Arjun Mathur on nepotism: Bollywood’s space is reserved for star kids… I focused on being a dependable actor and not a star – bollywood

In an industry where failures and rejections are rules of the game, actor Arjun Mathur decided not to get bogged down by either of these, quite early on in his career. He entered showbiz in 2007 with a short film, did mainstream films, too, before tasting success with web series Made in Heaven last year. And long ago in his journey, he had learnt that nepotism is a general system in Bollywood.

“I also went through the period of extreme disappointment, sadness and depression, too. Bollywood’s space is reserved for star kids and what not… I realised if mainstream Bollywood won’t give me chance, then let me figure out a different way to operate. That gave me the courage to do all the 37 titles in my filmography. I’ve played lead in some, supporting parts in others and did some international and independent work too,” he says.

However, one thing that the 38-year-old was always concentrated was on quality than quantity.

“I wanted to connect to audiences’ intelligence, focused on being a dependable actor and not a star. Today it’s exactly what people know me for. Glad that Made in Heaven took this long,” says Mathur, who recently stepped out to shoot for his upcoming web series.

Meanwhile, at home, he’s creating content for web and will soon resume shooting his upcoming film Lord Curzon Ki Haveli and Made In Heaven season 2.

Reacting to the insider vs outsider debate that has trigged as an aftermath of Sushant Singh Rajput’s demise, Mathur feels many are “washing their dirty laundry over someone’s death”.

He opines, “Good that this debate is happening and mainstream Bollywood is kind of soul-searching and wondering if they went wrong somewhere. Surely some of the toxic stuff in the industry will leave us for good. But I’m also finding it disrespectful. There’s a much more civil way to do this. Actors don’t need to come out and talk so much, public baat kar rahi hai.”

Does he feel such discussions will open doors for outsiders who struggle to make their place in the film industry Mathur says he doesn’t think that way.

“Work will happen the way it has been happening. Not everyone becomes mega star overnight. Also, ask yourself aapko kya mega star banna hai? From what’s happening right now, one thing is clear that stardom isn’t everything. It’s a tough place to maintain your mental equilibrium, so it’s better to have faith in yourself,” he explains.

Amid speculations that Rajput was deliberately mocked at Karan Johar’s talk show (Koffee with Karan), Mathur urges that the show must go off air forever. “It’s detrimental to our society. I’ve nothing against Karan, I love him for the really funny human that he is, but whatever I know of him in social or personal setting, has nothing to do with this particular show. Not just me, even the people who’ve been on the show said the same. Putting people down and these gossip aren’t required,” he concludes.

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Author tweets @Shreya_MJ