Popular actor Arjan Bajwa, who recently starred in the web series ‘Bestseller’, joined NewsX for a fun chat as a part of our special series, NewsX India A-List. In the exclusive interview, the actor talked about what tempted him towards the role, his part in the series and much more.
Speaking about what attracted him towards ‘Bestseller’, Arjan said, ‘A lot of aspects go into an actor choosing a script. Primarily it is who’s making it, how’s directing it, what your role is, etc. Considering web series, you know that theatres have been substituted by OTT platforms. So, in this web series all the boxes were tick marked for me in the first go. The casting director sent me the script and he is also a very good friend of mine. The producer is also an old friend. The director is someone who has great command over thriller subjects and then we have Amazon prime which is the best thing that has happened to this script. All the things were so right in the right place that I had to be a part of the script anyway.’
Talking about his character in ‘Bestseller’ which is streaming on Amazon Prime Video, the actor exclaimed, ‘There are way too many layers on this character. He is a very complex character, you can’t put him into any good or bad frame. It is a very multi-dimensional story. As an actor, you can do so much into a script in a film, and over here you had so much to do that it becomes a very satisfying experience when you work on a project like this.’
When asked if web series give an opportunity to the audience to examine different layers of characters, Arjan replied, ‘It surely does, because in a film you have limited time to show the story and portray the characters. But in a web series it is an elaborated story and whatever you want to show is not contained in a limited space. So, you can go on and on by developing the characters. We are fortunate to be living in times when you can say so many stories which are not bound by time through OTT. For actors, the work is the same. Just the medium has changed. Even the film making is the same.’
Arjan shared his thought on whether OTT has been a game-changer for actors. He revealed, ‘OTT has been a game-changer for the industry because till a certain time, we were only working in films. Now web series also gives you such amazing stories to tell. OTT has increased the audience to the whole world. Somebody who doesn’t watch Indian cinema can access your work. It has helped actors to put their talent out there in front of the whole world.’
Sharing his experience of working on the sets of ‘Bestseller’, the actor said, ‘I couldn’t have asked for a better star cast because apart from everybody coming together and working together, they are all such accomplished people in their own way. It goes without saying that Mithun sir is a legendary actor and a superstar for so many decades. Mithun sir is still so enthusiastic about working in films every day, he is always charged up like a newcomer.’