Fresh off a successful acting stint in Sushmita Sen starrer ‘Aarya’ both season 1 and 2, Ankur Bhatia is heaping on all praises coming his way as he gears for an exciting 2022 with several projects in the pipeline.

Fresh off a successful acting stint in Sushmita Sen starrer ‘Aarya’ both season 1 and 2, Ankur Bhatia is heaping on all praises coming his way as he gears for an exciting 2022 with several projects in the pipeline. Hustling his way towards an exciting acting career, Ankur Bhatia sat down for an exclusive chat with WION on his goals, aspirations and playing Sushmita Sen’s brother Sangram in Disney+Hotstar web series ‘Aarya’. Read the excerpts of the conversation here: WION: How was your chemistry with Sushmita Sen on the set of Aarya since you played her younger brother in the show? Ankur: I feel blessed to have had the opportunity to work with Sushmita Sen. She’s one of the best coaches I’ve had in the industry so far. She’s insanely helpful as an actor, very sorted as a human being. Talking to her was so much fun that I would look up to the times when we could chat. She has so much experience and she shares it with people. From being crowned Miss Universe at such a young age to then playing different roles in all these big movies, she has a lot to share. Playing Sangram in Aarya, I developed a brotherly bond with her. I love her, she’s family now. View this post on Instagram A post shared by Ankur Bhatia (@ankurbhatia) × WION: Can you say that playing Sangram gave you a much-needed push in your acting career? Ankur: Sangram was a very out-of-the-box character and I hope I played it convincingly. Playing that role has trained me as an actor. I have learnt a lot during this journey of ‘Aarya’ season 1 and 2. Sangram had a very interesting graph, a happening life full of ups and downs, lies and deceits, emotions and was multi-layered. He’s doing a lot of wrong in the show but at the same time has so much love for his family. Playing Sangram has made me realise a lot of things about me as an actor. WION: How do you look back at your journey – from where you started and where you are now? Ankur: Before I became an actor, I was a computer engineer. I then pursued my Masters in Mathematics and Finance and started work in the financial industry for almost 7 years before I switched professions and became a part-time actor. I started with indie films, short films. Since I had never been a part of a formal acting school, I thought being a part of short films would offer a better start. For two years, I would work weekdays in the office and take acting workshops over the weekends. My acting journey started with a short film directed by Payal Sethi, called ‘Grant St. Shaving Co’ which was produced by Mira Nair. It went to 30 international film festivals. So much acknowledgement made me confident and I signed up for another film with an NYU grad called ‘Coconut Grove’, for which I won the best actor award at NYU film festival in New York. Post that, I decided to become a full-time actor and ventured into feature films. I left my job, came to Mumbai and started with a supporting cast in ‘Aarya’. It has been a great journey with lots of learnings, ups and downs but it has all been very exciting. WION: What got you to switch professions? What do you enjoy the most about acting? Ankur: The most I enjoy as an actor is living someone else's life while I am playing a role. I enjoy being pulled apart from the character I played last and become someone new. When I was playing Sangram, I was living that role. I worked with my director to create the emotional switches for Sangram – what excites him, what doesn’t. As an actor, you can become a doctor, you can become a terrorist, you can become a villain or a hero and you get to live that life. That excites me the most as an actor – to kind of transform yourself into somebody that is totally different from you in real life. The whole process of transforming yourself into someone and making the audience believe in you is what excites me. View this post on Instagram A post shared by Ankur Bhatia (@ankurbhatia) × WION: What do you keep yourself busy in when you’re not acting? Ankur: I love to paint. For me it's meditative. I had not been painting for a couple of years as I was busy with studies and then work. I lost my mother two years back and was going through a rough patch when I picked up the brush again. It was a disturbing and low phase in my life when I picked up painting and drew my mother’s portrait. I found it to be meditative, relaxing and peaceful. It kind of eased me down because that was the time I secluded myself from social media. Exclusive! Jessica Chastain interview: Was important for me to make a film where actresses own their work WION: We’ve heard you’re busy shooting for a film as of now. What can you tell us about it and what other projects do you have in the pipeline? Ankur: Yes, I'm currently shooting for a film with Ali Abbas. It’s been tentatively titled as ‘Bloody Daddy’. It also features Shahid Kapoor. Since I’m still filming it, I can't talk too much about it at the moment. I will definitely tell you more when the time is right. All I can say is that I can’t wait for people to watch it. Apart from that, I have been shooting for a web series called ‘Crackdown’ season 2. It will premiere on Voot and is directed by Apoorva Lakhia. I signed up for that as soon as I finished work on Aarya. I'm just about to finish it, so I'm looking forward to it. It's an action packed espionage thriller with a great cast. 'Gangubai Kathiawadi' to 'Gehraiyaan': Movies and shows to look out for in February 2022 Indian people have a great appetite for magic: Magician Drummond Money-Coutts & his tryst with magic

Interview: 'Aarya' actor Ankur Bhatia on playing Sangram and special bond with Sushmita Sen

From playing Ranbir Kapoor’s best friend in ‘Wake Up Sid’ to Sushmita Sen’s arch-nemesis in ‘Aarya’ and now the recently released ‘Mafia’ on Zee5, Namit Das is getting noticed and how.

