Pehle chor, ab police

A still from Gyaarah Gyaarah

Less than a month after playing a menacing villain on the big screen in Karan Johar and Guneet Monga Kapoor's Kill, Raghav Juyal is ready to present a stark departure on OTT with Umesh Bisht's Gyaarah Gyaarah. The upcoming ZEE5 sci-fi thriller series features the actor-choreographer as a cop battling past traumas and deep-seated insecurities. Juyal is more than thrilled to showcase his range to the audience so soon after his previous role.

"When my mother watched Kill, she told Umesh sir, ‘Mujhe iss ladke ne kahin muh dikhane layak nahi chhoda.' He replied, ‘You come after one month; I will correct his image.' I feel blessed that within a month I have an entirely different character to showcase. This was more challenging than the [character] I played in Kill. This show will give me my real identity," he says.

The challenge lay in the character's complex inner world, which Juyal says he initially found difficult to crack. "Gyaarah Gyaarah went on floors two to three months after I wrapped up Kill. It took time to get out of the body language of my antagonist character. It was difficult initially. There's a lot of anxiety and angst in this guy. This one was as anxious as cool and breezy my character was in Kill," says the actor.

Life has evidently changed for Juyal since the release of Kill, directed by Nikhil Bhat. The one change he is enjoying is the industry's newfound appreciation for him. "The behaviour of industry people has changed. From Fahadh Faasil to Anurag Kashyap, all the people I have looked up to for inspiration, have reached out to me. I have received immense validation from the industry. Even if four people outside the industry don't know you, it's okay, but filmmakers should know you," he smiles.