OTT is a blessing for character artistes like us: Sharat Sonu

Actor Sharat Sonu is exploring opportunities in all medium to expand his base as a performer. Having done TV serials, films and OTT shows, his recent release was Aditya Sarpotdar’s Marathi film Zombivli, he just shot TVC in Telugu and has also done episodic in Maithili language.

“I am not leaving any platform and medium where I can get good exposure as an actor. Earlier, I was focused only on films but strongly felt that one has to be really very lucky to get noticed amid big stars. Ads, TV serials, short films and OTT projects surely gave me better recognition,” says the actor who has done films like Anwar, Bahut Hua Samman and Kagaz.

Sonu shares that all was going well for him but then pandemic struck and things went haywire. “Problem is that due to erratic pandemic spells, shoots are stalled resulting in loss of work. Many projects that were already locked have been postponed too. I lost on Fukrey-3 due to this. Thankfully, TV commercials have kept me afloat where I got opportunity to work with Ajay Devgn, MS Dhoni, Pankaj Tripathi and other biggies.”

Recently Sonu completed a film in Nainital where he plays Amit Sial’s younger brother. “Next I am going to start to shoot for a big banner series in Gujarat. It’s based on a popular book which is set on a prominent university in Uttar Pradesh. Then I will be shooting for the film Harry Up.”

The actor says that his best work was with Imtiyaz Ali’s short film Paani Panchayat, directed by his brother Arif Ali. “It got me good recognition and more work. During the pandemic phase, Bahut…, Murder Meri Jaan, Dil Bekrar and Kagaz did well for me. In films, sadly role of character artistes is edited out. I am still not able to understand this concept but that’s how it is! OTT as a medium has come as a blessing for actors like us who now get good screen space and scope to perform.”

Hailing from Bihar, Sonu came to Mumbai in 2003. “I started with theatre in Patna and continued with it in Mumbai as well. I also did a diploma in animation to survive but soon realized that’s not my field. Then I got to act in a Bhojpuri show. And then my film journey started with Anwar (2007) where I had three scenes but it was cut to one. However, the same director re-cast me in The Legend of Michael Mishra (2016). I was selected for a big role in Super 30 but it went to Amit Sadh as he is a popular face while I had to settle with a blink-and-miss role. Later, I did small roles in RAW, Dil Bekrar Hai but that’s how the struggle is. But today I have some good projects in hand. I think in our industry kaam se kaam aata hai…mere saath to aisa hi hua hai, thankfully.”