Abhay Deol and Rajshri Deshpande, who have aced the parts of real Krishnamoorthys in Trial by Fire, insist portraying the truth is a greater responsibility for you don’t want to exploit it

Nonika Singh

In the Netflix series Trial by Fire, they moved us to tears. As the biting and realistic series on Uphaar fire tragedy continues to capture the imagination of the viewers, trending among top 10 on Netflix, its lead actors Abhay Deol and Rajshri Deshpande have every reason to smile.

In fact, Abhay could sense the series’ success during its making alone. As he says, “I have been in the industry long enough to tell by the script. And here I could see the writing was right, director Prashant Nair knew what he wanted and when he cast Rajshri I knew everything was falling in place.”

Add to it the fact that more recently people are taking to biopics and Abhay saw no reason why Trial by Fire, rooted in reality sans melodrama and a hard take on issues, would not hit the bull’s eye. Rajshri may not have fully understood the algorithm, the maths of movie-making but was happy as long as, “I was working with sensible and sensitive people who understand their craft.” Playing a real life character is a challenge. As Abhay puts it, “There is greater responsibility, when you are portraying the truth. You don’t want to exploit it since it’s not about you but them.” While not making the real Krishnamoorthys meet the reel couple was a directorial decision and only Prashant can answer why he chose to do so.

Still Abhay shares his director’s logic, “He just wanted us to play a regular middle class family. It was not about prosthetics or accent, only acting. But he wanted us to get the dynamics between the couple right.” After the show when they met Shekhar and Neelam Krishnamoorthy, they could see how Prashant was spot on.

Word of praise

As praise is flowing from all quarters, including movie magnate Karan Johar calling the series, ‘a master-class in narrative and portrayals’, Abhay is only glad. “Praise is always welcome and it’s always good to hear so especially from someone so established as him.”

From popcorn entertainment to its changing landscape, Abhay, certainly the more vocal of the two, has much to say. “I have never believed that our audience is only looking for escape. Besides, I knew with technology changing we will soon have an audience exposed to international shows, and variety of thought and will demand the same.” Indeed, Abhay has been part of content driven cinema (Dev D, Shanghai) from the word go. So why has it taken Trial by Fire for him to profess, “I am no longer an outcast.”

He says, “If you are the only one in the room shouting for change, you are kind of lonely. At some point I became disheartened.” But with the arrival of OTT platforms, he anticipates a more democratic process of casting. Will the change rub on to Indian cinema or Bollywood? Well, he does not see a Delhi Crime or Trial by Fire happening in cinema.

Future course

In future there could be a solid demarcation line between OTT and theatrical releases or maybe not, but he insists, “Superstars are not going anywhere. And why should they, it’s such a cultural phenomenon.” Indeed, and lest we forget Abhay too is a star. Only with no starry tantrums, so vouches his co-star Rajshri. Precisely why she was at ease, not a wee bit awed or intimidated by his star status for he never threw his weight around. Abhay laughs and pipes in, “That is because Netflix didn’t have the budget for my entourage.” Jokes apart, Rajshree shares, “On the sets, he was Shekhar for me.”

On the possible competiveness or rivalry between the actors playing equally powerful roles, Abhay’s line of defence is the eternal classic, “What I can bring to the table others can’t and vice versa. Healthy competition might be good, but I don’t like competing at all.” Rajshri believes, “We all are in an equal space.” Of course, the actor of Sacred Games, Manto, Angry Indian Goddesses and S Durga right now is in more than an equal space. Headlining a series…Is this her moment? And easily the more diffident of the two, she states, “I am very critical of my own work but I am content.”

Trial by Fire…so what kind of a trial was it for actors? While it’s only human to be affected by something tragic and dramatic, working in the series has been anything but a trial. Rather, both are grateful for the opportunity that has come their way. And film aficionados equally beholden for their ace acts, making the series a must watch.