The Trial’s Atul Kumar: ‘Kajol is down to earth and quite supportive on set’ | Exclusive

Currently busy in the final tour of his rollicking musical Piya Behrupiya, noted theatre actor-director Atul Kumar is also getting ready for his next OTT outing - the highly-anticipated Disney+ Hotstar series The Trial: Pyaar, Kaanoon, Dhokha, starring Kajol. Inspired by Robert King and Michelle King’s The Good Wife, the Suparn Verma-directed legal drama revolves around a homemaker who decides to join a law firm after 13 years, in order to support her family, as her husband goes to jail. 

Known for his work in Mukhbir: The Story of a Spy, Decoupled, Trial by Fire and most recently Happy Family *Conditions Apply, Atul is playing a negative yet crucial character in The Trial. “I’m actually impersonating a character like Arnab Goswami. He’s not Arnab in the show. But the character is written like him. He talks like him and all that,” the actor said.

Sharing his experience of working with Kajol, Atul said, “Working with Kajol was wonderful. She’s very lovely, down to earth and supportive. She is just very happy energy on the set. She finds learning her lines a little difficult sometimes, but is still very modest and easy about it. That was lovely.” Kubbra Sait, on the other hand, is a powerhouse performer and a great energy on the set, he said. 

Also read: Kajol on getting criticised for her 'political leaders do not have an educational background' statement: I was merely making a point

Describing the film experience as ‘very different’ from that of the stage, Atul said, “Half the time, you don’t meet most of the people who are part of the cast. And because you are cast as a character artiste, you will never know what the whole thing will be like, finally. So, it only will be apparent when I will see it on my computer in my bedroom, frankly.”

The Trial marks the first time that the actor-director is sharing screen space with his former wife, noted actress Sheeba Chadha. Speaking about it, Atul said, “It was the first time I got to act with Sheeba, my ex-wife, my partner in crime and theatre, with whom I started The Company Theatre. It was great fun to come back and act with her.”

Also read: Exclusive! Sheeba Chadha on ageism in Bollywood: Onscreen matriarchs are more nuanced now, but there is still a long way to go

Also featuring Jisshu Sengupta, Alyy Khan and Gaurav Pandey in key roles, The Trial is scheduled to release on Disney+ Hotstar on July 14.

Commenting on his recent OTT outings, Atul said that Jamnadas Majethia and Aatish Kapadia’s Happy Family *Conditions Apply on Amazon Prime Video - starring Ratna Pathak Shah, Raj Babbar, Atul Kulkarni and Ayesha Jhulka - is “doing very well; people are talking about”. 

Also read: Sheeba Chadha on why she chose The Trial: ‘I got to wear a wig and contact lenses’

Apart from The Trial, there are a couple of films, featuring Atul, that are coming out soon - one is about the trial of the Jallianwala Bagh massacre, starring Akshay Kumar, and the other is the Anushka Sharma-starrer Chakda ’Xpress. Inspired by the cricketing journey of Jhulan Goswami, the upcoming movie is directed by Prosit Roy. “I’m playing one of the cricket board people. White hair makes you play these typical roles in films,” he quipped.

Meanwhile, Atul’s long-running play Piya Behrupiya - a rip-roaring musical adaptation of one of Shakespeare’s most celebrated romantic comedies, Twelfth Night - is on its final tour across India. Opened at the world-renowned Shakespeare’s Globe in 2012, the piece features some praise-worthy performances by noted stage and screen actors including Geetanjali Kulkarni, Mansi Multani, Neha Saraf, Saurabh Nayyar, Sagar Deshmukh and Amitosh Nagpal.