Reporting to duty

Gautam Rode in State of Siege: Temple Attack

Gautam Rode, the blue-eyed boy of television, who forayed into digital entertainment with State of Siege: Temple Attack, has added another project to his kitty. The actor plays a cop in MXPlayer's Nakaab, which also stars, Mallika Sherawat and Esha Gupta. "I have dabbled in almost everything, but this was new to me. Unlike films [or television], on the web, every character has depth," says the actor.

Directed by Soumik Sen, the thriller revolves around the death of a television actor. Rode and Gupta's cop characters are tasked with the murder investigation. Quiz him if the series is loosely inspired by the events of the past one-and-a-half years in the entertainment industry, and he is quick to respond, "It is a fictional story and has no resemblance to any person. The timing is [coincidental], because the script was written almost two-and-a-half years ago."

Rode, who played an Army officer in State of Siege: Temple Attack, says he took up the role as he has never played a cop before. "Pawan [Bisht, his character] is both angry and vulnerable at the same time. I found that intriguing. We kept the character as realistic as possible, but ultimately it is a commercial show, so that aspect always comes in. Soumik was very clear on how he wanted my character to be and I followed his instructions," says the actor, adding that the director constantly guided him. "We obviously did several workshops and table reads before going on set."

While Rode is used to being the sole focus on television soaps, Nakaab sees the attention divided between Sherawat and Gupta. Rode says OTT says OTT shows offer level-playing field to actors. "As an artiste, the opportunity to do something different is more valuable. There is no box office collection [to measure], it is just the viewership or the eyeballs that you get. It is a healthy competition and I love that."

Also read: Here's what happened when actor Gautam Rode met Mallika Sherawat for the first time