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MUMBAI: Dibyendu Bhattacharya, an actor who has garnered a dedicated fanbase with his incredible performances in mainstream cinema as well as OTT, was last seen in the role of Neel Banerjee for the web series 'Poacher'.
Directed by Richie Mehta, the 8-part drama miniseries shows Dibyendu play a forest officer who is on a mission to take down an ivory trafficking ring that poaches elephants in the forests of Kerala. In an exclusive interaction with mid-day.com, Dibyendu shares his take on OTT, the audition process, and more.
In ‘Poacher', Dibyendu's character is one that the audience roots for, but also feels emotionally connected to the fact that a man, who is facing a fatal health scare is giving it his all for the wildlife. On a side note, he also loves turtles. Shedding light on the same, the actor says, "It is a very different character, a no-nonsense guy with a lot of layers. I enjoyed working with a fantastic cast and just responded to a great perspective."
It's been over two decades and Dibyendu has sustained in this fast-paced industry that churns out new actors every day. He has been around long before the OTT boom and starred in projects like ‘Monsoon Wedding', ‘Black Friday', ‘Pari', and ‘24' among others. Having said that, he credits the platform for giving lost content a new lease of life. "I shot for Criminal Justice before the COVID-19 pandemic. During the lockdown, people couldn't go and watch cinema, quite a stuck situation and OTT came as an alternative art form at that time. I must say it is a renaissance in the entertainment era. Everyone was like ‘How will we make a movie? Someone will stop me. How will my movie be released? Is there any place? So a new volume started like a content revenue industry. Because of this, all the actors started getting work," he avers.
Off-lately Dibyendu has been a constant on the OTT platform with shows like ‘Maharani', ‘Rocket Boys', and ‘The Railway Men'. The actor however maintains that every good actor has encountered rejections in some form. He explains, "I never gave auditions for the projects I have done in the past. I didn't realise what rejection meant until I got a character. But later on, I gave auditions and it didn't work. I didn't know the system for a long time because I thought I am an artist, an actor. I have a point of view to prepare any character. This is my own personal craft. There is no set rule. I always thought that I am going to give an exam and somebody is going to judge me whether I can act or not. I never understood, didn't know why it happened. When I clicked a couple of auditions and moved on, it happened many times that I am doing this role, and later found out that the movie was made and I'm not in it. But all these things are part and parcel of life. So I never think about these things."
When Dibyendu commenced his career as an actor, there was never a plan B. Some might think of it as overconfidence, but for him, it is his faith in craft. "I never had any plan in life. I believe in life's long journey. I just try to live in the moment, Whatever comes, I take it as a challenge and I take it as like I have to do it. And I do it with my everything. I don't have any thoughts like I'll open a restaurant, I'll do this business, I'll do that. I love so many things apart from being an actor but that doesn't mean that I will stop doing that," he concludes.
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