Mystery man

Gautam Rode on playing the mighty Rudra in “Mahakumbh”

In aggressive mode: Gautam Rode

After playing Saras in Sanjay Leela Bhansali’s Saraswatichandra , Gautam Rode is playing the mighty Rudra in Arvind Babbal’s contemporary mythological thriller, Mahakumbh on Life OK.

The plot revolves around Rudra, who works as the caretaker of a cremation ground on the ghats of Varanasi until he realises that with his extraordinary powers, he is the chosen one to save the world from destruction. With rage and vengeance in his eyes, he is set to unleash the secret of Mahakumbh, untold for generations.

Mahakumbh will also see the seasoned actor and winner of national award, Seema Biswas, making her television debut and Payal Rajput plays the female lead. Appreciated for his theatre work and his role in

Mary Kom , Robin Das also plays an important role.

In order to portray the fierce role, Gautam had to concentrate more on mental preparation than physical. At a recent press conference held in the Capital, Gautam said: “The physical aspect of this role was not as wearing as the amount of work I had to do on the mental front. Physically, I was always into working out and keeping myself fit because more than looking good I want to be healthy. Considering I am very calm and relaxed human being, playing Rudra included a lot of effort in understanding and getting the feel of someone who is as aggressive as powerful. It was a total 180 degree personality shift. He is traumatised and has a motive in life and being the chosen one, he has enormous strength to be used positively. Such a character requires a lot of study on voice, body language and the gait. I had to relate to Rudra and think like him before I started playing the role. Yes, getting into the right zone before every scene definitely required tremendous effort.”

Gautam recalls how Seema Biswas, who plays a motherly figure to Rudra, reviewed her performance while constantly improvised in order to get that perfect shot. “Every time I thought that her shot was great, she kept telling me about how she was not satisfied with it. Initially, I thought she was pulling a fast one on me but later, I realised that she was like this little child who wanted to give it her all to make it perfect,” said Gautam. Having completed the shoot of the first 30 episodes, the entire team is looking forward to the audience’s reaction to the unique storyline.