MUMBAI: The Commando actor, Jaideep Ahlawat began his journey as an artiste, Bollywood was not on his mind. While he performed on the stage in his hometown in Haryana, his dream was to join the Indian Army, but after several failed attempts, he turned to theatre. The actor, who has been a part of several notable films like Gangs of Wasseypur (2012) and Raazi (2018) and some web shows, was seen in the recently released Khaali Peeli. Talking about his training days as an actor, he says, “I joined the acting institute in Pune and was there for two years. I got to train under some talented personalities like Naseeruddin Shah, Om Puri and Irrfan. It was there that I thought about moving to Mumbai.”

With no solid contacts in Bollywood, he went for auditions with the help of some of his peers, and after a couple of years, he got a break in films like Aakrosh (2010), Khatta Meetha (2010) and Chittagong (2012). “Woh kya hai, when you are new to a city and an industry, you get to learn new things. Initially, yes, it is tough, as you don’t know how and whom to approach, but that is normal. Tomorrow, if someone from a big city moves to Haryana to do farming, they will struggle, too, right? Ki kahan zameen leni hai, kaunsi zameen behtareen hai,” he explains.

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The actor neither had a godfather nor a mentor. He shares, “In the industry, I didn’t have a mentor who could constantly support me or work with me. I am thankful to those who gave me good work. I was cast in Gangs Of Wasseypur at a time jab mujhe koi jaanta nahi tha. I got the part without an audition. It was my co-star, Manoj Bajpayee, who I did Chittagong with, who suggested my name. Likewise, Meghna Gulzar gave me an important role to play in Raazi. I am happy that I got to work in a commercial film like Commando: A One Man Army (2013) and also with Kamal Haasan in the Vishwaroopam franchise (2013 and 2018). Iss industry mein bahut saare log hai jinhone mujhpe bharosa dikhaya aur isi liye un logon ka yogdaan raha hai mere growth mein.”

In a career spanning ten years, Jaideep has worked with filmmakers like Priyadarshan, Imtiaz Ali, Anurag Kashyap, Meghna Gulzar and Dibakar Banerjee. He says, “I am a director’s actor. So, aap mujhse bahut kuch nikalwa sakte ho agar aap chahte ho toh. Working with these directors has worked to my advantage kyunki aap ek hi scene ko alag-alag tareeke se nibha sakte ho, and you get to learn that with them.”

Talking about Khaali Peeli, which featured Ishaan Khatter and Ananya Panday, Jaideep says, “When I heard the story mujhe kuch naya laga. I had a lot of scenes with Ishaan. Before the camera rolled and after the director said cut, we would be laughing. Thankfully, we were thorough with our prep, so we were ready to shoot the scenes.”

SOURCE – E TIMES

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