OTT platforms are creating their own stars! Actors who were known mostly for playing small and supporting roles in mainstream Hindi movies are now leading web shows and getting much-deserved recognition for their spectacular performances. Manoj Bajpayee, Nawazuddin Siddiqui, Pankaj Tripathi, Jaideep Ahlawat, Piyush Mishra, and Vineet Kumar Singh have all gone to OTT to lead their own shows, and following their footsteps is seasoned actor Vijay Raaz. Recently seen as a government officer in Shoojit Sircar's Gulabo Sitabo, Raaz is all set to make his digital debut.
Peepingmoon.com has exclusively learned that Vijay Raaz will be starring in the lead in Airlift director Raja Krishna Menon's next Netflix series. Menon is making a dark-comedy about Godmen culture and has locked in Raaz to portray a new-age spiritual guru who thrives on the ignorance of the masses. The series is said to be more of a critique on the Godmen culture and exposes Indians' blind devotion to Dhongi Babas in a satirical way. The show is believed to be along the lines of Satyajit Ray's 1965 Bengali film, Mahapurush which tells the story of a religious Hindu family that falls prey to a fraudulent god-man.
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The yet-untitled Netflix series marks Menon's second collaboration with Vijay Raaz over a decade after Barah Aana, his 2009 comedy-drama revolving around the lives of three working-class Indians in a globalized milieu. Menon is directing this digital project after his biopic on boxing legend Dinko Singh starring Shahid Kapoor didn't materialize last year. The series was apparently scheduled to go on floors in May but has been postponed due to COVID-19 pandemic. They're now expecting to start it sometime around October-November.
Interestingly, filmmaker Prakash Jha is already making an MX Player series about religious gurus. His show stars Bobby Deol and Chandan Roy Sanyal in the lead and is said to be a Haryanavi political satire based on the life of controversial Godman Gurmeet Ram Rahim Singh.
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