10 Years Of Jaideep Ahlawat: An actor who's yet to get his due

Jaideep Ahlawat Picture Courtesy: PR

In his prolific decade-long career, Jaideep Ahlawat has portrayed several interesting and memorable roles in successful movies and digital shows and is certainly one of the most versatile and admired actors in Hindi cinema and also the digital world.

There are actors who entertain the audience, and there are actors who also leave a lasting impression with their effective portrayal of their on-screen characters in an entertaining way, and Jaideep Ahlawat is one such seasoned actor who certainly falls in the second category.

Jaideep's stint with Hindi cinema started almost a decade ago, with films like the multi-starrer Aakrosh and the Akshay Kumar-starrer Khatta Meetha. But it was Anurag Kashyap's Gangs of Wasseypur (in which he played the role of Shahid Khan) that proved to be a game-changer for this brilliant actor. The epic gangster drama helped Jaideep cement his popularity as an actor among his fans and the industry who couldn't stop praising his decision of taking the road less travelled by opting for challenging roles.

Even though in Gangs of Wasseypur, where his talent was highly appreciated and loved by critics and the audience, he had played a very important role in the gangster drama - that of a third lead after Manoj Bajpayee and Nawazuddin Siddiqui, but he never got his due and never actually benefitted much after the release of the film as the other actors.

Jaideep later graduated to playing more interesting characters in big-budget commercial movies like Raees, Commando, and even Tamil films like Vishwaroopam, before he played the role of a RAW agent in the Alia Bhatt-Vicky Kaushal starrer Raazi.

Needless to say, the versatile actor has always been interested in theatre during his college days, and also enrolled in the popular FTII, Pune to pursue a career in acting. With no godfather and no filmy background, it was only Jaideep's persistent efforts and determination that fulfilled his dream to make his mark as an actor.

The actor has even made an appearance in the anthology film Lust Stories on the OTT platform as Sudhir in Dibakar Banerjee's segment. However, his most recent appearance was in the film Baaghi 3 that was again a testimonial from the audience wanting to see more of the actor.

Among his forthcoming lineup of interesting projects is Paatal Lok - an upcoming investigative drama on Amazon Prime Video, a nine-part series that follows the journey of Jaideep Ahlawat as Inspector Hathiram investigating an assassination attempt on a prime time journalist and following four suspects.

Going by the intriguing trailer of the digital show, Jaideep's performance is bound to shine through in the digital show and looks like he will eventually get his due as an actor. He will certainly achieve prominence on the OTT platforms similar to that which Pankaj Tripathi has achieved after his web series, Mirzapur.

The police-based crime thriller, written by Sudip Sharma, is all set to release on May 15 and is being produced under Clean Slate Films which is Anushka Sharma's banner.

Catch up on all the latest entertainment news and gossip here. Also, download the new mid-day Android and iOS apps.

Mid-Day is now on Telegram. Click here to join our channel (@middayinfomedialtd) and stay updated with the latest news