JOIN OUR WHATSAPP CHANNEL
Sharad Malhotra on his character prep for series ‘Vidrohi’: We were taught local martial arts of Odisha
Sharad Malhotra shares details of his hard work including practice of martial arts, horse riding and more for nailing the role in Vidrohi.
Naagin 5 fame actor Sharad Malhotra will be seen in an upcoming period drama named Vidrohi. He is all set to essay the role of ‘Freedom Fighter Baxi Jagabandhu’ and presently he is gearing up to play this legendary character on-screen. As per the promos of the show, the talented actor has completely aced the look and has been receiving a lot of appreciation for his built in the show. He shared about the tough preparations behind the making of the character.
Sharad had to go through myriad challenges in order to duly perform on the show. Seeing his dedication for the role, you will have to believe he is the right fit for the role and has done complete justice to it.
Talking about his role prep for ‘Freedom Fighter Baxi Jagabandhu’, Sharad Malhotra says, “I have had to do a lot for the show. There was an action workshop that was conducted as well where we were taught some local martial arts of Odisha. We were also taught sword fighting but I have been taking up some training in it for quite some time now so that helped. We were also trained in horseback riding. My personal preparation would include conducting some thorough research about the revolt, reading books from the said time and watching some relevant material on TV. I am always making my own notes to better the character. I had to put in a lot to achieve just the right kind of body language to play Jagabandhu.”
He further added, “I had to lose weight and gain muscle weight to get the right look. The kind of shows that I have previously worked on are quite different from what Jagabandhu’s character is so I quite obviously had to work a lot on my voice modulation, the dialect, and of course, the body language. We needed an Oriya touch to it all so the dialect was worked on by keeping that in mind. We wanted everything to be very authentic and hence had to learn quite a lot about the state of Odisha. It cannot be fabricated or fictionalized as it is a huge part of our history that matters. It is an untold story of our rich history so we wanted to say it right. As I belong to Kolkata, I can vouch for the similarities between the two states, Odisha and West Bengal which helped and the episodes have come out to be fantastic is what I’ve heard.”
Sharad also revealed, “The promo has got some crazy responses as expected. I have also received reviews where people have said it looks more like an actual movie promo than television. A lot of my fraternity members have appreciated the promos as well. They have gone so far as to even say that it looks nothing like a regular TV promo!”
He further adds, “We have put in tremendous efforts behind the show. We’ve even shot in the rain for that matter! I remember driving from Mumbai to Karjat where the shoot was scheduled during the monsoons while it was raining heavily. So yes, there are a lot of stories to tell in that aspect and I cannot wait for the show to air.”
