believes they are detrimental to his job. But somewhere, he has a soft spot for Sehmat (Alia’s character), or else he wouldn’t have pointed out to her father that she is just a 20-year-old girl who has no idea about being a spy,” Jaideep explains.

Ask him about the toughest scene he had to do in the film and he recalls a sequence involving Sehmat, in which she screams at him, saying, “I want to leave before I become like you.”

“It was a particularly intense scene but Meghna knew exactly what she wanted. We canned it in an hour-and-half and everyone fell silent after that,” he reveals.

Shooting in the Valley was challenging but pleasant. “The locals were welcoming and even invited us to a local Sufi music concert. We shot in Srinagar, Doodhpathri and Pahalgam under sub-zero temperatures. Connectivity was a problem but the shoot went smoothly,” he informs.

And what was it like sharing screen space with Alia’s mother, Soni Razdan, who also plays her mom on screen? “Soni ji is sweet, calm and exudes nazaaqat,” he says, going on to add that Alia deserves to be a star because “she has deep understanding of the script and characters at a young age.”

“She is open to everything… from suggestions to combat-training. Alia is greedy as an actor because she wants to better herself each time,” Jaideep signs off.