Mumbai, “Chamak” star Paramvir Singh Cheema, who gained prominence with the acclaimed series “Black Warrant”, says he had reservations about starring in the Netflix show as didn’t want to play a supporting role.
In the prison drama, created by Vikramaditya Motwane and Satyanshu Singh, Cheema portrays a no-nonsense jailer named Shivraj Singh Mangat, worried about his younger brother who has fallen in with insurgents.
“Black Warrant” had Zahan Kapoor, the grandson of late cinema legend Shashi Kapoor, play the lead in the show as Tihar jailer Sunil Gupta.
“I had got a call from Mukesh Chhabra’s team and I had initially said no to it because I was already playing the lead role . My manager also said, ‘I’m already playing a lead role, but in ‘Black Warrant’, someone else is the lead’,” Cheema told PTI in an interview.
But destiny had other plans.
The actor, also known for web series “Tabbar” and TV show “Kaleerein”, met with a casting director at Chhabra’s office in Aram Nagar, a bustling area in suburban Mumbai renowned for its casting agencies and production houses.
“The guy said ‘It is a Vikramaditya Motwane show, do you want to skip this? Have you read the full script?’ I said no. He insisted I give auditions, and I did. I was finalised and met Vikram sir. The only thing I asked him was, ‘If you will capture every beat of my silence,’ and he said, ‘I will’,” he recalled.
Once “Black Warrant” premiered in January, the response was overwhelming, and Cheema was inundated with messages and calls from fans and notable filmmakers, especially from the South.
“Initially, I would feel that my work has not reached a certain stage where it should, but eventually it did with ‘Black Warrant’,” he said.
Going forward, the Jalandhar-born actor wants to work with Hansal Mehta, Anubhav Sinha, and Rajkumar Hirani.
“I want to be part of good scripts that give me a kick or play a role that’s different from what I’ve done in the past. It’s a director who helps an actor bring out their best. Without a good director, an actor is nothing, you need a good director to produce a good performance.”
Cheema is also set to star in the sequel of the 1997 blockbuster “Border”, which will mark his Hindi cinema debut. He almost missed out on the film, directed by Anurag Singh of “Kesari” fame, due to scheduling conflicts.
“A lot of things happened, like budget and date issues, but Anurag sir worked out everything for me because he was adamant that he wanted me to be part of ‘Border 2’. I told him, ‘Don’t waste me in the film because I’m selective about the work I want to do’.
“He said, ‘I won’t offer you a film where you have two lines’. It’s a good role and there’s an arc to your character’,” he said.
Asked about working with Diljit Dosanjh in “Border 2”, Cheema said he doesn’t have any scenes with the Punjabi actor-singer.
“We all have our individual stories.”
His latest project is the second part of SonyLIV’s musical thriller series “Chamak – The Conclusion”, directed by Rohit Jugraj.
The actor reprises the role of Kaala, a young aspiring rapper who returns to his native Punjab from Canada to unravel the death of his father Taara Singh, a legendary singer who was shot dead during a packed performance years ago.
Cheema said the makers shot both seasons of the show in one go.
“People love grey-shaded characters because we hide that side of our personality in real life, so maybe some people resonated with that aspect. Besides, music played a pivotal role in attracting audiences to the show. A lot of people said they loved the wild and psycho side of Kaala,” he said.
“The aggression that Kaala had within himself was something that I, too, had when I was in my early 20s, so that aspect came from within me. Despite all of this, I fell in love with Kaala. There are many things that I don’t want to have in me, like playing with people’s minds. Kaala is a player, he emotionally uses people,” he added.
“Chamak” also features Manoj Pahwa, Mohit Malik, Isha Talwar, Mukesh Chhabra, Prince Kanwaljit Singh, and Suvinder Pal, with Gippy Garewal in a special appearance.
The series is produced by Geetanjali Mehelwa Chauhan, Jugraj, and Sumeet Dubey.
This article was generated from an automated news agency feed without modifications to text.
