Actor Harman Bajewa had a great year as his performance in the series Scoop caught eyeballs and was appreciated by audiences and critics alike. The actor, who was on a long break before this project owing to several reasons including media scrutiny that took a toll on him, is now looking forward to more opportunities in the field. “I feel extremely grateful that I got an opportunity in Scoop after staying away from acting for more than a decade. I am sort of still basking in the love that I have received for the performance. I would love to continue doing shows where I can play very strong characters, which are extremely layered,” shares the actor, who is in conversation for more acting projects on OTT, but nothing has been officially confirmed or announced yet.
Baweja however shares how such things are not always in the hands of the artistes “As an actor, you’re kind of dependent upon the choices that are brought forth and then you have to make the right decision. How it pans out eventually is also in the hands of audiences. So I am really looking forward to working in more projects but will see how and when it comes my way,” shares the Love Story 2050 actor.
While he started out as a big commercial film hero, it was OTT that gave him his much-deserved due and he points out that this is what draws him towards the medium even more. “The beauty of OTT in comparison to what I may have done in the past is that one gets to deep dive into the character. One can be flawed…faulty. One doesn’t have to be the quintessential hero. There are a lot more scenes to play with the interpersonal dynamics of the show’s characters. Also because it’s a longer journey, for me it has got a lot more scope to deep dive into various emotions.”
But movement of more and more film stars towards OTT platforms, leading to lack of big opportunities for newer actors has been a point of contention for a while now. But Baweja does not agree to it. He shares, “I think on the contrary, we’re creating stars out of the actors.”
Baweja goes on to explain, “There are so many amazing actors on OTT, who are now bonafide stars…they’re very well respected in the industry. They’re well known and have a massive fan following. So, in fact, OTT is giving birth to stars.” Baweja also quickly points out that he does not believe they are mutually exclusive from each other. “I think they complement each other. There are lots of mainstream big stars, who are actually fantastic actors as well. So, it’s just curating better performances, better technicians, better directors, better writers, and collectively a better industry,” he adds.
And with the kind of content coming out of OTT, Baweja shares that it’s driving “people who are making films to strive to do better work.” He goes on, “They also have the pressure to get the audience’s more excited to come to theatres. Effectively, the end user, which is people like you, me and everyone else out there who likes watching content. We are the beneficiaries of this because everyone out there is now working towards creating even better content, getting even better actors, better directors on the table.”
While he is enjoying his second inning as an actor on OTT, Baweja is also excited to explore the medium as a maker and has quite a few projects lined up. One of the films is Mrs, starring Sanya Malhotra and directed by Arati Kadav. “The beauty of the kind of content one can create on OTT is that you can go all out and come up with something unique,” says Baweja and continues, “For OTT, you can work on a story that may resonate with you without carrying the burden of pushing people out of their homes to come and watch it in theatres. I think OTT has become a beautiful medium to convey those stories to people rather than focusing the energy in making it a theatrical film