Decoding Hathoda Tyagi with actor Abhishek Banerjee, who was also 'Pataal Lok' casting directorActor Abhishek Banerjee who won many a heart with his stellar performance in Amazon Prime Video’s ‘Pataal Lok’, produced by Anushka Sharma’s Clean Slate Films and starring Jaideep Ahlawat in the lead role, recently opened up about getting fame and recognition post the web series, his best performance to date, if he would like to change anything about the ruthless Hathoda Tyagi and more in an exclusive tête-à-tête with DNA.

Here are some experts from the interview:

Q. It’s over one year of Pataal Lok. Would you agree the web series was a game-changer for your career? How did your career graph change after that?

A. The game-changing part is about the kind of attention I'm getting and the kind of roles I am getting. So, yes definitely it has changed the game completely for me. Earlier, I was categorised in a very comical or quirky space which I was getting a little scared about. Being a casting director I know that as an actor I can get easily typecast, so, was a little fearsome about this trend. But then thankfully Paatal Lok released at the right time and everything changed. People started offering different characters, various filmmakers messaged me and they told me how much they liked my performance. So here I am...I am happy and I am hopeful that I'll keep getting opportunities to perform different and interesting parts and let's hope that I can have another game-changer soon.

Q. Being famous— how would you describe it now after the immense success of Pataal Lok and your character Hathoda Tyagi?

A. Being famous is interesting. I was always somebody who was famous in school and college but it was always limited to that circle. That's the kind of fame I was used to. But then suddenly everything changed. People would actually follow me on their bikes, when I am in the car, they spot me or they come up to me in restaurants and in other places where I would go, they call me Hathoda, they call me Tyagi and not by my name! This is very unique and very satisfying too. To be in the public eye also has its own disadvantages. You can't lose your cool (laughs) even when you are troubled in any situation and you can't behave in a certain way and sometimes you want privacy like when I'm with my wife or when I'm with my friends at a public place but maybe I don't have privacy any more so there are some disadvantages too but then at the same time I can't complain because that's what I am here to do when I am in the show business. I am happy about it.

Q. Hathoda Tyagi is a ruthless killer and a dark character, however, it brought with it a lot of recognition for you. Would you say it was your best performance and that this ‘evilness’ suits you onscreen? Would you want to play more of such characters?

A. No. I still feel that my best performance as an evil character was in the film called Ajji which is on Netflix. Why I'm saying this? It is because I feel it was a very evil character and I really hate Dhavpe in Ajji and that has to be my best performance to date as an evil character. For Hathoda Tyagi, I took a lot of experience from Dhavle. So, if I didn't perform Dhavle well, I don't think I would have been equipped to play the role of Tyagi.

Q. After a year of the webs series, when you look back, would you want to change anything about Pataal Lok or your character in particular?

A. No I would not like to change much. But, as an actor, if you give me the role now, I would do it differently. I think that's what most of the actors would do. Every time you see a performance, you have your own issues with the performance and I have mine too. But, having said that I don't want to change anything because I think it got me so much love that I don't want to change that.

Q. You also doubled up as casting director for the series. Can you recall auditioning for Hathoda Tyagi?

A. I was casting director for Paatal Lok and I wanted to play Ansari. But they (makers) laughed it off saying that I don't have the kind of innocence in my eyes which they needed for the character. It’s when Sudeep Sir saw Stree in theatres, he said...'I think you can play Hathoda Tyagi, why don't you try for that'. I gave the audition and was very nervous because I didn't want to be rejected as it would have been very awkward for me to listen to my own rejection through my directors. But thankfully the audition went well. I still have the audition with me and I think it is one of the best auditions of my career.

Q. Was it difficult getting out of a character so merciless?

A. Yaa! It was easy to get out of the headspace it's more difficult to get into the headspace. Getting out is very easy and for me, the hard work was to understand Tyagi emotionally, socio-politically and try to accept his sorrows, his pain and try to relate with him as somebody who's oppressed in society. I have never been oppressed in my society, so, I would not know how it feels to be oppressed. So, getting in part was the most difficult thing, getting out of it always easy. In fact, during shoots, I use to actually joke around and laugh with my friends and we would share jokes and that is the kind of vibe we had during shoots barring few difficult scenes where I liked to be more focused.

Q. Would you say that Paatal Lok brought an end to your days of struggle and your hard work has paid off? How do you look back at those days when you would audition for roles and get rejected? Was it heartbreaking? Did you feel like quitting at any point in time?

A. I did not really go for long auditions. Honestly, I did not like the audition process when I was in Bombay 10-11 years back. I thought the process was really unorganised, there were people who would take auditions and probably didn’t know anything about auditions. And of course the queues! So, I use to hate going for auditions. I use to find it not worthy of my time. I was really arrogant (laughs) when I came to Bombay. I was a Delhi guy, full of energy and fire so I found it very very demeaning as an actor to go to an audition and the kind of treatment people use to get and that's exactly why I think I became a casting director. Somewhere down the line I realised that if there's one thing I can understand is that castings are easy for me because I'm an actor, I know actors, I know characters and I know how to keep them, I know how to act with them — so it was a win-win situation for me and also helped me brush up my own skills, so I kept at it.

Q. How did films happen?

A. I hoped one day, a director will take notice of my cues and give me the opportunity, but that never happened. That's the kind of fair game that was played with me. Nobody gave me anything easy. I kept doing small roles and pitch roles whenever I could just to keep myself motivated. There was a point when after 6-7 years of casting, I still didn't get any parts and I also got rejected in Ghanchakkar... That's the day, that's the first time I realised that maybe I don't have it in me because I know this director very well, my boss is my casting director and still, I'm not able to crack a role that means that I'm not a good actor and that made me feel very bad about myself.

The realisation of me not being good enough but I still never thought of quitting. I thought that I needed to work more on myself, so I kept at it and started doing short films. From one short film, Debashish Makhija gave me a role in Aaji and when that came out Amar Kaushik thought of me as a better actor than before and let me give the audition for Stree. I cracked the audition.

Q. As a casting director you have given breaks to several stars, but who would you say you are really proud of giving a break?

A. I think Siddhant Chaturvedi has to be my most proud moment because I saw him grow as an actor. From a young boy who we cast in Inside Edge to MC Sher in Gully Boy, what a journey! Also, he always had depth in his journey, he was always a poet, I knew that before the world knew it and to see him grow as an actor gives me immense pleasure.

Source : DNA India