Mirzapur actor Shubhrajyoti Barat: If I think of offending people, I won't get off my bed

Shubhrajyoti Barat, who gained acclaim for his performance as Rati Shankar Shukla in Mirzapur Season 1, is elated about his latest film, Madam Chief Minister. Directed by Subhash Kapoor, the film follows Richa Chadha’s rise in politics as a Dalit leader and will release in theatres on January 22.

Shubhrajyoti talks to IndiaToday.in about his role in Madam Chief Minister, dealing with controversies and making an impact as Rati Shankar in Mirzapur Season 1.

Excerpts from the conversation:

What can you tell us about your antagonistic role in Madam Chief Minister?

The first reason to sign the film was Subhash Kapoor. I really wanted to work with him. Then when I heard the narration and my role in the film, I was completely sold. My role is important in the context of the story of Madam Chief Minister. I am all for negative characters because I feel there is more drama there and more material to play with. I don’t approach them as negative, but try to understand their points of view. Having lived in Varanasi, I have a good understanding of the psyche of people in Uttar Pradesh and the community culture. That helped me in my role. I watched interviews of political leaders and also interacted with a few of them to understand how their minds work.

Were you wary of controversies that might surround the film, given its political premise? How are you dealing with the poster backlash?

The capacity of people to feel offended has increased over the years. When we make a film, obviously it’s not our intention to hurt anybody. It is a huge risk, people say you are unnecessarily creating controversy for publicity. No one wants that. And I am not saying all objections are baseless, but people need to understand we are just trying to make an interesting film. Offence, if at all, is unintentional. But as an actor, if I stop myself from doing something because people will get offended, I won’t be able to step out of my house, actually get off my bed. There is no end to objections and we are always in focus.

Watch the trailer of Madam Chief Minister here:

Can you share a fun anecdote from Mirzapur Season 1?

I think Rati Shankar Shukla was not a major character initially because it was short-lived and appeared in just a few episodes of Season 1. The writers did a wonderful job in developing the character. They brought nuances which helped me as an actor. For example, in my introduction scene, I say, “Gaadi 100 metre aage lagana (Park the car after 100 metres).” It is a quirk of the language in the Uttar Pradesh. If you haven’t lived there, you won’t even register this. No one has measured the distance, but they say specific numbers. These things enthuse the actor to add more effort. The first day I was shooting the series, the writer and director came to me and said it was a mistake to kill Rati Shankar in the first season itself. Unfortunately, it was all done. But Ali Fazal shot me, it was nice to die at the hands of a friend.

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