‘I could bring my real-life nuances to my character in Bhavai’: Ankur Bhatia

Drawing parallels between his two projects — crime-thriller Aarya and theatrical storytelling of Bhavai, Ankur Bhatia said the portrayal in both the projects was tad different due to plot layers.

Ankur Bhatia says he could relate to his character in Bhavai — a struggling actor who gets to play Lord Ram’s brother Lakshman in the film. Bhavai, also starring Pratik Gandhi and Aindrita Ray, revolves around two people who work in a Ram Leela and how it affects their personal lives.

“I’m part electrician and part actor in the film. This is the first time I’m doing comedy. Fun fact is I’m taller than the actor who’s playing Ram. So Lakshman is taller with a beard,” Ankur told indianexpress.com with a laugh.

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“The beauty of this film is I could bring the nuances which I’ve faced in real life. So I enjoyed every bit of it,” Ankur added referring to his memories in the audition rooms. He further expressed happiness that he was able to play different and challenging parts in all his projects so far.

Ankur’s previous titles also include Sarbjit, Haseena Parkar and web show Crackdown. But his most prominent role has been playing Sushmita Sen’s brother Sangram Singh in Aarya, which was recently nominated in the 2021 International Emmy Awards in the Best Drama Series category.

Ankur revealed that despite getting cast, he didn’t know Sushmita would be playing his sister till the first day of his workshop.

Reminiscing about his first interaction with Sushmita, Ankur revealed that he met her at the pre-shoot workshop, though they didn’t interact. One of the directors, Vinod Rawat told them to use a swear word at the end of every line. So it started with softer swear words and intensified, leaving Sushmita red. “She said she can’t do it, but the director was adamant as he wanted to break Sushmita and Ankur and get Aarya and Sangram out,” the actor said.

Ankur added that he requested for five minutes, which turned out to be two-and-a-half-hours of chit-chatting with Sushmita about their personal life, childhood and more. “We came back, and from there it was Sangram and Aarya. I’ve never been so comfortable with any co-actor in my life”

Drawing parallels between crime-thriller Aarya and theatrical storytelling of Bhavai, Ankur said the portrayal in both the projects was tad different due to plot layers. “As an actor, I try to be as real as possible. Like for Sangram, I wanted to be him so I used my character traits. I made him the hero of my life. Here, I was trying to become Lakshman, who is again an actor. So there’s a different layer,” he said.

Bhavai, also starring Rajendra Gupta, Rajesh Sharma, and Abhimanyu Singh, faced the heat much before its release when the CBFC sought explanation from its makers for ‘flouting certification rules and tampering with content of film’.

The musical drama, about the popular folk theatre form from Gujarat, was earlier titled Raavan Leela. According to the CBFC, the makers changed the title in the trailer and also included portions “deposited” with the body.

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“As an actor I do my job and come out of a film set. I have no role in making a promotional plan or deciding on a release date or anything. I don’t have that capacity as an actor to put such kind of input unless I’m asked to. I just look forward to the release of the film and how the audience will see it. That’s it,” Ankur said, revealing that he started shooting for the film when it was still untitled.

Bhavai has been directed by Hardik Gajjar and backed by Pen Studios. It released in theatres on October 22.

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