Jaideep Ahlawat is savoring the thrill of playing pure menace in ‘The Family Man 3’, trading in the troubled honesty of Hathiram Chaudhary from ‘Paatal Lok’ for the ruthless Rukma, antagonist to Manoj Bajpayee’s Srikant. Speaking about the role in an interview and set around the hit Prime Video series, he admits, “On day one, I remember thinking that my character is nothing like Hathiram Chaudhary. How do you process that? Then I realised that you don’t; you just enjoy both sides.”
Returning to Nagaland with a new perspective
Speaking to Mid day, Ahlawat recalls standing in a familiar spot with a completely different energy. Nagaland, which watched him become Hathiram in ‘Paatal Lok’, has now witnessed his darker transformation for ‘The Family Man 3’. “There is a spot where I was standing as Hathiram once, and then later as Rukma. It’s the same place, two different men, but nobody can see [the similarity] because the art direction has changed so much. It’s an interesting feeling of being in the same place, but living a completely different life,” he says.
He jokes that the state has become almost a second home. “I’ve been shooting so much in Kohima that the Nagaland government should give me a house there!” he laughs. Behind the humor is the satisfaction of an actor who has been allowed to explore a more unhinged side on screen. “I finally got the chance to let loose without worrying about conscience or consequences. It felt liberating in a twisted way to play someone like Rukma,” he admits of his drug smuggler and hitman character in the Prime Video show.
Reuniting with Manoj Bajpayee on set
For fans of ‘Chittagong’ and ‘Gangs of Wasseypur’, the reunion of Ahlawat and Bajpayee in ‘The Family Man 3’ is a major draw, and the actor shares that excitement. “Working with Manoj is like going back in time. There is a discipline that he brings. Doing an action scene together after all these years was a thrill. There is the greed to work with him, and this show is a dream come true!”His favorite sequence is the high-octane chase that opens the season. “Manoj was driving the car, and I was riding the motorcycle [chasing him]. The camera didn’t have to cheat; it travelled from him all the way to me. There were no stuntmen involved. That’s my most memorable scene in this season,” he says, clearly relishing the memory of a collaboration and a character that have allowed him to truly cut loose.
