Kunal Kemmu will soon be seen as Inspector Abhay Pratap Singh in the third season of the crime-thriller Abhay. It will start streaming on ZEE5 from April 8. The Free Press Journal caught up with Kunal for an exclusive chat.
Kunal had to prepare himself for the intense role mentally. “Over the years, I’ve managed to reach a point where I can be more of a switch on and switch off actor. There is a lot of mental prep that goes into it if you’re not physically doing rehearsals. Even when you’re sitting with the writers, you think and imagine when you’re hearing or reading it. So I think subconsciously, you’re prepping for it before you go there. And then, of course, when you’re on set in costume with the actors, it’s a different energy, and there’s a director to guide you,” he explains.
Kunal opens up about how he’s feeling now that Abhay S3 is about to release. “A little bit of nervousness is always there because there’s more anticipation. This time people are coming with expectations. During season one, we were nervous if it would work or not, but nobody really came up with any expectations to see it. But now, we’ve set a certain level of expectations with seasons one and two. The attempt is to exceed them by a little bit,” he says.
Kunal is all praise for his co-stars. Vijay Raaz plays the role of a villain in the web series. “The villains are the highlight of the show. Abhay wouldn’t be anything if the villains weren’t there. We were lucky to get such great actors to play these villains. But on the other side, as much as I love them, I have one or two days of work with them throughout the show because they have a separate track. I get to interact with them only if I’m investigating them at some point in the show or when I catch them. I really respect Vijay as an actor, and I enjoyed my scenes with him,” he shares.
The series also stars Asha Negi. Kunal states, “She is lovely. I get along well with her personally. I think she’s a gifted actor. Her character has so many shades, and she’s done so well.”
On a parting note, Kunal talks about how hard the team has worked for the web series. “Effort gets put in by the creative team right in the beginning. When you set out to make a show, the understanding of its writing and characters are done, knowing that this is going to be a multi-season show. The new characters bring new shades. And what’s nice about keeping the continuity going is that the fans fall in love with a character and want to see his or her journey. Now, how we make it interesting and different is what the whole team works with, whether it’s writers, the creative team of the platform or the director,” he concludes.
