Vishal Jethwa on a long gap after debut film: ‘I received the best debutant award for Mardaani 2, spent pandemic looking at it’
Vishal Jethwa had just tasted success in Bollywood after giving years to television serials when the pandemic struck .Vishal made an impressive debut with Rani Mukerji’s Mardaani 2 (2019), he was last seen in Disney+Hotstar’s Human.
In this interview with indianexpress.com, Vishal talks about how he accepted the long gap in his career induced by Covid-19 “practically and realistically”. He says, while it was frustrating, it was not only him or the film industry, but the whole world going through testing times.
Vishal is excited for Salaam Venky, where he’ll be seen playing the role of Venkatesh, who suffers from Duchenne muscular dystrophy. He calls the film an inspiring one, and he’s learnt to live his life to the fullest from the character he portrays on screen.
He says, “Normally such patients survive for 16-17 years but Venkatesh is an exceptional case. Thanks to his will power and positive mindset, he lives his journey for 25 years. And he not only survives but also has the courage to dream and live a big life and do something for his family too. He was mentally strong and makes one wonder why we complain so much in life. That’s why this character is very inspiring; this film is about the relationship of a mother and a son. I feel the relationship that a mother and her child shares has to be the purest form of love and relationship in the world.”
Calling Covid-19 a global tragedy, Vishal says that he’s taken the long gap between his projects in his stride. On being asked if he ever felt desperate or upset that after making quite an impressive debut, he was left with no work for months, he said, “I think it was for everyone. Not only the film industry but but everyone from every walk of life went through it. Mardaaani 2 happened in December 2019, within two-three months, I had just started getting offers for more films. I was just getting started and soaking up the new phase in my career, I even received the best debutant actor award for Mardaani 2. I spent Covid-19 pandemic looking at it. When I was experiencing a high, when I was being offered a lot of roles, I lost the opportunity to choose work and it was a very sad thing. One, one and a half year went by like that.”
Vishal, however, is happy with the projects that he has associated with and that helped him ease out the frustration. He says, “Then everybody’s work just stopped. Fortunately, Human happened, and people loved it too. But after that, I directly signed four films. In every film, I play very different roles, that was the good part. But the frustrating part was not only for me, it was frustrating for everyone. Not only India, the world was on hold suddenly. So, if you practically accept the realities of life then you don’t end up getting too frustrated.”
The 28-year-old actor then talks about how he’s figured the kind of work he wants to do, and that he’s not here to be a hero. He says, “In the times when my contemporary actors must have come thinking ‘mujhe hero banna hai‘, I’m not from the league. I don’t want to go that way either, be a part of that thought process. As an actor I know my strengths so I know how I can perform and I’m very happy that I’m able to portray myself as a versatile actor. At the same time, if in the near future, if I get the ‘so called hero’ roles then I’d love to do that also because after all I’m an actor. I’ll consider that as one of the characters I play and not a hero. So, in my head that concept is very clear.”
After receiving accolades for his performance in Shefali Shah and Kriti Kulhari starrer Humans on Netflix, Jethwa will be fighting it out at the box-office in times when most Bollywood films are failing to succeed. On being asked if he is nervous for Salaam Venky’s performance at the box-office and if it would be wiser for the film to release on OTT, he says, “I’m not nervous, after watching the trailer I’m even more confident. A lot of people from the industry have seen the film and they have all liked it, so if such experienced people have seen it and are sure about it, we must have made a good film.”
