Young actor Siddharth Shaw’s chilling portrayal of a complex antagonist in JioHotstar’s latest series Chiraiya, produced by SVF Entertainment, is winning rave reviews. In the series that explores the sensitive issue of marital rape, Shaw’s character is the central catalyst for the main conflict.

In an exclusive conversation with IWMBuzz.com, Siddharth Shaw talks exclusively about his role, its complexities and the entire learning process amidst amazing senior actors.

Read it here.

After your work in Do Gubbare and Criminal Justice S3, how did you prepare for the specific social and emotional weight required for a social drama like Chiraiya?

Do Gubbare’s Rohit is Mr Right, the greenest green flag out there; to the contrary, Arun (Antagonist) in Chiraiya is the reddest of red flags out there. The ones who look nice on the outside, but behind closed doors, there’s a dark side which unleashes.

Thanks to OTT, actors like Prasanna Bisht, who plays my wife and me, get to be a part of such beautiful stories, where fairly new actors like us are given a chance to showcase our talent with such stalwarts.

The process of preparing for any role starts with reading the material. I read the script day in, day out. The task here was to play Arun honestly. I have never really played a negative lead before; this was my first. Hence, keeping my moral conscience away, I said, I must dive deep into why Arun would do something like this. Once I got into the reasoning, the rest followed. I started drawing parallels of abuse of power from my life and then integrated it with Arun.

It’s a privilege to work with Shashant Shah Sir. The way he lets you be and allows you to find your character’s feet is truly the kind of support I yearned for as an actor. We were dealing with a sensitive subject, and having such a smooth functioning set is a blessing. All thanks to Shashant Sir.

Hats off to Divy Nidhi Sharma Sir, who wrote the series. Such beautiful writing makes the job of the actor really easy.

What was the experience like sharing the screen with industry powerhouses like Sanjay Mishra and Divya Dutta?

It’s an honour to get to work with legends. Every day on set was an amalgamation of solid creative energies. The ease with which Sanjay sir transcends into any role is a beauty and only a reminder for me to keep at my craft and keep learning. His presence of mind is unparalleled, and I would really want to work with him again.

I loved the insights which Divya ma’am brought to the table. I feel the most important part of working with senior actors is to be able to hold your ground. Getting to work with the powerhouse of talent that Divya Ma’am is was truly a great learning experience for me.

Faisal sir was like an elder brother to me on set, reel to real. He plays my brother in the series. Like a younger brother in real life, whenever I’d get stuck, he would be my go-to.

Sarita Joshi ma’am’s dedication to work even at this age is truly admirable. She would come on set and be there till pack up. No van set – set van. Ready with guns loaded to explode.

I am now eagerly waiting to play a romantic hero.

How do you think digital platforms are allowing for more ‘uncomfortable’ but necessary conversations that traditional TV might avoid?

Thanks to OTT, we can tell stories like this. I feel that if we use the platform properly, we can be telling stories which have always existed but never been voiced more often. Also, thanks to OTT, actors like Prasanna Bisht, who plays my wife and me, get to be a part of such beautiful stories, where fairly new actors like us are given a chance to showcase our talent with such stalwarts.

What is one genre or type of character you haven’t touched yet but are desperate to explore?

I am eagerly waiting to play a romantic hero. Now that romantic films are back, a humble request to all producers and directors out there: please consider me for a rom-com.

With the roles you have played so far, how has your personal definition of ‘success’ changed?

Oh, this is a tricky one. Personally, I don’t feel I have reached my initial definition of success yet. However, the key is to keep challenging myself as an actor and to take up daunting roles to see if I can do justice to them.

What does the future look like for the actor in you?

After Chiraiya, hopefully, it looks like the sun’s rays. Will be shining so bright that the world will see.

What’s coming next?

I have Lorien Motion Pictures’ next horror film, ‘Bokshi’, directed by Mr Bhargav Saikia.