Learnt a lot while shooting in Lithuania: Ojas Rawal

Ojas Rawal has been a well-known name in the world of stand-up comedy. And then he chose to push his creative boundaries and explore the world of cinema and television. Ojas, who has done Hindi TV shows like Ladies Special and Sargam Ki Sadhe Satii, has also worked in a number of films like

Polam Pol

,

Chasani

, Order Order Out of Order among others. As an actor, he loves being constantly challenged.
Ojas has just come back home after wrapping up shooting for a Gujarati film in

Lithuania

. The cast and crew members had to come back a bit early in light of the Russia-Ukraine war. Ojas Rawal talks about shooting for a film abroad, challenging himself as an actor and more in a freewheeling chat with us.
‘I want to be constantly challenged as an actor’
I feel very claustrophobic playing the same characters over and over again. If I don’t challenge myself, I feel stagnated. I try to bring out the

Navrasas

through my characters. If I just keep taking up comic films or romantic films, I won’t get the adrenaline rush that I want as an actor. While choosing a role, I primarily look at the narrative as opposed to the number of scenes I have in the film. After that, I consider the depth of my character. I look at how I can portray my character with a sense of honesty and intensity.

‘The best part about shooting abroad is how beautifully everyone works in tandem’
When you say you are showing a European backdrop, you can’t cheat the audience and recreate the set in Shimla or any other place in North India. So, you have to travel abroad and shoot. As far as my current film is concerned, I enjoyed the amalgamation that came with working with a crew that consisted of Indians and Lithuanians. It’s beautiful to see how everyone and everything works in tandem despite the language barrier.
‘Shooting for television is like speed dating’
Shooting for television is like speed dating and theatre is like pure love. In theatre, artistes get time to rehearse and there is an investment of self. Films are slightly different since there is some rehearsal and there are retakes too. But as far as television is concerned, we shoot a 20-25 minute episode in a day, so there we do not get time to brush the nuances of our character.
‘My travels give me the chance to observe people and create characters’
My sources of inspiration are far and wide. I travel a lot, so I meet and interact with a lot of people from different regions and ethnicities. This gives me a chance to observe people. Apart from that, I read a lot too.
‘Regional content will always remain relevant’
Today, the canvas is much broader and the audience has the choice of consuming content from different parts of the globe. As actors we also get to be there in the same space. It is important that we evolve from this experience. The Gujarati film industry is still evolving, so our challenges are very different. We have definitely come to a point where we have to acknowledge the fact that the audiences’ tastes have also evolved. The Gujarati audience is opening up to different contents. The good part is, they still want to get entertained in their mother tongue and they are open to new narratives. So, there’s a huge possibility there.