Bengali actor Ankush Hazra will kickstart the new year by making his OTT debut with a detective series Shikarpur where he will star opposite actress Sandipta Sen. The actor, who is a fan of the fictional Bengali detective Eken Babu, plays a quirky sleuth in the series directed by Nirjhar Mitra. In an exclusive conversation with News18.com, the actor talks about his OTT debut and says that the only difference between a web and a film debut is that the former gives one a chance to delve deeper into details.
He also opined that earlier there was a notion that A-listers will not do web shows but now that perception has been shattered. Talking about the same, he said, “There was a time when we thought that A-listers actors will not agree to do web series and it is for other sets of actors who will never get to be a hero. A lot of actors also had the fear of whether they will be a hit in the web space. Now, they are making more noise than A-listers. They are now doing web shows. So the calculation has changed completely and there is no fixed formula now. We are actors and we love to work. We try to grab as many opportunities as we can. It doesn’t matter whether it is TV or the big screen, it is all about doing good work and reaching out to the audience."
Adding to that, his co-star Sandipta shared, “I used to do back-to-back mega serial earlier. Now, due to the web shows, I am doing, I am getting the chance of playing so many different characters."
Bengali actor-filmmaker Kaushik Ganguly, who plays a crucial role in the series, also added that the acceptance of regional cinema is growing, thanks to the success of South Indian films. “We have been saying for a long time that Bengali film is not Bengali film, it is an Indian film. It becomes difficult to accept it but thanks to South films, there is acceptance. The story should be told in the language and region where it belongs and then people all over should watch it. When people watch a Japanese film, they don’t do it in Hindi. They will watch it in Japanese."
