'I DIDN'T EXPECT TO BE AWAY FOR 12 YEARS'

‘Personal reasons required me to take some time off.

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“When you’ve been away for so long, you have all these fears and insecurities of whether people care to want to work with you or if they are even interested. Then suddenly you get this call. It was all like a dream,” The “call” was an offer to play a role in Sanjay Leela Bhansali’s Web series, Heeramandi: The Diamond Bazaar.

Fardeen will be seen as Nawab Wali Mohammed, stepping into a period zone he has never attempted before. As the actor returns to acting after 12 years, he tells us just what the experience was like.

How did you land a role in Heeramandi?

As you’re probably aware, I’ve been away for a long, long, time. I get a call one day from (casting director) Shruti Mahajan. She had seen me at an award function -- I was at IIFA -- and she said she’d like me to go and meet Mr Bhansali. I initially couldn’t believe what I was hearing. Any actor worth his salt would give an arm and a leg to work with Mr Bhansali. Just the way he presents his characters, the way he writes his characters and the complexity of the emotions that he writes his characters with. It’s an actor’s dream.When you’ve been away for so long, you have all these fears and insecurities of whether people care to want to work with you or if they are even interested. Then suddenly you get this call. It was all like a dream.