Ashish Vidyarthi’s recent work in the Netflix series Trial By Fire is being appreciated, along with the show itself. The veteran actor tells Bollywood Hungama exclusively that his criteria for signing projects has changed over the decades. During the initial period of his career, he was just in search of work but now he has reached a stage where he can choose his roles.
EXCLUSIVE: Ashish Vidyarthi has a message for casting directors; says, “Main zinda hoon dost, don’t wait for me to die”
“Since last few years I have decided that I will only do the type of work I prefer doing,” he said. “After so many years, I can tell you that I am getting some good work. I say no to the kind of work I don’t like doing. I am now willing to do some central roles; the kind of roles I didn’t do earlier.”
Vidyarthi also did some guest appearances in his earlier days. “But I am no longer doing them,” he added. “Now I tell them to give me some central roles. That’s why I am happy that I did Trial By Fire. When good directors offer you good roles and believe in you, it makes me happy. I am happy that Prashant Nair (director) trusted me for these roles.”
Trial By Fire stars Abhay Deol and Rajshri Deshpande. The show is based on the Uphaar cinema fire tragedy that took place in Delhi in 1997. Vidyarthi was also a part of Nair’s earlier show Tryst With Destiny.
As Vidyarthi is eager to do meaty roles, he has a message for casting directors. “I would like to tell them, ‘Main zinda hoon dost. Don’t wait for me to die. Then don’t say that this actor wasn’t utilized properly.’ Very clearly, I am an actor who is alive, who is active, who has worked on his craft. I enjoy acting a lot. I am willing to do some interesting roles in terms of my age. If some writers and casting directors are listening, ‘Aapan idhar khade hain,’” he said.
Last year wasn’t a good one for Bollywood with only a handful of films doing well in 12 months. When we asked Vidyarthi for his take on this, he politely said that he isn’t someone who prefers doing “post-mortem” of films that didn’t do well.
“We filmi people are like cricketers,” said the actor. “We leave home each morning thinking we will win the match. We are not spectators who just express their displeasure if their team doesn’t win the match. Last year, not many films did well, but we are still at it. This year a lot of films will become hits, but we will continue to be at it.”
Vidyarthi continued his take, “The films that didn’t do well last year, you need to see them to know why they didn’t do well. But nobody makes a bad film intentionally. Some things don’t work out. There are people who are experts in post-mortem (of films). I am not one of them. We are players. We fall down and still rise up. Irrespective of whether we win or lose, we will keep playing. I have a 32-year-old career where I have done 240 films in 11 languages. But I am still at it.”
The OTT boom arrived in India roughly three years ago, which opened the doors for good roles for a lot of artists. While speaking about this, Vidyarthi happily said, “It has been amazing. For an actor like me, who wasn’t getting good roles, I am now getting amazing roles because on OTT, for which I am thankful. Similarly, there are so many directors, writers, cameramen, producers and actors who were not getting quality work; they are now able to show their amazing work.”
Vidyarthi believes that the audience has also benefitted in a great way because of the rise of OTT. “Audiences have got so much choice,” he said. “It’s not necessary for them to wait for a Friday and go to a hall. They can now even watch (content) inside their houses whenever they wish to. I love it, I love this revolution.”
As far as Ashish Vidyarthi’s upcoming OTT projects are concerned, he has Rana Naidu and Vishal Bhardwaj’s Khufiya, both on Netflix.
Also Read: EXCLUSIVE: Ashish Vidyarthi on Rajshri Deshpande in Trial By Fire, “It’s one of the finest performances in recent years”
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