From being the funny guy Liquid in Pyaar ka Panchama to a sensitive shy guy in Batti Gul Meter Chalu and very recently, a rebel spoilt brat Phoolchand Tripathi a.k.a Munna Bhaiya in Mirzapur, Divyenndu has shown his range in acting. He received a lot of love for his character in Panchanama, but Divyenndu decided not to limit himself to roles like that.
Experimenting with different kinds of roles landed him as Mirzapur's Munna Bhaiyya. Besides adulation for his performance, the character has also earned him a nomination at the second edition of News18's iReel Awards in the Best Supporting Actor category.
"I never wanted to be in my comfort zone. With Liquid's response, I could have exploited that genre a lot but I never thought that I should keep doing comedies because people are loving it. I said no to a lot of similar projects because I didn't want to limit myself as an actor. I have always believed that the fun part of being an actor is that you get to play so many different personalities," Divyenndu told News18.
"And then when you get nominated for something different, it feels so good to be praised. It's really important, not just for me but for every character, actor and every artist to be recognised for their work, it's a great feeling," he added.
Calling Munna one of his most special roles, Divyenndu says he's fortunate because "you seldom get to play such complex and layered characters."
In the web series, Phoolchand "Munna" Tripathi is the power-hungry heir of Akhandanand Tripathi popularly known as Kaleen Bhaiya (Pankaj Tripathi), a reputed and feared mafia don in the city. But to Divyenndu, Munna is a "troubled soul" who's looking for validation from his father. "For me, Munna has everything but nothing. He suffers through an emotional vacuum in his life. He wants to prove a lot of things to his father and seek his respect and love. But he never gets that. So for me, he's always a troubled soul," said the actor.
He credits Munna's imperfections for receiving the kind of appreciation and love it got from the audience. He thinks the humanness of his character comes from his flaws which also makes him relatable.
Calling it an author-backed strong character, he said, "I was happy playing the character, or rather reading it. He is very pure in his heart, but he is also a mad hatter and knows no limits. Throughout 'Mirzapur', I was like, he's not a bad guy. He wants to do something, but he ends up doing something else. He's a misunderstood person, who just doesn't know how to express himself. He has a lot of flaws, which makes him very human. Probably his flaws are what people could relate to. These kinds of characters need guidance. I guess that is something that struck a chord with the audience as well.”
Munna was not only loved by the audience but he was a hit among the meme-makers too. Divyenndu thinks these funny gimmicks are also a validation of how popular and loved the character is. "I loved the memes on Munna. They were so creative that I saved some in my gallery. Every day when I was browsing my social media feed I came across so many creative memes, they made me realise that people are loving this character so much."
Divyenndu believes Mirzapur has opened a new horizon of opportunities for him where people can see him as a more complete actor and takes it as an opportunity to prove his acting abilities. "I got a chance to prove something which I wanted to do for the longest time, and not just for anyone else but myself. So that way things have changed. 'Mirzapur' has widened the horizon of how people see me now as an actor. It has opened up so many different lanes for me which I'm really thankful and grateful for.”
The actor also spilled some beans about season two. He has wrapped up his shoot a week ago and says there's so much in store that will "blow people's mind off". "The audience will get to see a different side of Munna in Season 2. There is so much unexpected for the audience in the new season that it will blow their minds off. I hope fans like it. Fingers crossed. But for now, the plate is full, I am happy and not complaining,” he said in conclusion.
Apart from Mirzapur 2, Divyenndu has a film titled Kanpur, a web series called Salt City and a couple of more projects in the pipeline.
You can vote for him here.
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