Made in Heaven actor Arjun Mathur: ‘Bollywood has caught the wrong note in depicting gay characters’

'Made in Heaven' actor Arjun Mathur.

From assisting directors on films to earning himself an Emmy International award nomination for Best Performance by an Actor for Made in Heaven, Arjun Mathur has come a long way. However, before he became a household name for his stellar performance as the gay wedding planner Karan Mehra in the Amazon Prime Video show, he has also delivered critically-acclaimed acts in Luck by Chance (2009), I Am (2010), Fireflies (2012), Ankur Arora Murder Case (2013) and Brij Mohan Amar Rahe (2018), among other notable projects.

However, it took the 2019 Web-series about two wedding planners and the shenanigans that happen behind the scenes to organise large-scale weddings, as well as the drama in their own lives, that brought in truck-loads of appreciation and love his way, not to forget the coveted Emmy nomination. Four years hence, Mathur is back in the much-awaited second season of the show. In a candid chat, he spoke about his role, the nuanced way in which he portrayed the gay character and the opportunities that came his way post the successful first season. Edited excerpts:

From the trailer, one can see that there is a lot going on with your character, right from him getting emotionally blackmailed by his mother to get married to being tied up with loans. Can you tell us what is going on with Karan Mehra this time?

When Season One finished, even I wondered where Karan’s story would go from there. The legal battle he was fighting had been resolved and even his father had accepted him. I was pleasantly shocked when I saw where exactly this goes. It actually gets much more intense, personal and complex. The external fight might be at bay for the moment but internal fights are pretty much active.

It has been a gap of four years since Season One. Did it take long for you to get back into playing the character?

As far as projects go and especially with recurring projects, Made in Heaven is my home and the makers are my family. They work so hard as a team to ensure that things feel seamless for you as an actor. When I reached the set for Season Two, even I wondered how it would happen, but as soon as hair, make-up and costume were done and the first shot was okayed, I realised that it is like riding a bicycle. You don’t forget it, especially something that you have lived so closely that somewhere it stays a part of you. Karan Mehra is made of parts of me, so it was quite easy.

You have played gay characters twice earlier, once in Mira Nair’s short film Migration (2008) and again in Onir’s I Am (2010). What did it take for you to really find the sur (note) for Karan Mehra?

To be honest, I think Bollywood has depicted gay characters of a certain sur – aur woh sur ekdum hi galat pakad liya (they caught the wrong note). For many years, we saw a certain depiction of homosexuality even in mainstream films. I personally didn’t have to find that sur because, here, it was Karan Mehra who needed my sur. That’s why Zoya (Akhtar) cast me because she saw in me the qualities she needed for Karan. I wasn’t given any brief to change my mannerisms or anything else. It was as real and as human as can be. It is possible to be alpha male, masculine, and want to sleep with men.

Actor Arjun Mathur.

You've been acting professionally since 2007 and done many short films and full-length feature films. There is a lot of critical acclaim that has come your way but none that came close to the appreciation you received for Made in Heaven. How do you self-analyse this situation?

There’s not much to analyse. I’m not the only actor to have that kind of a journey. I have to only talk about the privileged position I am in. At the end of it, I am living and surviving in Mumbai only as an actor and I have the freedom to choose what I wish to do and don’t. That is enough for feeling successful and having a happy life. The rest, I don’t know. These days, I feel even more thankful for my journey because when I look around and I see what it takes to be successful in the conventional sense – well, it takes nothing. You can behave like a monkey in front of your phone camera and you can become famous. There was a time when there was some skill involved in getting recognition. I don’t see that today. Fame has become a strange commodity, which I feel is avoidable to an extent.

Post the first season, you appeared in a number of Web shows, including The Gone Game (2020) and Jugaadistan (2022). Do you think you have made the most of the opportunities that came your way after Season One of the show?

I have always chosen to be part of things if my heart was in it. By and large, I can only pick and choose out of all that I am offered. Since Season One, there have been a lot of offers and I have said no to a lot of work also. All these projects I did in the meantime, is the stuff I chose to do from the offers that came to me. I would like to think I tried to make the best of the opportunities I had and I would like more.

You received an Emmy nomination for your performance in Season One. How interested are you in broadening your horizons and doing something on an international level?

I am quite interested. I have been a part of an international series called Indian Summers (2016) a few years ago. I believe the world is your stage, especially in today’s day and age with diversity being a topic in the international entertainment industry as well. Streaming platforms have actually blown it open and your work is literally seen in every corner of the world. It’s a great time for all actors to do more international work as well. I’ve had my international representation since 2019 but unfortunately, there has been one thing after the other. There was COVID and then, one year, I was with Made in Heaven. Now there is the actors’ strike in Hollywood and so work is at a standstill. I am just waiting for the right opportunity. My philosophy has always been to be the lambi race ka ghoda (in it for the long haul). At the end of it, I don’t want to look back and have too many regrets just because I wanted to make a lot of money.

Your next film Lord Curzon Ki Haveli is having its world premiere at the Indian Film Festival of Melbourne. Tell us about that.

That is a really, really special film. I met Anshuman (Jha, the actor-turned-director) in 2019 and we were just talking for two years, trying to find the dates, to make it happen. Then the pandemic hit us. A big show like Made in Heaven will find a way to get its audience, but for a small film like Curzon, it is not easy. All of us really stood by Anshuman and believed in the project. It was a minimum crew kind of shoot in one location with four characters. It is a really interesting psychological thriller. I am extremely impressed with Anshuman. This is his directorial debut and as an actor, one of my best experiences working with a new director. I really look forward to doing a lot more work with him and to whatever he decides to direct next.