Crimethriller series 'Paatal Lok' actor Ishwak Singh, who had quite a productivelockdown, says that creativity is the king in the OTT space. Calling 2020challenging, he also said it was a remarkable year for him, as it brought himon the map.
Singhstars in 'Unpaused', a Hindi anthology consisting of five short storiesrevolved around lives of people impacted by the Covid-19 pandemic.
Excerptsfrom chat with Ishwak Singh:
Q:You have a background in theatre. Tell us about your time and learnings onstage.
A:Theatre is a pretty widespread and diverse space but the kind of theatre Iwanted to do was very, very realistic and minimalistic - which means thereweren't many sets or too much anything apart from the spotlight and the actor.To me, that was the ultimate training ground. My idea was to learn the craft,and I thought what could be a better space to learn than a play where it's justthe actor and spotlight. To me, theatre is the most authentic way of learningacting. When I started out, I realised it would take a lot of time, becausenormally you enrol with a theatre group and it takes a good number of yearsbefore you get the part of a protagonist and you build a body of work and getknown for it. It's a slow and ongoing process which I wanted to do, it was aconscious choice and I really enjoyed it.
Q:From an actor's perspective, how promising would you say the OTT space is?
A:The OTT space is clearly a savior in that sense, for not just actors,filmmakers, writers, and creative people, but someone who just wants to dobasic work and want to tell stories. It doesn't have the dynamics of what everyindustry has, where creativity is pretty much at the centre. Creativity is theking for OTT, and that's what makes it very interesting.
Q:'Unpaused' draws from Covid-19 and the lockdown. What were your personalexperiences in the lockdown?
A:During the lockdown, I was aware that this thing is going to go on for a whileand I wasn't ambitious at all about how to make my days productive initially.To me, it was about your sanity, getting past this thing. I got back to basics,did things I really enjoyed, read Shakespeare which I really like, watched goodcinema, explored different forms of martial arts. I had been meaning to getback to books, plays and stories.
Well,I have to say it's been a very very challenging, at times hurtful, at timesvery difficult year, but at the same time it's been remarkable, that I can'tdeny. It's unfortunate to use this word for the year, but it did kind of bringme on the map. The biggest regret any artist has got the longest time is thathe might have been known before this but I wasn't known for the kind ofskillset, work and acting I represent. After 2020, people get a sense of that,which is immensely satisfying.
Q:Tell us about character in 'Unpaused' and how different is it from that in'Paatal Lok'?
A:Every character is very, very different. Anything that is written in adifferent time and place, if you see it as part of a story and what the storyis all about, I think characters of the same profession (would be different).If I have to play a cop, it will be different from the cop I played in PaatalLok. Here (in 'Unpaused') is the premise is different, the format is different,that was long-format, this is a short story. This is more felt, personal,internal, something that comes out of one's personal experiences because it'sabout mental health and hope.