Actor Navdeep, who is all set to play a much more intense-gray character than ever before in Newsense, speaks to The Pioneer about his character, the groundwork he’d done to play the character, and more.
Amartya Smaran
Actor Navdeep is one of those celebrities who has managed to stay relevant and visible irrespective of the result of his films. He will now be seen playing the role of Shiva, a corrupt reporter in Aha’s Newsense. At least that is what both the teasers suggest. The web series is directed by Sri Prawin Kumar and stars Bindu Madhavi alongside Navdeep and is all set to premiere on May 12.
When the Telugu audience spotted him for the first time in director Teja’s Jai (2004), they took an enormous liking to his on-screen persona. While P.A. Arun Prasad’s Gowtam S.S.C (2005) brought him closer to the masses, director Krishna Vamsi’s Chandamama (2007) introduced him to the family audience. Later, he starred in popular films like Arya 2 (2009), Oh My Friend (2011), Baadshah (2013), Dhruva (2016), Nene Raju Nene Mantri (2017), and Ala Vaikunthapurramuloo (2020).
His stint in Season 1 of Telugu Bigg Boss revealed the real man behind the screen. People understood who he really was and what he stood up for. Navdeep tactfully used the platform to tap into his own personality, and it worked really well for him. Although he didn’t win the title, he turned into a household name.
Newsense, an Aha original web series, is based on true events and is set in Madanapalle, Andhra Pradesh. The timeline of the web series might go well into the late 90s. However, from the teaser, we can say that it follows the incidents that took place in 2003 in the political and media landscape. The grayness of the characters piqued Navdeep’s interest to partake in the project.
It was director Teja who once said, out of all the actors whom he worked with, Navdeep is yet to get his due credit. Will Newsense be the one?
“Definitely, it’s a character that I’ve never played before. It’s quite intense. I’ve done intense characters, but this is more gray and closer to life. My character is quite manipulative. He’s a journalist, and he uses it to his advantage to get what he wants from society. As the series progresses, one will understand the multiple layers hidden beneath. So, it’s interesting. From the reactions that I’ve gotten as of now, people are enjoying it quite a bit,” said Navdeep.
In terms of the groundwork that went into preparing for the character, a working journalist would stay on the sets and share a few inputs with the actor. “Research-wise, there was enough research done by the technical team,” shared the star. “I had to work on my look, language, and the accent. We had to do a bunch of workshops to get that right.”
According to the latest World Press Freedom Index published by Reporters Without Borders, India stands in the 150th position out of 180 countries. On the political front, we rank 145. Yes! The voices of many extraordinary journalists who raise important questions are being stifled. There’s no doubt about it, but the quality of journalism isn’t on the rise either. Gossip columns, fake news, misinformation, and disinformation are on the rise. Politicians leave no opportunity to use the media to build an image for their parties and break the image of their opponents. It’d be interesting to see how Newsense deals with all these issues in a rational manner.
“Previously, when there were fewer news entities, there used to be more genuine and impactful journalism. Now, like everything else, journalism is also quite corrupted,” opined the Newsense actor.
The Arya 2 actor is of the considered opinion that click-bait journalism is not journalism at all. Navdeep is someone who believes that because of the competition and selfishness in the present-day world, everything is quite corrupt.
How about the state of entertainment journalism in Tollywood, we asked. Navdeep responded, “Journalism and news entities are two different things. I don’t think the guys who have these YouTube channels and these Instagram pages are journalists. They are like some people who are trying to feed off the quirky interests of people who look for gossip and negative news. It’s not healthy right now. The click-bait news is not journalism at all.”
To date, Navdeep has followed the basics he learned from starring in a Teja film. He considers director Teja to be his mentor. If he appears natural on the screen and people appreciate him for his performances, the credit goes to director Teja. “My core idea of how to act on the screen hasn’t changed. I got my basics right because of Teja Garu. He’s a great teacher. He’s one of the few directors who brings out the best out of his actors. Especially newcomers. Luckily, now that I’ve been introduced by him, it’s done quite a job in terms of teaching me the basics. And when you keep doing something multiple times, you tend to get better with it.”
In this exclusive interview, the actor informed us that the audience would resonate the most with the realism set in Newsense.
“There’s no one who’s entirely good or bad in the real world. All of us are gray. People react and change according to the situations that they come face to face with. Being selfish is an animal instinct and there’s nothing wrong with it. Likewise, all the characters in Newsense behave according to the situations. I think people will like the behavior of the characters. Newsense is set to run for two seasons. We’ve given a nice open-ending for the second season,” wrapped the Chandamama star.
