Dheeraj Dhoopar: For 15 years, I’ve been playing the doting husband

Itrsquos a great time to be an artisterdquo says Dheeraj Dhoopar relishing the kind of offers coming his way The actor is set to make his web debut with Tatlubaaz Whatrsquos more he will also be seen as the antagonist in the second season of Dil Se Di Dua Saubhagyavati Bhava It is a challenge admits the actor to shift gears after fronting longrunning daily soaps for the past 15 years But itrsquos a change he is eager for says Dhoopar as he sits down for a chat with middayEdited excerpts from the interviewDo you prefer finite shows or longrunning daily soapsSherdil Shergill was a finite show which was supposed to run for a year but we finished in six months Personally Irsquom a fan of longrunning shows I did Sasural Simar Ka for six years and Kundali Bhagya for five in my 15year career People ask me whether I get fatigued from playing a role for that long but the truth is I donrsquot feel tired I enjoy doing television Now I want to explore other mediumsSo yoursquore foraying into digital entertainmentYes the series is called Tatlubaaz It is about a conman and I play the titular role The show is set to drop on the EpicOn platform in October Tatlubaaz will be its flagship showWerenrsquot you worried that a new OTT platform wouldnrsquot be able to market your show among the existing competitionIndia has a vast audience with takers for every kind of show and platform When I read the script it seemed different from other conman shows Director Vibhu Kashyap who is making his debut with this series wanted to shoot in a way that it seems smooth And yet the plot twists are so fast and unexpected The ensemble cast is brilliant with Nargis Fakhri writerdirectoractor Zeeshan Qadri and Divya Agarwal Also my character has no limitations and I can bring so much to the table to play himBesides Tatlubaaz you are playing the antagonist in the second season of Dil Se Di Dua Saubhagyavati BhavaYou can call it my manifestation For the past 15 years that I have been working in the industry I have been playing the doting husband or the chocolate boy It was always at the back of my mind to play a grey character There is so much scope for an actor to perform in such roles The timing was perfect I was talking to someone a week before signing the show that I want to do something different and this came my wayHow good is it to be bad on screenMy character is everything I am not He is absolutely unpredictable He doesnrsquot think he is ever wrong but goes right ahead and does wrong to others intentionally He is smart tech savvy is able to project into the future is a perfectionist and expects everyone around him to be perfect too The show will explore the subject of domestic violenceWas it challenging to play an antagonist since itrsquos your firstIt was since I am nothing like him in real life I donrsquot identify with his traits I have been a happily married guy for the last seven years I have to live with this character for 12 hours on set adopt his mannerisms and body language I had to up my acting skills Luckily the feedback I have been getting is great