From playing Ranbir Kapoor’s best friend in ‘Wake Up Sid’ to Sushmita Sen’s arch-nemesis in ‘Aarya’ and now the recently released ‘Mafia’ on Zee5, Namit Das is getting noticed and how. Busy with promotions of ‘Mafia’ that started streaming on July 10, Namit is happy with the response, “So much of my work is coming out at a time when everyone needs entertainment.” Namit got talking to WION about his journey from Rishi in ‘Wake Up Sid’ to his recent breakout role as Jawahar in ‘Aarya’, his new show ‘Mafia’ and upcoming Mira Nair film ‘A Suitable Boy’. Zee5 show ‘Mafia’ “‘Mafia’ is about six friends who have come together one night for a holiday. Something in the past affects their relationships in the present. As the night follows it becomes dak and messy. Mayhem follows. My character is that of an outsider, not one of the 6 friends,” tells Namit of the show that has been scoring some positive reviews. Namit’s character is called Nitin Kumar. He comes from a geographical belt which falls between Bengal and Bihar. So Nitin speaks Bihari but essentially understands Bengali. “He is mysterious in nature. He lands up at that house where the friends are partying. Throughout the series you don't know what is his perspective, whether he’s innocent or is a part of the mayhem. As the story unfolds you get to know,” said Namit prodding to watch the show. View this post on Instagram There is no turning back, once you step into the world of #Mafia! Want to find out who will survive the #GameForLife? Catch #MafiaOnZEE5, releasing on 10th July. @namitdas @birsadasgupta @eskaymovies @aritsen07 @rohan_ghose @tanmaydhanania @aninditaa_bose @ishaasaha_official @mad.raid @ridhima.ghosh @ig_roadshowfilmsofficial __________________________________ #newwebshow #mafia #zee5 #namitdas #ridhimaghosh #aninditabose #tanmaydhanania #madhurima #birsadasgupta #aditya #saurabhsaraswat #rohanghose A post shared by Namit Das (@namitdas) on Jul 6, 2020 at 8:02am PDT × Success of ‘Aarya’ Namit recently burst to fame as Jawahar in ‘Aarya’ and he’s not complaining. “Aarya was a very different kind of a project, a different story. It was a different world altogether. Ram Madhvani as a director with Sandeep Modi and Vinod Rawat are essentially creators who envision a project in a very different way. I knew for a fact that we were doing something special but I never knew the reaction would be so big.” “Also working with Sushmita -- what do I say about her, she’s so gentle and nice. She’s really a legend that way. I love her for that,” said Namit. View this post on Instagram Your kind words mean so much to me. You are an artist, actor, mother , human being par excellence. And from each of these I have taken little bits from you. Learnt so much. Thank you for this journey. Shukriya Dil se! Our conversations remain really close to my heart. _____________________________________________This one is an institution by himself..he sings like a dream, dances with abandonment, writes powerfully & travels for inspiration!!! He’s ALSO an Actor!! #phewwww 😁🤗❤️Introducing #Jawahar @namitdas in #Aarya 🤗 He doesn’t Act...he becomes!!! #natural #rockstar 👊😁 ‬I have learned so much from you Namit, Thank you for being such a generous co star!!! 🤗❤️ I love you guys!!!! ___________________________________________ #gratitude #sushmitasen #aarya #hotstar #newwebshow #namitdas #newwork @sushmitasen47 @disneyplushotstarvip A post shared by Namit Das (@namitdas) on Jun 15, 2020 at 9:11am PDT × “Those 3 months when we were shooting were very easy. There was so much joy around. When I remember that set, I am happy. That's the kind of positivity that was created on that set. What we gave out to the universe is what we are getting back. That's the beauty of any project that Ram Madhvai does,” remembered Namit of shooting for ‘Aarya’ that became an instant hit for many reasons including being Sushmita Sen’s comeback project. Finding Success on OTT Namit is happy with how the entertainment industries around the world are adapting to changing times. Crediting newfound success to OTT platforms, Namit said, “Its given a chance to a lot of stories to come out which wouldn't have been able to find their way through the politics of filmmaking or television. I think it's given a lot of creators to think in a different way, liberty to a lot of actors to explore themselves in characters which they wouldn't have gotten in films/TV because they would have been looked at a particular way. That's why you have ‘Sacred Games’ where not only the series is talked about but also its characters. Then you ask yourself, who are these actors? Then you look them up. They have always existed but have been doing a particular type of work but on OTT they have got a chance to show their true potential. The medium is as such that’s why you have a ‘Paatal Lok’, ‘Mafia’, ‘Aarya’.” He