Barun Sobti is an actor and a gentleman. He can gauge from my expressions that I am not too happy doing a video interview with him and would preferably have met him in person. “Don’t worry, there’s always the next time,” he says, cheering me up. He then proceeds to add that even he has had a rough day. A meeting got cancelled, a script-reading didn’t go as planned and he didn’t land a role he was hoping he’d get. We’re the same but different. He nonchalantly shrugs off the bad vibes and is his sunny self again, ready to combat my queries. This is our second conversation and we have a lot to catch up on. Last year Kohrra shook viewers with its exceptional storytelling and performances, with Barun Sobti being the winner for the Best Supporting Actor, Series (Male): Drama at the Filmfare OTT Awards 2023. Untouched by the success, he cackles as he gets candid about life in general and acting in particular, as we talk…
Tell us about your first Filmfare win.
Kohrra is very special. Everybody was really happy when it got all those awards. I don’t know how to express myself; I’m kind of an outsider. So I’ve seen people being very happy when things go right for me, and I do the same for them. There are few people whose personalities you can relate to, to align your thoughts. I, too, feel happy when these people do well. I think that’s what is returned to me as well, in gratitude.
Did you expect Kohrra to become as big as it did?To be honest, I didn’t. I didn’t know for sure that it’d be a critically acclaimed thing. It’d be a masterpiece concerning the team that was on board, but it did exceedingly well. You can’t foresee that with any project. You just secretly hope that it does well and you give it your all so that you don’t blame yourself later on.
You welcomed your second child last year. How do you manage fatherhood along with your hectic schedule?
(Laughs) I could say I have everything under control, but to be honest, most of the time it feels like everything is spiralling out of control. But on a serious note, in terms of work, I’m occupied with things that interest me, so I’m good and happy. I’m able to give them a reasonable amount of time.
In the last two years or so, you’ve shown quite the range: Kohrra, Asur, Badtameez Dil, and now Rakshak. Would you call it the most exciting time in your career?
Without a doubt. The thing is, my career graph and its success are also very well aligned with the OTT revolution in our country. That’s the only place where exciting things are happening. So it indeed is a peak, to say so, and I have nothing but gratitude for the range I’ve been offered.
Coming to Rakshak, what would you say the challenges are when it comes to such projects inspired by real-life events?
The fact that it’s inspired by real-life events can’t be playing in your head all the time. The preparation, of course, has to be done, and you have to become another person on camera. But that’s the extent of it. After that, you do what you do best. The basics are a lot different from pure fiction because you have real-life references and you meet their families. The groundwork is always there, but it can’t become the crux completely.
Do you make a conscious decision to avoid working in two very similar genres consecutively?
I usually go with the flow, but sometimes, as an actor, you start getting worn off a little bit by doing too many intense roles, or any genre for that matter. I’ve had a couple of intense shows lately, and right now, I’m working on a lighthearted show. I believe it’s a good idea to pursue something a bit lighter at the moment, as the world could benefit from a more light-hearted show. Hence, I like to go with instinct, but then you can only choose from what you are offered.
Last time we spoke to you, you mentioned how we don’t see much of you on screen because you take your time.
I can’t do anything that does not interest me. There are a lot of things that go into making a character sound plausible. What an actor does on camera is a different thing. That’s the other side of it. But the choice of being convinced about a project is mine
to make. So yes, I choose projects from that perspective. I say no to at least 10 projects for every one I pick up. I’m the kind of person who doesn’t want to blame anybody later. I want my intellect to reflect in my work.
We read somewhere that you had plans to move to Australia before your big television break.
Yeah, that was a phase too. I had signed on for Iss Pyaar Ko Kya Naam Doon only for a year. The idea was to just finish this in a year, make some money and get out and live in Australia. It was pretty certain at that time. But then what happened after a year was that everyone started making money on that show. And everyone said that committing a loss for yourself is one thing; why are you making all of us suffer? So I thought, let’s not do that. That increased for six months, and then again for another three months. By then, I had fallen too much in love with acting.
Do you see yourself going back to television again?
Sure. I mean, concerning the format, it’s not different for an actor; you’re going to shoot in the same fashion, maybe with a little more urgency. I have no problems with hard work. But the one thing that has always bothered me about television is that when you’re telecasting every day, the writing goes out of the window at some point. I think people can act every day. You can do a surprisingly good job every day when you know you’re playing a doctor or lawyer. But as a writer, you just cannot create every day. It’s just unreasonable, so if you have a format like OTT, I wouldn’t mind it.
Was acting always on the cards for you?
No, I come from a very different setup. A true-blue Indian middle-class family where if you said you wanted to become an actor, you would be laughed at. I just found it a very interesting job.
What did you enjoy about it, and what did you wish you could do away with?
I wish actors were only involved with acting. There’s too much attached to our profession that is not necessary. People have their own perceptions of how things should be. I’m not the kind of human being who will not respect other people. So if someone brings up something, I will always have to respect that. It has to be discussed and reasoned through. But with interviews, promotions, and events, at one point it’s like – how much of yourself can you keep hearing about?
Do you get bothered by what people say about you?
Not really; I honestly have a good knack for learning, and every different perception is an opportunity to learn. So I tend to try to understand if the other perception makes more sense. You’re a Delhi boy; what kind of change did you experience moving to Mumbai? It was a huge shift because I came here alone. But my parameters for being happy are the way I set up my life. I can’t be sitting in Delhi. You carve your destiny, so you have to move to where the work is. That’s Mumbai. So I was kind of prepared for it.
Is there a misconception about you that you’d like to clear up?
I’m a little reticent, so people tend to confuse that with arrogance sometimes, but I’m just a shy person. That’s happened a lot to me.
Like I said, it’s a kind of reality. So I just let it go.
Have you always been so grounded, despite all the success coming your way?
Yeah, it gives you a reality check. You’re not surprised by anything if you’re grounded and aware. If you behave like a human being and not someone who is full of himself all the time, you get to learn more so you can converse more. And I like trying to make sense of it all.
Give us an update on Asur 3.
They’re in the process of writing it. So that’s a start.
What is your lineup like right now?
I’m working on a lighthearted show right now. I have this difficult problem of categorising shows that I do because they’re so complex that I just can’t put them into one genre. But the one I’m doing right now is a coming-of-age parenting show about three friends who grew up in a colony together and then got married.
