Exclusive! Khakee: The Bihar Chapter actor Avinash Tiwary: I am a Bombaiya-Bihari

Actor Avinash Tiwary who played the lead in the latest released web series Khakee: The Bihar Chapter believes that the state of Bihar is in a much better and developing stage than it used to be, but it is also the time that the world should do away with the prejudices about Bihar and Biharis.

Avinash, who hails from Gopalganj, Bihar told OTTplay, " I always call myself a Bombaiya-Bihari (laugh), and I will explain how. Being born into a Bihari family, have lived majorly in Mumbai, and also went to New York to study before taking up my career as an actor. Since I have been living in Mumbai for quite some time now, I have a few typical habits of being a Mumbaikar but at the same time, I have my Bihari habits too that I got from my upbringing. I am proud of that..."

Asked if he can look at Bihar from an outsider's lens and the actor shared, " I think I can, yes; and I am happy with the way the state is going through a transformation and development. Now, in the town areas, the electricity and water connection is much better than what it used to be say 10 years ago. It is basic and in Mumbai maybe we do not even think about it, but it used to be a major issue. These days, the youth of Bihar is quite well exposed to the world and they dream big. Having said that, there are prejudices."

Avinash further elaborated, " The general perception of Bihar to the world is, its a poor state, and Biharis are bechare, gareeb, uneducated etc. So when a youngster comes to Mumbai to become an actor, they find it harder because they are looked down upon. Also if we noticed during the pandemic, most of the migrant labours who were going back to their hometown on a walk and also were dying on road, maximum of them were from UP and Bihar. No one asked about them...so there are prejudices and that is for real."

However, the actor emphasised how the youngsters needed more role models from Bihar and a show like Khakee...tried to question existing prejudices.

"Look, we as show-makers might not be able to change the reality but through the show, we questioned the system and the prejudices. Also, I think the youth of Bihar needs more role models from Bihar, especially whoever wants to become an actor, filmmaker etc. Whether it is the achievement of Manoj Bajpayee, Pankaj Tripathi, Vineet Kumar and if I may add my name there too, we are trying to inspire the youngsters; we are from Bihar and if we can, you can try it too!" said the actor.

Avinash played the character of a deadly criminal named Chandan Mahto in the show.

Created by Neeraj Pandey and directed by Bhav Dhulia, Khakee: The Bihar Chapter also stars Karan Tacker, Jatin Sarna, Ashutosh Rana, Aishwarya Sushmita, Shraddha Das, Nikita Dutta, Vinay Pathak and Anup Soni. It is streaming on Netflix.