In an exclusive conversation with Midday, Akshay Dogra opened up about stepping into the shoes of an antagonist in Vadh 2, calling it a massive opportunity and a creatively challenging experience.
Sharing how the role came to him at an unexpected time, Akshay revealed, “So you know, funny story at the time when I got the film, I was in complete Zen mode, right? I was sort of working on myself, following Buddhist practices and compassion and being kind and all of those things.” He admitted that reading the script felt like a sharp contrast to his mindset then. “I’m reading the scenes and I’m thinking in my head, okay, this is really far from my headspace right now.”
Akshay Dogra talks about his role Keshav
He recalled sitting down with director Jaspal Singh Sandhu to understand the character better. “Sir, you clearly know this world,” he told him. “We sat down with the scenes, we created backstories, we talked about where he is coming from.” For Akshay, the joy of collaboration lies in discovery. “The whole fun about filmmaking and being part of good projects is that as you go along, you discover things.”
Describing the vulnerability of playing dark roles, he said, “I always equated it to being thrown into deep space. The only harness that you have is being truthful to what is being shown and what is being said.” Addressing a particularly disturbing scene, he added candidly, “I’m definitely going to get some calls from my friends who are animal lovers asking how can you do this? It’s like, hey, somebody has to play the bad guy.”
On doing something so negative
Akshay also spoke about the discipline television instilled in him. “A lot of times people look down upon our television experience. But what television really does for an actor is you tend to know how to switch on and switch off.” He credited Sandhu’s guidance, saying, “When you have somebody at the helm who is really good at their craft, his guidance always helps.”
Reflecting on his journey, he admitted, “It’s not been an easy journey.” Taking time off to write and recalibrate helped him grow. “I started writing some scripts, meeting people just to talk about the craft.” Grateful for the opportunity, he concluded, “I just got lucky with this film. I’m absolutely thankful to him.”
