MUMBAI:  The story of war cry, rebellion, rights to the motherland is sure to bring a new essence of Patriotism dipped in Mythology. Apart from Sharad, the show also stars Sulagna Panigrahi, Hemal Dev in leads and Saurabh Gokhle, Nikhil Damle, Priya Tandon, Danny Sura in pivotal roles.

Also read: Aww! Sharad Malhotra is tremendously special to me as I had never imagined I would be able to call him a friend someday: Hemal Dev on shooting for Vidrohi

We got in touch with the dapper Baxi Jagbandhu aka Sharad Malhotra and asked him about his reason for agreeing to the role, his preparation for the character and more. He had noteworthy answers to share, check it out. 

From Maharana Pratap to Baxi Jagbandhu, yet another historic show How has the journey been for you as an actor?

Maharana Pratap has been my first historic show. That show really helped me in terms of learning because before that I have never done any studying. People knew me as a romantic hero or they knew me as a chocolate hero. But I think Maharana has changed my entire perception of the viewers and the people in the industry as well. Then they started seeing me as a macho guy also. The whole different look, with the moustache and I, had obviously worked on my body as well, the muscles, the horse, the sword, the action everything. So I think for Maharana if we talk about Jagabandhu, it's been an amazing journey because I have also realized my potential as an actor, my flaws, my positives and my negatives. Somewhere I learnt that in Maharana, be it sword fighting, be it voice modulation, body language. Everything it's been put to use in working with Jagbandhu right now. It is helping me a lot. It is such an absolutely amazing journey.

What was the major reason behind agreeing for Vidrohi?

The major reason is that whenever I do a project the first thing I see is how different the Character is from my previous one. Because people, the kind of tag they've given me as the most versatile actor on Indian Television. That is something I did not do intentionally. I have been working on characters for the last 15 years and every character of mine is very different from the previous character. So I think by the grace of God. I think very unintentionally that every character I play is different. So I like exploring myself as an actor also. I like to push boundaries, I like to challenge myself. I like to do things that I have never done. So obviously when I heard about Vidrohi and Baxi Jagabandhu, when I heard about the first people's revolt that happened in the country. We don't know about 1817 when the first people's revolt happened and the person commander in chief was Baxi Jagabandhu. So this is the part of history that many people don't know. Honestly, when I heard the story, the entire narration, I had Goosebumps. Because for the first time, I'm going to play a Character which no one has ever done. We know Bhagat Singh, Mangal Pandey, but he was a legendary warrior from Odisha. Orissa in itself is also a state which is rich in art, culture, history everything but nobody explored Odisha in the past. So when you have somebody who has the guts to do it, I think Star network and Gatha films, my production, when they decided, they thought I was good enough to play Bakshi Jagabandhu. It was like a matter of honour for me to come and depict or portray a character that has never been seen ever on Indian Television.

Tell us about your preparations for the character and its looks

Usually, historical Characters are not easy to play. The costumes are very heavy. The jewellery, the language, the body language, voice modulation,  the action scenes, the horse riding, everything. It's very physically demanding.  So I obviously had to learn the Odissa martial art form. If you heard about Paika Revolt, basically it was a group of people that Jagabandhu formed. The paika is basically the army formed and fought the British. They were very good at martial arts so I had to learn the local martial art form of Odisha.  It was not easy, definitely physically and emotionally very exhausting. Every day when I pack up, I'm so tired. But it was fun.

As Sharad, what are the major similarities you have with Baxi Jagabandhu?

As Sharad I think both Baxi Jagabandhu, we know him as a great warrior. And Sharad is also very patriotic. I love my motherland, I love my country, I love my 'Matrubhoomi'. I'm totally a complete out and out patriotic person. I'm also a warrior because not in the true sense but I've also been fighting my battles like the way Baxi Jagabandhu fought his battles. We have our own personal battles to fight and obviously, Baxi Jagabandhu never gave up. So Sharad Malhotra has also never given up to date.

Also read: EXCLUSIVE! 'Odiya was the only easy part about my character Radhamani', Sulagna Panigrahi OPENS UP on bagging Vidrohi, its preparations and more

We are in complete adoration of Baxi Jagbandhu and you?

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