Quality acting, conquering Mumbai and challenging roles - Made In Heaven star Arjun Mathur talks about his life, career and more

“Normal human hoon, normal human ki tarah jiyunga, kaam karta rahoon, logon ko kaam pasand aaye.” (I am a normal human, I will live like a normal human, here’s hoping I continue to work, and people continue to like it.) - Arjun Mathur

You may have seen him in Luck By Chance, I am, and My Name is Khan, but his role in Amazon Prime Originals Made In Heaven by Zoya Akhtar and Reema Kagti brought him under the spotlight and how. 

Playing one of the protagonists Karan Mehra, Arjun’s character is a smart and savvy wedding planner, working on high profile - and sometimes complicated - weddings in Delhi. He is also gay, and hasn’t come out to his family. Through the series, we see Karan develop as a complex and vulnerable character - with his own demons, something that fans loved. And Made In Heaven has already been dubbed as the ‘best Indian show’ of the decade.

Even though his inbox is probably overflowing with messages from fans, Arjun responded to our interview request within just a couple of hours and we set up a meeting the very next day.

In this witty and candid conversation with YS Weekender, we delve into his acting DNA, his plans, ties with Zoya Akhtar and more.

Edited excerpts from the interview.

YS Weekender (YSW): Tell us about your childhood. When did you first decide to take up acting as a career?

Arjun Mathur (AM): I was born in London, but I never lived there. My father was a general manager in a hotel and I grew up in Civil Lines of Delhi, and attended St. Columba’s School.

During my childhood, we used to watch a lot of Hindi movies starring Amitabh Bachchan, Anil Kapoor and I idolised them. When I was about nine, my family moved to Bombay, and I got to visit a couple of film sets. I remember going to the sets of Saudagar (starring Dilip Kumar and Raaj Kumar), and I noticed that things started taking the shape of a fantasy in my head, and I wanted to act, and it stayed.

When I was 13, my family was in a really bad car accident and I lost my mother. We needed to be back in Delhi to be near to our extended family. This time, we lived in Nizzamuddin East, and I attended The British School in Chanakyapuri. Here, for the first time, I saw that theatre studies were actually taken quite seriously. So, till class 12, I studied theatre in school.

It was my passion, and I used to be a part of all the school plays. By the time I finished schooling, I knew what I wanted to do. And that's what I told my dad. At first, he thought I was crazy, but then he was quite supportive.

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YSW: Did you have any alternate career plan in mind?

AM: Oh, backup plan? No, no, no! I didn't have any backup plan. When I was a kid, I was good at drawing, and my mother wanted me to do something using that ability. And even my father might have thought of me becoming an architect or something. But I never had any backup plan.

YSW: When did you go to Mumbai? Tell us about your early days in the city and in Indian cinema.

AM: I didn't see the point in wasting my time going to college. I did an acting course at Barry John's Acting School, and moved to Bombay.

I started working as an assistant director on feature films, and got to work on some pretty big ones including Bunty Aur Babli, Mangal Pandey and Rang De Basanti. That on-set experience was really important to me. But, by the time I turned 25, I realised I wanted to act. So, I took a year off and went to the Lee Strasberg Theatre and Film Institute in New York. I came back to Mumbai in 2007 to pursue acting.

YSW: Do you have anybody in the movie industry from your family?

AM: Well, I have heard stories about my father being a great actor on stage in his college days all through my childhood. He was also the head of the drama society. Even today, all his friends tell me, 'Beta (son) you should have seen your dad on stage'. Unfortunately, I've not seen it. Ever since I've known him, he has been a hotelier to me. And, nobody else in the family is connected to films.

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YSW: What kind of challenges have you conquered so far?

AM: I feel really proud of what I have done so far. But it is still very little. Honestly speaking, just surviving in Mumbai - the fact that you have come from nowhere and continue to keep working - that itself is an achievement. Because I don't know how many stories have not made it even to this level. There are countless dreams shattered with people just going back home.

 So that's how I measure my own success - I have been working. I have always had the freedom to be able to choose what projects to do and what not to. And I have not succumbed to anything I wasn't really comfortable doing.

YSW: How did Made in Heaven happen? Were you hesitant to take up a gay role or were you excited about it?

AM: In 2017, I was rehearsing for my first-ever play in 15 years. It was with Naseeruddin Shah and we put in a lot of work in rehearsals. It was amazing because getting to sit with Naseeruddin Shah every day, having one-on-one interactions is like receiving a master class in acting. One day, I get a call for 'Made in Heaven' audition, so I did it.

I also knew that if I got the role, I would have to leave the play. So, there was some kind of hesitation. I kept everyone in the loop. The second time I met the casting director Nandini, she told me the character might be gay.

During my first meeting with Zoya for this show, I told them that I have challenged myself twice before with similar characters, and the only reason I was a bit hesitant was that as an artist, I did not want to be repetitive. There was no hesitation about the character, just about that.

She asked me to read the script once, and I finished it in one night and I was just blown away. And I said to myself, Ye toh main he karunga (only I will do it). So that was it. And from that point, I was absolutely gung-ho and excited.

Also, Zoya and I go a long way. One of the first few short films I worked in was written by Zoya, and I also starred in her first feature film. The first time she wrote an ad campaign - I was in it with Aamir Khan. And now, the first time she did a web series, I am a part of it.

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YSW: You have been in the industry for a long time, but you have suddenly shot to fame after Made in Heaven. How does it make you feel?

AM: Every actor wants his or her work to be appreciated. The level of appreciation Made in Heaven is getting is unbelievable, amazing, and overwhelming. Right now, I am just trying to keep up with my inbox and respond to everybody. And not just strangers, but to people who I know and have known. Honestly, that's all what is going on.

I don't know if I have become a star overnight. Normal human hoon, normal human ki tarah jiyunga, kaam karta rahoon, logon ko kaam pasand aaye (I am a normal human, I will live like a normal human, here’s hoping I continue to work, and people continue to like it). That's more than enough.

YSW: What do you think about the rise of OTT platforms in India? Do you think these platforms have given actors overdue attention over the A-list stars?

AM: You are right. The first major advantage of OTT platforms is that your work reaches a wide audience. Secondly, such platforms are an advantage for writers more than for actors. As actors, we are lucky to dive into these materials. But writers are the ones who are really having fun with developing characters, which they can do in nine episodes instead of just a two-hour film.

The advantage is that there are no bindings of the box office. So, filmmakers are not limited by the market in this space. They have the freedom to experiment and go for actors only for the talent and not for anything else.

YSW: What is the best part about being an actor?

AM: For me, I am following my dream.

YSW: How do you prepare for a role?

AM: I am an instinctive actor, and there's a lot of thinking involved in my process of preparation.

YSW: When can we see you next on screen, big or small?

AM: Several things are going on, but I cannot talk about anything right now. But for any projects I do, I am going to focus on the quality.