MUMBAI: Iqbal Azad essays the role of Charan Patnaik in Subrat Sinha and Dr Bodhisattva’s Vidrohi.  It is a negative character and the actor is enjoying playing the part.

“Charan Patnaik is the villain, and was a hated person in Odisha. This character was there in the 1800 when you know the first revolution of India against the East India Company happened. And Vidrohi shows this character as a ‘Deshdrohi’ and ‘double standard’ person, who was with the British and was supplying all information about the Odisha King and the dynasty to them. I don't relate to my character. But this is an interesting role and I have never played this kind of character before in my acting career. There are different kinds of dialogues, and punctuations that he uses,” he says.

Iqbal’s look is also very different. “With all these fake moustaches, beard and wig and the kind of costume I am wearing, it’s a different ball game altogether. I never enjoyed that kind of getup, jewellery and costume because mujhe lagta tha yeh aapke expression ko aur aapke character ko chupa dete hai. You've to put in some extra effort to make your expressions visible. But then if it wasn’t tough, it wouldn't have been exciting,” he adds.

The actor, in fact, is getting a lot of compliments on the way he is looking on screen. “I am told that I look very colourful, different and expressive, much more than other characters. I am that colourful villain… One of the best compliments I've got from my producer Subrat ji is that I sound very much like a true-blue Odiya,” he shares.

Iqbal says that the vibes on the set are positive, and that enables them to give their best. “People are very professional here and up to their mark. Everyone knows their job well and are very friendly. Overall there are good vibes all around,” he adds.  

On working experience with Gaatha Productions and the producers, he replies, “Working with Gaatha is again a very creative challenge for me because both the producers Subrat Sinha Sir and Bodhisattva Sir are writers themselves. So you're directly involved with writers and producers at the same time. At least one of them is on the set daily. They are very attached to the show. Gaatha Productions is a fun and dedicated bunch.”

Shooting for this kind of a period drama takes longer and involves a lot of hard work. Agreeing, Iqbal says, “It takes 3 hours extra for me to do my getup and look the part and almost similar time to remove everything. But this is how you work when you're doing a costume drama. You've to be fully prepared for that. But yes there is so much fun too. There is so much that I am learning every day.”