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Satrangi EXCLUSIVE! Anshumaan Pushkar On Emotional Challenge Playing Launda Naach Performer: It Was Not...
Satrangi Badle Ka Khel: ZEE5 is not shying away from experimenting with bold concepts. After striking a hit with Everybody Loves Sohrab Handa, the leading OTT platform is back with an interesting tale of drama and crime, putting emphasis on the practice of Launda Naach with the release of Satrangi Badle Ka Khel.
Man oh Man, how can you not praise Anshumaan Pushkar for playing the role of Bablu with perfection? Be it the intense scenes or emotional moments, he has breathed life into the character.
In an exclusive conversation with Filmibeat Assistant Editor Abhishek Ranjit, Anshumaan Pushkar got candid about playing a Launda Naach practitioner and how he balanced contrasting emotions in the series.
Here are excerpts from the interview-
What attracted you most to the character of Bablu Mahto?
his Bablu Mehta is a boy from, you know, a very rural place in Uttar Pradesh. And the duality of this character is, you know, that intrigued me because he is a London performer. At the same time, he is a person who is coming from a very downtrodden, very suppressed and very neglected society.
And he has some difficulties learning and living life through in his journey. At the same time, when he is performing, he has a different prospect and different identity and different ideology. So, as an actor, I find that there are so many layers in this character, so many emotions.
And as a human, as an actor, even I wanted to explore the Shiva and Shakti and the all nine emotions, and that one particular story which has everything and that is this story, Satrangi Badle Ka Khel. So, there was no question when I heard the first narration, I said yes to this particular story.
How did you prepare to portray the life and emotions of a launda naach dancer authentically?
Look, I had seen that world already. I have been to some of the performances of Launda Naach performers before coming to this industry also. But to be that person, it is really difficult to understand what's going on inside that person, what he's really feeling when he's performing, when he is becoming a girl before the audience, who does not have very good eyes or a good mindset about that person.
So, for this particular show, the director provided me with the opportunity to meet a Launda Naach performer who is also into acting. His name is Rakesh Baita. He was a performer, and then he completed his degree in acting from NSD.
So, he has a good understanding of acting, how actors prepare for that, how actors go through the emotionality and core of that particular character's nuances. So, he gave me good insight of that thing and simultaneously, I have to perform and dance as well and I have to represent that character's mentality and approach according to the story. So, the story itself has that thing.
Every time a script is everything for an actor, it becomes the Bible, the Quran and the Gita for any actor. So, I followed that story path. But at the same time, I really worked hard to understand the mentality and some etiquette of that character who was there.
He is one of my good friends now. He gave me good insight into that thing. So, yeah, by the process, I understood something. I tried to perform that.
Bablu carries both vulnerability and rage. How did you balance these contrasting emotions? What were the biggest emotional challenges while playing this role?
As an actor, I was preparing for that thing for a very long time because I'm a theatre actor. So, somehow, that preparation helped me a lot to prepare this thing to go through that thing and with the help of the director and my very good co-actors, who are, I cannot say them co-actors, I see them as a character of the story, and still I take his character's name when I'm calling them or I'm talking to them. So, they gave me the, they empowered me in that way that we, I'm already into that world to understand every emotion, every aspect of the story, and try to represent that thing by with the help of my director and my co-actors.
So, yes, this is that kind of story where there is a complete range and with the help of the script, my director, my co-actors, somehow I try to achieve that.
Were there any scenes that were especially difficult or memorable to perform?
Yeah. The first time I was, you know, I became Lali, another character Bablu Mahato is playing who is a Launda Naach performer. First time when I tried to be on a stage, I was wearing the clothes of a girl and the way people are approaching to me, the way people are talking to me, yes, when you are collecting a crowd to shoot that kind of, you know, humongous scene where hundreds of crowd people, crowd is there, they have a different perception, I and many reason when they saw you in that way.
So, I was little taken aback when I see their eyes and their behavior towards me has changed a lot and yes, it was quite difficult to perform that particular scene because there is a song attached to that thing and I have to come on a stage and perform a song and dance before them and yes, when I was performing them, there was constant questioning inside me because first time attempting that kind of character or attempting that kind of role but yes, through that I also, I get some confidence and at the same time, I was very nervous, I was feeling very taken aback that the way people are reacting and thinking.
As a human, as an actor, it was a difficult task to achieve. So, yes, that particular scene I will remember forever because it has given me a great learning as an actor, as a human being as well.
Satrangi Badle Ka Khel is available for streaming on ZEE5.
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