Barun Sobti was once known as a romantic hero and a boy-next-door due to his work in television shows and films like Tu Hai Mera Sunday (2017). But in recent times, the actor had dabbled in serious, hard-hitting content like the movie Halahal (2020) and the web show Asur.
Sobti’s next project, 200: Halla Ho, will see him play an upper-caste lawyer who fights for those at the bottom of the caste hierarchy.
During the online press conference for the movie, the actor was asked if he is consciously trying to break away from his early image.
“Yeah, it has been a very deliberate effort made to stay in the zone that I feel is relevant,” he said. “It doesn’t mean I am looking down on anything [other content]. Some people like something. Some people like other things. I feel this kind of content is really relevant and I want to be a part of this movement. I want the day to come when the audience says that if I am a part of it, it must be something relevant.”
Sobti also said that actors sometimes face a lack of choice since they are not content creators. “Actors depend on what kind of options they are given. You can’t write a movie for yourself. You can’t direct a film and cast yourself. For an actor, it is the choice of roles that you get. So what defines your career is the kind of things you say no to,” he said.
Also starring Amol Palekar, Rinku Rajguru, Sahil Khattar and Saloni Batra, 200: Halla Ho is based on the killing of the gangster and mass rapist Ajju Yadav by 200 Dalit women in 2004.
Directed by Sarthak Dasgupta, the movie will be released on Zee5 on 20 August.