Actor Freddy Daruwala is currently in Crackdown 2. The web series, directed by Apoorva Lakhia, also stars Saqib Saleem, Sonali Kulkarni, Shriya Pilgaonkar and Waluscha De Sousa in pivotal roles. It premiered on a digital platform on May 25. The Free Press Journal got in touch with Freddy for an exclusive chat. Excerpts:
You are a new entrant in the show. Tell us something about your character.
Director Apoorva Lakhia is the reason that the second season of Crackdown has taken place. I play Abu Khalil, a larger than life character, whose intention is never clear. He is cruel, lethal and stone hearted. He is a powerful man and power often corrupts people. No matter how much pro one is about a certain role, one or two different traits can lead you to react differently. People will witness three different shades of Abu Khalil.
What makes you so choosy being an actor?
When I was doing a workshop with Neeraj Kabi (actor and coach), he said a beautiful thing that stuck with me. He said, “Necessity cannot justify the prostitution of art”. It is still so heavy for me but we all are oscillating between choices and chances. There are four types of work, one that gives us money, one that makes you relevant, one that takes you ahead in your career and the one that gives you work from your own work. If they all come together, it is fantastic but most of the time, it won’t co-exist.
Go on…
As actors, we all are trying to find a balance between all of this. In this quest, we all fall in the category, where either we are the victims of chances or our choices.
Is it challenging for you to strike the right balance between chances and choices?
It is still very difficult and challenging. When you do a negative role that goes supremely popular, people tend to remember that. Even after seven years of Holiday, people associate me with that role. I always have two feelings about it, either I haven’t done anything good after that or that role was actually very powerful. I am trying to shed the shadow of Holiday and create a bigger and newer one. Sometimes, the makers don’t want to take risks, audiences can still accept you with other roles.
Do you feel that your physicality restricts with the niche roles?
A lot of producers have told me that I am well built and good looking but now is the time for more realistic characters. They think I can’t cry with this physique. I can’t suddenly convince the industry but I can convince the casting directors with my audition tapes and screen tests. A lot of makers told me that they are looking for a poster boy, I wonder, aren’t they making their own posters. I am an actor and very vulnerable. I understand it’s a visual medium but producers should be more ambitious.
Are you content with your career now?
In a span of three weeks, Crackdown 2 is the third project to release, prior to which Chatrapathi and Inspector Avinash released. I am in a stage of my career that is going to bring me more work.
