Exclusive! Rudra: The Edge of Darkness actor Atul Kulkarni says he is not made for fictional TV shows

Actor Atul Kulkarni is on a roll. After playing a cop, Javed Khan in the hit Disney+Hotstar film, A Thursday, he has delivered another hit with Rudra: The Edge of Darkness. The actor returns as a police officer, Gautam in Ajay Devgn starrer dark crime thriller series.

In an exclusive interview with OTTplay, the actor talks about the show, his two-decade-old stint in the entertainment industry and why he thinks he cannot do fictional shows on television. Excerpts:

Could you tell us about the show Rudra and what the audience can expect?

A complete thriller, a complete entertainer. Fans of Ajay will get to see a different Ajay in that. And, of course, the fans of thrillers, the fans of dramas are going to have a ball. So it's going to be a fantastic experience.

The show is based on the British show Luther. Have you seen the show? How is Rudra different from it?

Yes, I had watched it a long time ago. Rudra is made for an Indian audience, it is completely different. There is no reason why the two should be compared.

So you have played quite a few roles of a cop.

Not yet. I have never understood why people think I have played too many cop characters. I have not actually. It was just Dum. And now, Thursday. Which ones do you remember?

A few in Tamil as well...

We are talking about Hindi.

Okay. So how was this role different? And how was the experience working on this show?

Being an inspector or being a doctor is a profession of that character, it is not the character. So, it is not actually correct to say that one has played a cop multiple times. Because one plays different characters, the profession is just a very small part of that character. So, this is a different character. There is a great emotional bonding between Rudra and Gautam. And they are very old friends. There are a lot of twists, turns, and a lot of complexities in this bonding. So Rudra, as a show is, of course, a thriller. It's a great thriller. It's an investigative drama, but at the same time, it's an extremely emotional story.

You have been in the industry for over two decades, and you've seen it evolve as well. What has your journey been like so far? And how would you say the industry has evolved?

I'm extremely happy because I have been fortunate enough to get excellent roles, to work with excellent directors, excellent co-stars. I have been consistently working in seven to eight languages for the last 23 years. I don't think I could be more fortunate than this.

Many artists also say that OTT has given a new lease of life to actors. What do you have to say about it?

I don't know who says these things because the actors were not dead. (laughs) Our field is evolving. And the formats, of course, will change. They have been changing over the years. Because of OTT, we have started telling longer stories. Actors have the scope to play their characters differently because of the sheer length of it, because of the way they are written. So, yes, there is more material coming because there is more consumption by the audiences all around. It's a different platform, but as an actor in front of a camera, I think it is an actor's duty, to keep pace with what is happening in the technology and change himself or herself.

Is that how one can stay relevant in this highly competitive industry?

I have never thought of competition. It's a very cliched word. I think everyone gets his or her due. And, they try and work around that. It's very simple actually. We like dramas and so we invent words like competition.

Do you find it different working on an OTT show, compared to other mediums like TV and films?

I have never worked on television fiction. So I don't really know. But I know it is extremely difficult. I have always dreaded working on television because of continuous shooting, and three to five years of working on a single project, day in and out, for maybe 17 to 18 hours. It's pretty hard work. I don't think I'm made to work so hard. But OTT and films, I don't see any difference, apart from what I just mentioned. With OTT's say 10 episode series, you're almost doing two and a half or three films. So naturally, you get much more scope to work on your character.

Could you tell us about any other projects that you're currently working on?

Right now, I'm just waiting for Rudra. And I'm really looking forward to the reactions of the audience because this is a very big show and we have worked very hard on it. We are really looking forward, especially myself. I just had a super hit like A Thursday and Javed Khan has become very popular. I really want to see how Gautam is received.