JD Chakravarthy on his role in Bhuvan Bam's Taaza Khabar and why Satya didn't transform his Bollywood career | Exclusive

JD Chakravarthy has been an actor for over three decades but he is what one would brand a ‘media shy’ actor. “There should be something to talk about instead of I have done this film or show. I get bored,” he says with a laugh as we connect over phone. But the actor lets go of his inhibitions slowly in a freewheeling chat with DNA about his life, career, and future.

Having worked in iconic films like Shiva and Satya and a host of hits down south, he recently appeared in a negative role in the Disney+ Hotstar show Taaza Khabar, which starred Bhuvan Bam and Shriya Pilgaonkar. However, JD is quick to point out that he is not the typical ‘antagonist’ on the show. He says, “I am an antagonist only to Bhuvan’s character and he is an antagonist to my character. From one’s perspective, I can be a protagonist as well. The character is sensitive, understanding and nice to others.”

The actor says he was positively surprised to do a role that was fresh and different on the show. “I like when people tell me to do things differently, when people stop me from doing things my way. See, when I do things my way, you will only see JD Chakravarthy. If you want to see the character, the creator has to mould that. That has happened here,” he adds.

In Taaza Khabar, JD plays a gangster in Mumbai. The same can be said of the role that is arguably his most iconic – the title role in Ram Gopal Varma’s 1996 film Satya. Does he see any similarities in the characters beyond that? “No,” the actor responds, “They are very different. Satya was very cold and logical. This character here is very emotional. Satya was calculative whereas he isn’t.”

JD Chakravarthy had already done quite a few films in the south when he starred in Satya. He was a known face and name in the Tamil and Telugu industries. Recalling that time, he says. “Satya was more like my 40^th film, and not my first as many people believe. When Satya was released, there was no platform for promoting a film. But people do remember me for it. I didn’t have to talk about it, the work did. Apart from acting in Satya, I was also designing the sound and editing the film. I was supposed to check the sound design in the Eros theatre in Mumbai. When I went for the first show around 11.30, there were around 30-40 people in the hall. By matinee show, half the theatre was full. There was no WhatsApp, no message. People just flocked. By the evening show, I couldn’t park my own car.”

Satya was a sleeper hit and it transformed the career of Manoj Bajpayee, who broke through with his role of Bhiku Mhatre. However, JD, despite playing the lead, did not have the same career trajectory. Explaining that, JD says, “What happens in the south is that we block our films and dates almost a year in advance. When I was doing Satya, I had signed 4 films down south. It wasn’t that I was expecting Satya to do well but I got other work and I signed those films. Also, Ramu sir (Ram Gopal Varma) wanted me to direct a Hindi film rather than act in another. So that happened plus my work in south took me over a year. In the meantime I was offered Hindi films that I did not accept. I told them I will finish these films and come back. But by the time that happened, time had passed.”

That passage of time meant offers diminished and whatever did come JD’s way were of a certain kind. He shares, “Then, the typecasting happens because of that 3-4 year gap. People remember you as that one character. They want you to play the same thing. In Vaastu Shastra, I was clean-shaven and people did not recognize me. Film folks would ask me the number of that boy from the film, not realizing it was me. But they didn’t want me in that image because they remembered the bearded Satya.”

In 2022, JD Chakravarthy returned to Hindi films after almost a decade with two films – Anek and Ek Villain Returns, followed by his OTT debut with Taaza Khabar, his first release of 2023.