Revealed! Here's what Nandish Singh Sandhu feels about Undekhi 2

After making a splash on the small screen with hit TV shows like Kasturi and Uttaran, Nandish Singh Sandhu bagged a role in the Hrithik Roshan-starrer Super 30. Post his digital debut Grahan; he is all set to appear in another web series, Undekhi 2. It will begin streaming on SonyLIV from March 4. The Free Press Journal caught up with the actor for an exclusive chat. Excerpts:

How do you define your role as Samarth in Undekhi 2?

Samarth is an unpredictable, super-intelligent, observant, arrogant, fearless alpha male. He is crystal clear in his head and doesn’t care about anyone’s opinion. He knows how he has to survive in this cruel world. For the audience, it is going to be fun watching him as no one knows how he will react. When my director Ashish R Shukla told me about a few incidents of his younger days, I felt he was like Samarth, and a lot of things have come from his personal experience.

You are an established television actor. Foraying into OTT was a conscious decision?

OTT has opened huge opportunities for everyone, not just actors but also for technicians. It’s a good thing that our industry is expanding because of digital content. The choice is ours what to pick and what to leave aside.

Do you believe that expectations have increased from the actors due to the good quality of content production on OTT?

I feel there was a huge gap between films and television when OTT wasn’t there, but this isn’t the case anymore. Earlier, it was difficult for actors to transition from television to films since if you wanted to do a mainstream film, you had to wait for someone to push you. You needed someone to show the right path, or you had to be lucky enough to bag a lead role just by auditions. The functioning of Bollywood has completely changed now. But since television is TRP driven, OTT has nothing to do with it. Actors aren’t labelled there.

Do you feel that OTT has surpassed the existence of television?

No, I don’t believe it. There’s still a huge portion of the population who watches television, and so does my family. Metropolitan cities like Delhi, Mumbai, Bangalore aren’t only India; the two-three tier cities is where the real India lies. Television has its own audience, and OTT has its own, but people who used to watch only television have also started watching OTT content. TV isn’t going anywhere for many years; it will stay and sustain.

After Super 30, we didn’t see you in any other film. What was the reason?

I think I am slightly choosy, and for that matter, every actor is. We all want to do good work which is not repetitive. I analyse and decide what I have to pick up. Also, it is not like that I am loaded with film offers. Whatever little I have been getting isn’t that challenging.