Ankur Bhatia known for his strong roles in films like Sarabjit, and Haseena Parkar, alongside actresses like Aishwarya Rai and Shraddha Kapoor. One of his most prominent roles includes playing Sangram, the hot-headed person alongside Sushmita Sen and Sikander Kher. He also gained a lot of acclaim for this role. In an exclusive interview with the Team of MissMalini, Ankur Bhatia spoke about his upcoming projects, working with Sushmita Sen and being a versatile actor.
Read on to know more…
We started off by getting to know a little about his upcoming film, Operation Mayfair, his role in it and what it was like working with Jimmy Shergill, here’s what he had to say…
I play a forensic investigator, named Kevin Dcosta. They’re investigating a series of murders that have happened in London. There is a serial killer, and this guy is the main person responsible for finding pieces of evidence that are similar to all these murders. And interestingly these crimes are real-life instances that happened in London. They’ve researched a lot through investigation files and included them in the script. And Jimmy Shergill is also one of the investigators, so, between Jimmy and I, there is a cat-and-mouse chase going on. Jimmy is a fine actor, and I’ve been a fan of his work since Maachis.
After working with Sushmita on the power-packed show Aarya, we also asked him how excited he is to work with her for Taali, to which he added,
It happened that I was in London shooting for Operation Mayfair, and it turned out Sushmita was also there and we met. And she told me about this project, Taali, and she was very excited. She had read the script, so she said that there is a part which will be very great for you. And I got very interested in the subject because it was such an emotional subject. A story like this has never been told before, so I spoke to the director, I got screen tests done for it, because it is a part that I have never done before. I play a gay activist in Taali, so it was a total body language change, persona had to be changed. It was very challenging to get the part. Everybody had seen me as Sangram with Sushmita Sen, so nobody could imagine that I could play a role like that. But Sushmita also insisted that I do a screen test. And within a day of me doing the screen test, they got back to me and said that they wanted me to do this role. And then reuniting with her on set was beautiful. I have a great relations with her, she’s like family. But as an actor we’re on set, we’re like close friends who enjoy acting, so it becomes a fun process, creating something like this.
Ankur also has Bloody Daddy coming up with Shahid Kapoor, where is he set to play a negative role, here’s what he had to say about this…
I am very excited. It is a negative role, but its a very different shade of negative as well. Its an action thriller, but I’ve finished dubbing for it. I play a very interesting character in that film. I am very excited about it because the next one to come out in the next few months will probably be this film.
As an actor, there are certain genres we’ve seen Ankur in, so we dug deeper into whether he would like to stick to these roles or explore further,
Being someone who started from the bottom of the industry as an actor, I played a background actor in my early days. I later got promoted to Sarabjit, playing a pivotal role alongside Aishwarya to Haseena Parkar, where I was the lead opposite Shraddha Kapoor, to OTT where I got recognition with Aarya. I have never said no to good work, I’ve never had the option to choose whether I’ll only do a thriller, or I’ll only do romantic parts, it was never the case with me. As an actor not from Bombay, I grabbed every opportunity that came to me and tried to make the best out of it. If something comes to me, or if something interests me, I go towards it with full power. The rest I leave to it, I don’t care whether it’s thriller or action, as an actor I am supposed to do everything. If you see the films I have done, they are all very different. Sarabjit I played a Sikh guy, Haseena I played the role of a Pathaan, totally different shades. And in Aarya I played a hot-headed person, and in Operation Mayfair I play a detective in London, and in Taali I am playing an activist. So it is very different, and at some point, people will start observing that this guy has a range, and that is what I aim for.
Ankur is all geared up for his upcoming film Operation Mayfair, which is a murder-mystery set in London and also stars Jimmy Shergill. Check out the trailer below to find out more!