Abhishek Banerjee on Paatal Lok: Wanted Hathoda Tyagi to be human, not a demon

A still from Paatal Lok

Long after the credits of Paatal Lok roll, Hathoda Tyagi stays with you. At first glance, he may be a ruthless serial killer; but over nine episodes, you see that he is a victim of society, avenging the rape of his sisters in a world that offers neither justice nor redemption. "My effort was to break down the complications that the character had. I wanted him to be human, not a demon," says Abhishek Banerjee. With his haunting eyes and barely-there dialogues, Banerjee's performance as the silent killing machine has bagged him a nomination in the Best Supporting Actor (Series) category at the mid-day and Radio City Hitlist OTT Awards.

From the moment he read the script, the actor found himself empathising with the character. "One could've easily slotted him as a scary villain. But when he dies, you understand that in his heart, he was Vishal Tyagi, not Hathoda. By the end of his journey, the human in him lives on."

Following the raging success of Paatal Lok, the casting director-turned-actor has been flooded with offers to play grey shades. "I got offers to play psycho killers, but turned them down as the scripts were weak. If I get a powerful script, I will happily play such roles. Grey characters are so far removed from my personality that I have fun essaying them," says Banerjee, adding that the advent of OTT has jump-started his acting career. "OTT has fast-forwarded my career. I don't know how long it would have taken me to get here through films."

Did you know?

Banerjee wanted to audition for the role of the cop, Imran Ansari, which was eventually played by Ishwak Singh.

Cast your vote for the Hitlist OTT Awards

Abhishek Banerjee has been nominated in the Best Supporting Actor (Male): Series category for Paatal Lok. The other nominees are:

. Amit Sadh: Breathe: Into The Shadows (Amazon Prime Video)
. Atul Kulkarni: Bandish Bandits (Amazon Prime Video)
. Barun Sobti: Asur (Voot Select)
. Pankaj Tripathi: Criminal Justice: Behind Closed Doors (Disney+Hotstar)
. Raghubir Yadav: Panchayat (Amazon Prime Video)

Log on to www.hitlistottawards.com to cast your vote.

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