Abhishek Bajaj had impressed one and all with his performance in Ayushmann Khurrana and Vaani Kapoor starrer Chandigarh Kare Aashiqui. He is well-known for his rock hard abs and the thirst trap photos that he shares on social media. However, the actor will be seen in a totally different avatar in Madhur Bhandarkar’s Babli Bouncer that has Tamannaah Bhatia in the titular role.
Abhishek in an exclusive interview with PeepingMoon.com talks about his against-type character in Babli Bouncer, sharing a great rapport with Madhur and Tamannaah and challenging himself with each and every role of his.
Excerpts from the interview.
Tell us about your role in Babli Bouncer?
In Babli Bouncer my character name is Viraj, he is a software engineer, very calm and composed and well-mannered, very sophisticated. He is Babli’s Prince Charming and is in stark contrast to her. This character is totally different from all the other roles that I have played ever. Babli falls in love at first sight with him. He has all the good qualities a good boy should have. Viraj is also very different from me as I am an extrovert and here the character was more subdued and in control. Here the role was different as here the girl is in charge, she is fighting the goons, she is driving the bike and I am sitting behind which is something that was a first time for me so it was very interesting and very different from the experiences in my life. Here the girl is falling for me which was again a first time for me (laughs). Playing Viraj was extreme fun and very refreshing.
How was it working with Tamannaah Bhatia and Madhur Bhandarkar?
When I first came to know that I would be working with Madhur sir, I thought he will be extremely serious person going by the films that he had made but he is an extremely friendly and jovial person, we used to rap on sets. I met his wife, Renu Ma’am, and she told me that he used to praise my shots to her and I used to feel extremely nice and proud of myself. I found out that he used to praise me that I could do the shots in one take and we got into a great and friendly rapport of an actor-director. Even n set, it did not feel that we are working but it was a fun moment. With Tamannaah we were very professional; we did workshops together and we maintained a friendly relationship with each other. Even if I had some suggestion she always took it in the right way and she was great and supportive as a co-actor. She is extremely dedicated to her craft and in spite of doing so many films she still has the same energy and same zeal towards her craft.
Babli Bouncer and Chandigarh Kare Aashiqui both are based on quirky and out-of-the-box subjects, what drew you to these roles?
Frankly, both the characters are different and both the director’s have different vision. With Gattu Sir (Abhishek Kapoor) I really wanted to be a part of his cinema because he makes very different films, and he makes them with full conviction every 2-3 years, whatever he makes he makes a cult film. Similar thing happened with Babli Bouncer, Madhur Sir’s cinema is totally different and he has won National Awards for his films. Even my role here was very different than my previous ones; whatever is happening in Babli’s life is because of Viraj and I had everything going for me, I had songs, the heroine is over me, so there was no cause for me to not take up the role.
How was it sharing screen space with Ayushmann and Vaani in Chandigarh Kare Aashiqui?
There was a great bonding on the sets of Chandigarh because we all are Punjabi and we bonded really well. When I told Ayushmann bhai about Babli Bouncer, he was like ki ‘aisa bhi hota hai’ after watching the trailer and songs. He is somebody who keeps on doing something different so it is heartening to see him appreciating.
A lot of films are facing the flak these days and the Boycott Bollywood trend had proven to be a big problem. What do you have to say about this?
I don’t have a problem with this, audiences love each and every character of the film and I would just say that support the talent whether it is the director or actor. We should not be disheartened about these trends but work hard upon improving things. At the last, we make the films for the audience and we should take their feedback and make films that they want to see.
Would you be interested in taking up a web series and if yes then what genre would you like to delve into?
I am open to every kind of platform because I really want to explore myself as an actor. I just want to take up stuff that challenges me and things that helps me push my limits. I would love to do action-comedy.
Is there a recent role or a project that you wished you had taken up or fallen in your lap?
No nothing like that, after Chandigarh Kare Aashiqui I got several similar kind of roles but I wanted to do something else and not getting typecast and hence I had to say no to several big projects. But my patience paid off and I got Babli Bouncer so I am happy.
What are your future projects?
There are 2-3 films in the pipeline but I can’t tell you anything more than that. There you will see different avatars of me as they will help me explore myself more.
Babli Bouncer releases on Disney+Hotstar on September 23, 2022.
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