Actor Kumud Mishra, who was recently seen in web anthology Lust Stories 2 where he played a sexually abusive husband to Kajol, confesses how he had reservations about taking up the role. “I had inhibitions whether I would be able to do it right,” admits the actor.
However, he is quick to add that how the audience will react to it and whether they will accept him doing such a role, was something that was never on his mind. “Whenever I take up a role or play a certain character, I cannot keep my audience base in mind. Big stars can do that because unki ek image hoti hai and log us image ko jeena chahte hain. But for me as an actor, fan base is never the reference, but what matters is my own challenges as a performer,” explains the 48-year-old.
Talking about the inhibitions about playing this character and doing justice to it, Mishra reasons all that was because he had never done something like this before. “There was a fear of failure…whether or not I would be able to pull it off or not. But the director showed a lot of belief in me and that’s what gave me the confidence to take the plunge,” he says.
While people, of late, have been calling out vulgarity on OTT reasoning that it makes them uncomfortable, the Mission Majnu and Kuttey actor advocates self-censorship in such instances. “They have the choice to not watch it. Today, all kinds of work should be made and is being made. From adult content to family dramas, there is no dearth of content. You can choose what you want to see. But why would anyone want to take the charge of deciding what should be made and what not. In fact, there is no way to decide what will hurt whom. Aaj kal log har baat par hurt hote hain,” he opines.
As for people lamenting that content like Lust Stories is not fit for family viewing, the actor asserts that it’s obvious that you won’t watch such a show with your children.
“As a consumer for content online, I would know who should be my company for any particular project. Ye behes mujhe samajh nahi aati. Hum parivaar ke saath baithkar baat karne ka samay nahi nikaal paate, par humein yeh ladai karni hai ki hum unke saath baith kar ek film dekh sakte hain ya nahin,” he argues.
While Mishra is open to experimenting on OTT as it gives him the space to learn about his own capabilities, he is averse to the idea of being part of propaganda projects. “I can play a very negative character given it has a strong and logical point to for his actions. I can’t do anything for sensationalism. Mujhe sex scenes, ya gaali dene par bhi koi aitraz nahi hai. Par woh gaali aap kyun de rahe hain, uske peeche ek wajah honi chaiye. But I don’t want to do any project that’s a propaganda and creates a discomfort in the society,” he asserts, revealing he has been offered many such projects. “I don’t question the people making it because I’m against any kind of censorship. But I would like to keep myself away from it,” he ends.