added, “Last night I was having a discussion with my wife about how it will be interesting to see the kind of movies that will come out after we have gone through the COVID phase because OTT would have entertained a considerable number of people, in a particular way, for a long period of time. Lets see how that influences the films that we see in the future. The process had already begun in the last two years with a film like ‘Andhadhun’.” Journey as an Actor Namit has grown as an actor, finding more number of projects that he’s in tune with so when you ask of his path from Rishi to Jawahar, he reminds that it’s been 11 years since then. “I tell people that ‘Wake Up Sid’ was a film that released in 2009. It was a great film, a cult. It’s still very relevant. It's a great piece of cinema. As an actor and as a human being, I was at a different stage of my career at that time. From there the journey has not been a straightforward one but there have been many other milestones which I have crossed. ‘Wake Up Sid’ to ‘Ghanchakkar’ to many TV projects, atleast 25 different plays and more. The transition is hidden in all these projects that I have done,” explained Namit. View this post on Instagram We were all very young when we worked on this film. The average age on the set must have been 26 years or something( Yes & that includes Anil Mehta). It was my first “Big Bollywood Film” with so many stars. The length of my role when I read seemed insignificant because Ayan brought so much positivity to my life. You are really special Ayan! It’s a sweet memory which finds a very important place in my heart. Till date I am recognised as “Rishi” from Wake up Sid. As it completes 10 years, I look back fondly and thank everybody associated with this project. The years have seen this film only grow. People become fond of these characters more and more even though we performed it for the camera only once. But I guess, that is the magic of films. The magic reveals itself as time passes! To many more years of this story to reveal itself. And love to each & every person who was associated with it. P.S. Shikha Talsania! My partner in crime. My saviour in those dark hours of late night shifts. You are a true friend. I love you. And yes... Thank you Konkona for letting me sing my idiotic songs on this set & also on the set for “President is coming”. Lucknow, Uttar Pradesh, Oct, 2019 ______________________________ #10yearsofwakeupsid #Wakeupsid #firstfilm #Rishi #namitdas #shikhatalsania #ranbirkapoor #konkonasensharma #supriyapathak #shrutibapna #anilmehta @karanjohar @karanboolani @ayan_mukerji @konkona @shikhatalsania @panchamighavri @tanghavri @chinxter @shrutitheactor @im_anilmehta A post shared by Namit Das (@namitdas) on Oct 3, 2019 at 11:53pm PDT × He added, “Jawahar is very important for me. People are noticing a definite shift, not only people from industry but also my loved ones. I am getting calls of how different I am in real life from Jawahar. It gives me happiness that I have been able to make that transition, from boy-next-door to one that has many shades.” 'A Suitable Boy' Namit will next be seen in Mira Nair’s ‘A Suitable Boy’. Talking of the film, the actor said, “That’s a project that I am eagerly waiting for all to see. I have been under Mira Nair, the legend. Its special project.” Praising her guidance, he said, “Whenever we would be shooting a scene, she would always look at my character or that of others’ from a diff perspective. She looks at every scene from different perspectives. She’s a legend. I always say she’s Rajmata of ensemble pieces hence she is the perfect person to direct a huge project like this.” View this post on Instagram The first look. The first one. Just the first one & many more to come. Congratulations to whole crew & the cast. Get ready people. This is just the beginning. Thank you so much @pagliji Shukriya for making me part of this universe! _____________________________________ #asuitableboy #bbconeseries #miranair #vikramseth #rasikaduggal #ishankhattar #tabu #tanyamaniktala #sharavarideshpande #ramkapoor #ranvirshourie #shahanagoswami #vivekgomber #danishrazvi ______________________________________ @rasikadugal @tabutiful @ishaankhatter @sharvardeshpande @iamramkapoor @gomberv @shahanagoswami @tanyamaniktala @mahirakakkar @pagliji @vikramsethfanclub @ranvirshorey @pathakvinay @akshay_adayegi @sethkavita @avancontractor @bbciplayer @bbcone A post shared by Namit Das (@namitdas) on Jul 12, 2020 at 1:26am PDT ×

‘Aarya’ actor Namit Das to WION: Will be interesting to see the kind of films that will release post COVID-19

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Interview: 'Aarya' actor Ankur Bhatia on playing Sangram and special bond with Sushmita Sen

‘Aarya’ actor Namit Das to WION: Will be interesting to see the kind of films that will release post COVID-19