Arjun Mathur on earning International Emmy nod: Big acknowledgement not just for me but others like me

For actor Arjun Mathur getting nominated for 'Made In Heaven' at the upcoming International Emmys is a big validation in itself, not just for him but many other actors like him who may not be in blockbuster films, but are doing great work.

"Just this nomination is a win for many actors like me, who have been attempting to keep their focus on good content. And there hasn't necessarily been a lot of commercial validation on this part. But an acknowledgement like this just makes you feel that 'Okay, good, we're doing the right thing, we got to stay on this path'. And because eventually, that's what's going to put us and our country on the world stage," said Mathur during an exclusive chat with WION.

Mathur is the first Indian actor to have earned a nomination in the Best Actor category at International Emmys which honours best on TV and web made outside the US.

Add WION as a Preferred Source

The actor who has been part of some interesting films like 'Luck By Chance', 'Ankur Arora Murder Case' and 'My Name Is Khan' gained stardom in 2019 with Zoya Akhtar's web series 'Made In Heaven' where he played wedding planner Kabir Mehra.

Despite having delivered stellar work in the past, Mathur's moment under the spotlight came with 'Made In Heaven'. Does that ever bother him, we asked? "Well, it's part of the journey. Certainly, there are times when I might have felt disappointed that I'm working hard and something's not clicking or whatever. But even so, I was always happy and confident in the choices I was making. It doesn't matter. Because here I am today. Look, a journey is a journey. I don't resent a journey just because it took a certain amount of time. The slower one to me, honestly are much more respectable in my eyes," said the actor.

Mathur states that he is happy that post the success of 'Made In Heaven' people are curious to see his older work and says, "I value my successes also much more. And I also don't take my failures to heart."

Mathur, who worked with Zoya Akhtar in 'Luck By Chance' underwent a few rounds of the audition before the role came to him. While the creators Nitya Mehra and Zoya Akhtar wanted him from the beginning, it took them a while to convince Amazon. Mathur says he was not aware that the character offered to him was that of a gay man. When he was told that he would be playing a gay character, Arjun initially was reluctant to take it up. "I had played homosexual twice before in my career. And had already challenged myself with that. I don't know if I want to do it for the third time. Told Zoya maybe other actors should also get this opportunity and challenge themselves but she asked me to read it, and I just read all the episodes once overnight, and by the time I was done, I was just thanking my stars that this had come to me."

Mathur played a gay character in his first film- a short by Mira Nair called 'Migration' where he played Irrfan Khan's lover. He then eventually played a homosexual character in Onir's critically acclaimed film 'I Am'. The actor says the challenge was to overcome the barriers in his mind to play such characters. "After I read the script of 'Made In Heaven' that I thought that as long as in my mind, I'm still drawing a barrier about this character, I don't think I can say rightfully, that I truly am a supporter of the community and do justice to the role either."

Mathur's process of working for 'Made In Heaven' made him overcome barriers in his mind. "I decided to never look at a part again, as a gay part or a straight part, it's a human part first and foremost. I'm ready to do it 10 more times in my career provided, it is always treated with the same kind of sensitivity and love that these particular filmmakers have done like Onir or Meera or Zoya. As filmmakers, they have acute sensibility. And you can trust them, that they are not interested in misrepresenting the community," Mathur said.

Mathur also shot for an intimate scene with actor Vikrant Massey in the show, which many would agree was shot beautifully. Mathur recalls that the brief that was given to the two actors was an emotional one. To me it was not meeting this man, but the love of my life and so the brief was similar.

"As far as doing the scene with another heterosexual man is concerned, we were both uncomfortable but once we shared that with each other, it became a kind of easier. You express your discomfort and you then just put it aside and you go and you just do the scene."

Mathur credits the episode director Alankrita Srivastava and DOP of that scene John Jacob for shooting the scene so beautifully and aesthetically. Mathur revealed that the crew has plans to reunite for the second season of the successful series.

"I don't have an answer as to when the second season will be out but scripts were being readied and we were supposed to go on floors in May but the lockdown was announced and things came to a standstill."

Mathur who also won praise recently for the series 'Gone Game' admits to being picky when it comes to choosing projects. He confirmed that he is prepping for the season 2 of the series which was shot during the lockdown. The actor also has two films in the pipeline which will resume productions soon.

Commenting on the ongoing debate around OTT vs Cinema, Mathur said he saw the two mediums co-existing in near future. "I don't think cinema can ever die because like it's just too much a part of our history and culture."

As of now, Mathur is gearing up for November 23, when the International Emmy Awards are scheduled to take place. And like most of his fans, hoping to create history at the ceremony.