Actor Rahul Dev tells Sakshi Sharma that his character in Who’s Your Daddy? goes a notch higher with each episode as he explores himself
Given that the Coronavirus pandemic doesn’t seem to be going away anytime soon, the promotions of new series and shows, especially the smaller ones, are suffering a major setback. But for actor Rahul Dev, the issues of the world are of a larger concern than his recently released series. “A lot of people find it tough to afford two meals a day. They struggle for their basic needs. We need to be conscious of that and try to help the vulnerable around us. There are bigger world issues at stake. The show is definitely getting affected in terms of its publicity. But we also need to pay attention to the fact that since everyone is at home, watching shows, it is bound to do better. We all have more extra time now than what we did in our normal work days. So the show’s fortune might only benefit from it,” says he.
The actor’s web series Who’s Your Daddy? revolves around his son Soggy (played by Harsh Beniwal) and him, a retired Major Subedar, Prem Singh Barnala. It showcases the day-to-day adventures of the father-son duo. Based in ‘Dilwalon ki Dilli’ they are the coolest family in town. Soggy runs a DVD rental shop and earns a sizeable chunk by renting blue films to boisterous lunching ladies of Delhi’s posh societies. Prem becomes an overnight star with the women patrons of the DVD world and the duo runs a successful business until their world turns upside down.
The actor usually plays negative characters, way different from this one which is predominantly comedy and fun. “Yes, this one is very different. I thought it would be nice to know this character as the Subedar is simple, naive, humorous and straightforward — certainly a package,” says he.
It is a situational comedy. Things happen in a way that they appear funny. “If you play the role sincerely, you don’t have to push yourself to do comedy, it will automatically look comic. You just have to react. For instance, if you look and play a certain way, it becomes comic. Imagine a six feet tall person being scolded by his mother, ‘Ja kaam kar gadhe, kaam kyu nahi karta?’ and he says, ‘Biji main toh retire hoke aa gaya hoon,”’ adds he.
Though the role is quite different, emotional, instinctive and funny, it was not tough for Rahul to play the character. He says:, “It’s very easy because there’s nothing deep and intense in it. It is not that kind of a subject. If I tell you that yes I worked on it, you’ll feel ‘what is he talking about?’ if you ever see the show. I just followed a line — ‘Just be.’ You just have to be yourself and play it simple.”
As the series revolves around the DVD rental shop, one wonders why DVDs as these are outdated in the current scenario. The actor tells us that the show is a flashback story set in 2000s.
With each episode, the actor goes a notch higher as he explores himself. He start out as somebody naive and simple who is self-absorbed. But as he deals with a variety of situations, he gets better. He says, “It was an exploration of various characters because of the journey that the character goes through. He evolves as the show goes on. In the first six episodes, he’s finding himself and later he goes on to form a relationship and understanding with his son and mother. There’s a new start in life. There are beautiful emotional scenes with his mother which often give rise to a lump in the throat.”
As the show explores the father-son relationship, there is something in common with the actor’s personal life. He went through a tough phase when he lost his wife in 2009. Since then he has been a single parent, the experiences of which he shared. So did he relate to the character as it deals with the same? “Except for the fact that I am a single parent, there’s nothing in common. My journey is totally different. In terms of the father-son relationship, I do relate to it a bit but altogether it isn’t the same. When you lose your partner it’s very tragic but this show doesn’t explore those lines,” says Rahul.
Another genre which Rahul really wants to explore is thriller as it is intriguing and engrossing. He finds dark and suspense-driven stories fascinating. “I finished watching the film Heat at 3:30 in the morning. It’s a legendary film. I loved one sequence of six minutes and 16 seconds where two enemies sit in a cafe and have a conversation. Though they both know about each other but there’s mutual respect. No raised voices, banging fists on the table or threats. It’s just a conversation and that’s interesting,” says he. It was interesting to note that the actor who is usually seen doing larger-than-life characters and beating up people, finds two enemies having a conversation interesting. It strikes us that the kind of person is at complete variance with the roles that Rahul has done. “Those characters are not written by me. For example, you might be not be interested in this story. Your heart might be in reporting something else. But you get stuck and you have to choose the best out of what comes your way. So I believe destiny plays a role in this,” says Rahul, raising a thousand questions in our mind.
The actor believes that the platform belongs to the writer and the director primarily. They weave something first and then want you to be a part of it. You might try to play it in your style but it is ultimately their call. For instance, for the Subedar’s character, in two scenes the director wanted him to react in an over the top manner and shout. However, he wanted it a bit subtle because a retired Army personnel would not behave that way. Rahul says, “One can show their disappointment in many ways. You can not talk to your son or just emotionally pour it out. I wanted it to be more expressive.”
He draws life lessons from the role. “My character teaches the audience to go with the flow of life, irrespective of its pace. But I don’t know if people will be able to draw that message out. They will watch it mostly for fun, laughter and relief,” adds he.
(The show is streaming on ALTBalaji and ZEE5).
