Stating that Rudrakaal will cater to small screen’s male audience, Bhanu Uday on how television enjoys a wider reach
Bhanu Uday Goswami
Not one to constantly be on the radar, Bhanu Uday Goswami prefers his work to do the talking. Life has come full circle for the actor, who had forayed into television with his cop act on Special Squad, as he dons the uniform again for Rudrakaal. At a time when OTT is booming in India, he bets big on television, saying that the action show is the perfect fit for the medium that has “maximum viewership that films or OTT cannot beat.”
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Edited excerpts from the interview:
Does the show remind you of Special Squad?
People have been pointing it out, but I don’t see any similarities. The only similarity is that I play a cop on both shows. Even in that regard, they are different because Special Squad was more forensic-based while Rudrakaal is investigative. My role as Aryan Khanna in Special Squad was loved by people, but I’ve never repeated that consciously. I want to be a versatile actor.
Do you believe Rudrakaal would work better on an OTT platform?
The objective of doing this show was to bring good content, which is usually associated with films or OTT, onto the largest platform — television. If you consider the reach of a show, the biggest web series will have 15 million viewers, but the reach of Star Plus is about 250 million. So, there is no comparison. I feel we are not providing high-quality content on television. Rudrakaal is a huge step on that front. I am not certain about the future, but this show will be a landmark on Indian television.
A still from the Rudrakaal
Content-backed shows like Yudh or POW didn’t manage to garner TRPs and were eventually pulled off air. Do you fear Rudrakaal may meet a similar fate since daily soaps are targeted at women?
Who watches cricket on TV? Men do. If you don’t give men the kind of content that they want to watch, what option do they have? It’s a skewed perspective that television is mainly viewed by women. You can’t keep making a certain kind of family drama and expect everyone to watch it. I have no fear as far as the ratings are concerned. Every time I do a show, people ask me if I am worried about the fate of the show, but I am here for the last 15 years, doing shows that are far from typical.
The series must have been physically draining, considering you were injured twice during the shoot.
It was physically draining, but I enjoy action and did the stunts on my own. For Rudrakaal, I needed to put on weight as I
play a 40-year-old. I had to bulk up quickly since the show was to go on floors in 15-20 days. I managed to put on 10 kilos within 20 days. My body is not used to so much weight, which is probably why my knee got injured while doing one of the stunts.
How would you critique yourself after seeing the show?
I haven’t seen the show. In fact, I never watch my own work. I recently watched Stories by Rabindranath Tagore during the lockdown and was able to enjoy it. I was able to see myself objectively and enjoy it for what it was rather than obsessing about my performance.
What else is in the pipeline?
I have just finished a big film, which will release this year, and I have five days’ work left on an Amazon Prime Video series.
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