Don't like to tag roles as parallel or protagonist, says Divyendu

Actor Divyendu says as an artiste, he likes to focus his energy on exploring his character, irrespective of whether it is a protagonist or a parallel lead. Divyendu, who made a mark with Luv Ranjan's "Pyaar Ka Punchnama" in 2011, is currently receiving critical acclaims for his performance as Munna Tripathi in "Mirzapur" series.

The 37-year-old actor said he is "selfish" when it comes to playing layered and interesting characters. "As an artiste, I'm very selfish. If the character is good, I would like to explore it, I would not like to tag it as parallel or protagonist. You try to go beyond these things," Divyendu told PTI. The actor believes that OTT platforms have enabled artistes to develop their characters in depth.

"There are eight to nine long episodes and in that every character gets due respect and the arc that it deserves, unlike cinema, where you have to finish the film in two-and-half to three hours. OTT is more about characters," he added. Divyendu is currently promoting his new series “Bichoo Ka Khel”, which touches upon the themes of crime, revenge, and politics.

The actor stressed that stories about crime and revenge are the flavour of the season currently. "It is a new genre that we are discovering. The new age filmmakers and writers are coming from towns, like UP, etc and they have seen these things happening around (them) and hence they write in such depth and in a realistic way. "This world is completely different from mine (but) it fascinates me with the way they go about their life," Divyendu added. The actor said "Bichoo Ka Khel" , which will start streaming on ALTBalaji from November 18, is a very different from "Mirzapur" , even though there are thematic similarities. "The guy I play is calm and composed and he operates from his heart rather than brain. It is a different narrative and edgy with filmi dialogues and '80s-'90s music. "It is a story of a guy, who wants to be a writer. But one day he finds his father is murdered and his life changes completely. The whole aim is to find, who it is and why it happened. It is a classic whodunit," Divyendu said.