Wasn't afraid to play gay-character in 'Made In Heaven': Arjun
(Sourced from PTI)
Actor Arjun Mathur says he was not afraid to play a gay character in Made in Heaven as he trusted creators Zoya Akhtar and Reema Kagti to treat the subject with a lot of sensitivity. The drama series reflects the lives of upscale modern India, narrated through the eyes of two wedding planners, set against the backdrop of quintessential Indian weddings. Here's more.
Made in Heaven is directed by Zoya, Nitya Mehra, Alankrita Shrivastava, and Prashant Nair. Arjun, who is portraying one of the wedding planners, said, "When I read the episodes, homosexuality was so normalized. It's such a well-written show. I wanted to do this because it was normalizing homosexuality and the voice it was taking up for the community was so loud and strong."
Arjun said, "I knew not only it was a well-written character, but it'll be treated with a lot of sensitivity owing to the makers." He added when the makers approached him for the role, they didn't tell him straight up that it's a gay character.
Talking about the number of times he had portrayed a gay character on screen, Arjun said, "The first time I faced professional camera was as a homosexual in Mira Nair's Migration opposite Irrfan Khan." "I've also done it before in I am (2010). So for my first meeting for this, I was not told it is a homosexual part and rightly so," he said.
"Not because I had apprehensions about it but I didn't want to do it just because I've done twice this role before. It's repetitive as an artist to enter that same space again," said the actor. Arjun has featured in films like Luck By Chance, My Name is Khan, Ankur Arora Murder Case and most recently The Accidental Prime Minister.
Arjun says often the struggle for an actor is not about doing an edgy part but having to wonder if the project would ever release. "What I find difficult is a project where all the boxes are ticked, where you know your character is strong, the script is fantastic, it will be marketed well and you know it will release," said the actor.
The actor further said, 'Most of the work we do in looking for amazing characters, it doesn't even reach the theatres." Made in Heaven also stars Sobhita Dhulipala, Jim Sarbh, Shashank Arora, Kalki Koechlin, and Shivani Raghuvanshi among others. Produced by Ritesh Sidhwani and Farhan Akhtar, the upcoming series will be launched today across 200 countries and territories.
