Ayush Mehra: Minus One is an ode to relationships, break up and reality

In Minus One: New Chapter, the characters of Varun and Ria, played by Ayush Mehra and Aisha Ahmed, return as they hey navigate their break up. The series, which premieres on Valentine’s Day, follows a bit different format for this new chapter. Ayush Mehra, in an interview with Hindustan Times, discussed how his character evolves as he matures and how viewers will be able to understand the perspectives of both lead characters. (Also read: I’ve no shame in being called a web actor: Ayush Mehra)

The actor also spoke about his working equation with co-star Aisha Ahmed who has been a friend for eight years. Created by Sidhantha Mathur and Shubham Yogi, the new season of Minus One: New Chapter begins on Lionsgate Play on February 14, 2023. Excerpts below:

You have said that viewers will experience a whole range of emotions in season two. Can you elaborate on that?

Season one was very comic and light-hearted and slice-of-life, but season two is a new chapter altogether. It’s not the same genre. You can watch it from episode one and you don’t have to watch any of the things which had happened before. That’s the best part about it. Since it’s a genre shift, there are a lot of things which change in the character as well. There are two timelines, a young and a little mature timeline. The gap is seven-eight years. That’s really something which we are looking forward to.

There are things like pretence when things are not going right in your life. Varun starts pretending; he doesn’t love himself and retrospectively, he regrets the things he does. He’s very vulnerable as a character. He’s so vulnerable he uses it as his toxicity sometimes. It’s just so liberating as an actor to do such a wide range of emotions and to play this so early in my career. In life, you’ve seen things like Blue Valentine, Scenes From A Marriage, Marriage Story and to be a part of such a show is something which I am truly blessed with.

How has your character Varun evolved in the second season?

It’s a fresh start and evolution throughout the whole thing, in this chapter, it is about loving yourself. You realise that if you don’t love yourself, you cannot love anyone else. It’s about being true to yourself and not losing yourself because the world wants you to lose yourself. It’s about owning and manning up. There is a lot of evolution which keeps happening in a lot of places. It’s about not being cowardly and showing strength and always being there for the other person. I think [Varun] does that so beautifully that it’s liberating to watch that he can be [messed up] in his life but for the other person, he’s still not ready to quit.

How does Varun and Ria’s relationship change in this new season? Will viewers be satisfied with the path they take?

In the show, it is never black or white. We always play at the grey. At times, you’ll be like Varun is right, at times, you’ll be like Ria is right. At no point, you’ll be like, one person is wrong. You side with both and understand perspectives and that’s how complexities of relationships generally work. It’s not one-sidedness. There’s a lot of reasoning. There’s a lot of complexities and layering involved. [Varun and Ria’s relationship] changes and progresses because we show the ‘pre’, the ‘post’ and the ‘during’. I think that’s the real thing which happens in people’s lives. It’s not always hunky-dory. It doesn’t always end well. But at the end of it, you have to accept what is there in front of you, accept and move on.

How did you work with Aisha Ahmed on creating the bond between the two characters on the show, especially about them being friends as exes?

Aisha and I have worked for eight years together and we share a beautiful friendship. We are very fortunate that we got to do this with each other, because the bond and trust we have in each other as actors is immense. In a scene, even if I am throwing water on Aisha, I know she will not break it and she will continue with the scene. Probably post the scene, she will kill me. In this, because there was a lot of intimacy involved, we were very awkward about it in the beginning because after eight years, you can’t jump into this.

We had a 15-day intimacy workshop, a 15-day acting workshop and we had 10 days with the director and writer. We had an elaborate process where we actually were meant to feel things and ease into them. That’s how I think it really helped our bond because we became very vulnerable in the workshops with each other. I had known Aisha, but truly knowing Aisha was happening during this time. It’s like going through adversity with your friend. That’s how I think the chemistry and [our] bond as actors, I think, strengthens.

Compared to the other shows about romance and relationships, how does Minus One stand out and differ from the rest?

I think Minus One is an ode to relationships, break up and reality. It’s a show about acceptance and self-love. It’s a show about independence and pretense and ambition. It’s about toxicity about being in the same place and not moving out. It is issues which are very real, very relatable and yet so damn toxic. It’s a mix of a lot of things. I just hope that when people watch it, they feel for the characters as much as they feel for themselves. They sympathize and empathize with them and I hope it really is a fun watch for everyone.