Himanshu Malhotra: “Left Few Web Series Due To Bold Content”

Actor Himanshu Malhotra, who is currently seen in the hit film Shershah has featured in TV shows like “Nach Baliye” and “Ek Nayi Umeed-Roshni”, had to “let go” of some of the web series offered to him due to their bold content. Bold scenes have become common on OTT. Asked if he would do such scenes if the script demanded, he said, “I am not very keen on it. I think I had to let go of a couple of series because of the bold sequences and intimacy. I am personally not comfortable with that at this moment. In the future though, maybe my thought process will change as an artist and maybe I’ll be okay with it.”

He has some favorites when it comes to web series. “One is ‘Scam 1992’. It is a beautiful Indian series by Hansal Mehta sir. Pratik Gandhi was very nice in it. I also liked ‘Special OPS’ because I loved Kay Kay Menon in it. I liked ‘Aarya’ too. As for English series, I am currently watching ‘This Is Us’. It is a very beautiful series,” he said.

As OTT is the talked-about platform right now, a lot of actors seem to be interested in it. While some actors are gaining fame due to it, the same can’t be said about others. Sharing his opinion on it, he said, “I disagree with the point that OTT actors are not becoming stars. I am sure amongst the youth they are really big stars because looking at the Instagram fan following, OTT is helping. We have different mediums like television, films and OTT. Maybe that’s why stardom is slight segregated.

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“But Pratik Gandhi of ‘Scam 1992’ is a big star at the moment and I am sure people will take his autograph and photo wherever he goes. The meaning of stardom is that whatever you say, people get influenced, so I am sure whatever he says people will get influenced. Right now films are not releasing in theatres, so OTT is on the rise.”

Showbiz seems to have exposed the viewers to several things, including abusive words, extramarital affair, sex and drugs. Commenting on it, the “Shershaah” actor said, “I think cinema is reflection of the society, and society is the reflection of cinema, so maybe they work hand-in-hand. They are quite dependent upon each other, so as the society will move towards extramarital affair, sex and drugs, we will see that in cinema. As the world is evolving, I doubt there will be any midway. I think the line drawn by our parents and grandparents has already become blur and it will continue to diminish over a period of time.”

Youngsters who aspire to become actors seem to be more exposed to knowledge and information that makes them more polished. Does he think there is a generation gap as far as the thought process, behaviour and actions between his batch of actors and the new-gen are concerned?

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“There will be differences and ideally there should be differences. They are the new generation and they will always have different measures, methods of acting and they should be different otherwise every generation will look like the previous one,” said the “Dil Jaise Dhadke…Dhadakne Do” actor.

“I think we should also learn the positive things which they are adopting like they are very evolved with technology. Sometime back I was posting a video on social media and to add music into it, it took so much time. The girl, Vaishnavi, who is playing my daughter in the show ‘Chikoo Ki Mummy Durr Keishe’ frequently makes reels. In five minutes, she is done with music, editing and posting it. This is the new generation. That’s how we must adapt.”

He also looks up to megastar Amitabh Bachchan. “How he adapted himself when it comes to technology and evolution… I think we should also learn from him. This is the way to evolve as an artiste and as a human being,” he said.