I don’t believe in planning my career: Jaideep Ahlawat

Instead of mapping out his career, project by project, “Paatal Lok” star Jaideep Ahlawat waits for “good stories” to come his way.

The actor, who first shot to fame with Anurag Kashyap’s “Gangs of Wasseypur” in 2012, gained widespread popularity after headlining the 2020 Prime Video series “Paatal Lok”.

Ahlawat, also known for films like “Raazi” and Netflix anthology “Lust Stories”, will be next seen in the ZEE5 Original series “Bloody Brothers”. Asked how he plans his career following the massive success of “Paatal Lok”, the actor said, “I don’t believe in planning my career, I don’t think ‘Where can I go next from here?’ I just wait for good stories.

You don’t choose scripts, often scripts choose you.” “I believe in working with a good team. If you work with good co-actors, your work becomes easy. My attempt is to be a part of good stories and to do something new constantly,” he added.

Ahlawat was speaking at the virtual trailer launch of “Bloody Brothers”, the upcoming dark comedy which also features “Article 15” star Zeeshan Ayyub. Directed by Shaad Ali and backed by Applause Entertainment in association with BBC Studios India, the show is the Indian adaptation of British mystery thriller “Guilt”.

The series chronicles the story of two brothers, Jaggi (Ahlawat) and Daljeet (Ayyub) whose lives spin out of control when a tragic car accident occurs.

“What follows is a series of lies to conceal the truth, however, as more lies are told and more people get involved, it becomes impossible for the two brothers to escape the bloody mess unharmed,” the official synopsis of the show reads.

Ahlawat said he easily gelled with Ayyub as he is a long-time admirer of the “Tandav” actor’s work. “We had a mutual respect and love for each other’s work and process even before we began working on this project. There was no difficulty in building that chemistry,” he said.

Ayyub said their offscreen chemistry is palpable even on screen. “’Bloody Brothers’ has been one of the most gratifying projects of my life. The camaraderie we shared off screen can be seen on screen too. We didn’t have to work extra hard to be brothers.

When I got to know that Jaideep will be opposite me, I knew something magical will happen,” he added. Satish Kaushik , Shruti Seth, Tina Desai, Jitendra Joshi, Maya Alagh, Mugdha Godse and Yuri Suri also round out the cast of the show. “Bloody brothers” is set to premiere on ZEE5 on March 18. – PTI