OTT is still an evolving landscape: Ankur Rathee

Actor Ankur Rathee is creating a space for himself in the entertainment industry with the varied characters he is playing…be it Thappad, Made in Heaven or Samaira, his Marathi debut opposite Ketaki Narayan, directed by Rishi Deshpande. The film is all set to hit the theatres on August 26. His Bolly movie Shehzada along with Kartik Aryan and Kriti Sanon is also set to release next year.

We had a tete-e-tete with Ankur, and here are some excerpts from the same.

‘I got acquainted with the Marathi culture, food on the sets’
Born in Haryana, it was not just challenging but exciting as well for Ankur to shoot a Marathi film. Though his character speaks English mostly, he was surrounded by a Marathi crew.

“There were instances where everyone was sitting down, discussing scenes from the film in Hindi, and suddenly they used to switch to Marathi. And after the whole discussion, they stopped and asked, ‘You got it?’ And I was like No, I didn’t get it,” laughed Ankur. “Then they were like ‘haan, tu toh Marathi nahi bolta, bhul gya’, and explained the whole thing in Hindi again… This was a very unique filming experience for me, and in the process, I learnt so much about Maharashtrian culture, food, and a few phrases,” he said.

The film was shot almost 5-6 years back, and shooting for a big-budget feature film was kind of a new experience for him, Ankur said. Previous to this, he had just shot for two independent films.

‘I always knew I wanted to be an actor’
Though having a job in advertising technology, Ankur always knew in his heart that he wanted to be an actor. “Since I was 6-7 years old, I have been watching Bollywood films with my Dadi, and I wanted to do what I am watching on screen. I didn't know exactly what that was, but I wanted to do ‘that’. With the fear of whether I will succeed in this profession or not, I somehow was scared to own my ambition, my desire to become an actor.

“I took up a job after I graduated because I wanted that sense of security, but it was until I was acting and doing shows in New York, and couldn’t juggle two things together, I pursued acting full time,” said Ankur.

‘It’s less about the medium and more about the script for me’
Ankur who has worked both in web series and full-scale feature films feels that OTT is still an evolving landscape. “It wasn’t until the pandemic that it became popular. Though a big screen release would always remain my first preference, for me it’s less about the medium and more about the script, the crew, the co-actors, and the overall experience,” stated Ankur.