Arjun Mathur: Working with even one of them is a blessing

Reprising his role in Made in Heaven 2, Emmy-nominated actor Arjun on how the finest directors came together to service the script

Thank God we are here,” smiles Arjun Mathur, as the second season of Made in Heaven drops online today, over four years since its opening season. Something tells us the sentiment is echoed by the audience, who lapped up the first edition that revolved around big, fat Indian weddings and two wedding planners—essayed by Mathur and Sobhita Dhulipala—at the centre of it all. The delay between the two instalments was due to the pandemic. “Every time someone tested positive, we had to stop. And if you lose one actor’s dates, it throws the schedule astray because the show has an ensemble cast,” explains Mathur.

The actor’s performance as Karan Mehra had earned him an International Emmy nomination in 2020. Was it easy to reprise the character after such a long gap? “In your mind, you can be a bit anxious, wondering whether you will find it again. But once you get on the set, one shot is all it takes. When they call for ‘cut’, you know you’ve got it. The character is so beautifully developed on paper [that] it becomes easy.” Mathur adds that creator-director duo Zoya Akhtar and Reema Kagti have made his character’s journey darker this time around. “It’s more personal, hence more intense. Zoya, Reema and I know that I relate to Karan Mehra quite a bit.”

The beauty of the Amazon Prime Video series—also starring Kalki Koechlin and Jim Sarbh—is that it beautifully includes different voices as five directors examine the ills of society against the backdrop of dreamy weddings. This time around, Neeraj Ghaywan of Masaan (2015) fame joins Akhtar, Kagti, Alankrita Shrivastava and Nitya Mehra to share the directorial duties. Mathur admits that collaborating with such fine directors is a dream come true for the artiste in him. “If an actor gets to work with even one of them, it’s a blessing. Here, we’ve got six of them [including Prashant Nair in the last season]! Things can be difficult when multiple people disagree, but here, the script is the master. Zoya, Reema and Alankrita have written the show, so they’re all on the same page. We had days when we would be shooting different parts with [different] directors, but it was easy because they were all in sync.”

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