Actor Barun Sobti is blessed with charisma and has a long envious list of female admirers. Easy course would have been to take advantage of his debonair looks and play chocolate boy type roles. But this Delhi boy likes playing intense roles in riveting plots. This is the reason why he is appearing in an anti-hero role in the show Iss Pyaar Kya Naam Doon on Star Plus, which was first aired in 2011.
“I love playing intense characters. Not comfortable doing song and dance stuff as no normal person does in his/her real life. For me it is important to pick up characters which I can relate to. Or I recall an incident in my life or tap into my inner most emotions and try to bring that reality on to the screen,” he says.
Has Advay Singh Raizada been penned on those lines. “Yes, he is brooding, slick and charms everyone around him. He is someone driven by his heart though he comes across as a calculative person.”
How does he feel returning to the serial which was first aired in 2011. “I never felt that it has been six long years when we finished it last. Yes, I am glad to be back. In the first season, Arnav was welcomed with so much love and adulation. Now there has been a transition from Arnav to Advay. They are two different characters; it is not progression. We have a new story with new cast. We cannot look the same way with similar costumes. Nobody is going to watch it then. So there has been a transformation. And the response we are generating from the first look in the music video is outstanding.”
Advay has been living in the United Kingdom. “He comes to India for a particular mission. Last 30 years of life he has been trying to figure out how he is going to avenge (death of) his parents. Right now we are focusing on the script. We have no idea how much it would be shown in India and abroad. It has all ingredients of a Bollywood pot boiler. He is not a typical nice guy. (I never though I would say in my interview.)”
As the character has been living in London, the character would speak Hinglish. “He is an action hero. This is where we have some similarity. I have got into brawls in real life.”
Is Advay a Casanova. “Not actually. He is someone who is curious to know the reason behind things which happen in our lives. He is a sensitive person. While I was reading about his life I felt if these things would have happened to me I would have done worst things.”
How does he feel seeing his female-fans swooning over him. “I am fortunate to be getting so much female attention. In life, I have been a very lucky person; I have had a good married life, good friends though I am not as educated as I would have liked to be.”
Films in pipeline
In films, Barun has Tu Hai Mera Sunday which releases this year. “It is about five friends who are going through the rush of their lives. They live in Mumbai; how they find solace in playing football on Juhu beach. Something happens and they cannot go there.”
Another film is based on cricket. “Basic attempt is to show emotions rather than making money. It is story of budding cricketer and cricket agent. I am playing the agent. For the record it is not based on Emram Hashmi’s Jannat . We don’t have so much masala.”
Barun is addicted to watching the gentleman’s game. “As a Delhiite growing up at Kirti Nagar I used to play a lot of cricket. I am excited about watching Sachin: A Billion Dreams. I have grown up watching Sachin playing.”
From reel to real there is a great distance to transcend. “In real life I am an inexpressive person. I express myself only when impactful things happen. At school I was not much into dramatics. If there were long scenes, it was a strict no-no for me. But if there were small roles then I would do them. But I was clear that I wanted to become an actor. Characters in TV dramas were based on shock and surprise. For me, getting a break in Baat Hamari Pakki Hai was an ideal opportunity as it helped me to open up. I played a happy-go-lucky character and there were lot of people around me who were like that.”
Barun looks slightly disoriented and reveals the reason for it. “I have come on a half-day trip to Delhi and cannot see my parents. Imagine being in the city where I have spent my entire childhood,” he tells me as he tries to reconcile to the surroundings at the hotel.
