During the shooting of the film Sherdil, some friends asked from where did I get the inspiration to play this character. Actually this is the character inside me. In this period of development of human civilization, incidents of human-wild animal conflict are increasing all over the world.

I was feeling uneasy about this.That’s why when the offer came to play Sherdil, I immediately agreed. Today a strange cycle of development is going on. Human settlements are entering the forests and villages are becoming the victims of urbanization. There is a shortage of food and water in the forests. Due to this, wild animals are moving towards human settlements and their conflict with humans is increasing.

I have a concern for the environment. There was also a professional crisis. After Gangs of Wasseypur, the image of Kaleen Bhaiya towards me was going home in the minds of the audience. They wanted to see me as I was. It was necessary to overcome this. Being typed is the biggest tragedy of an artist’s life. The history of the cine world is witness that when Arun Govil played the role of Ram in Ramanand Sagar’s serial, the audience did not accept him in any other role. When Nitish Bharadwaj became Krishna in Mahabharata, only Krishna remained.

I had a similar role in Mirzapur as well. When the audience gets accustomed to seeing an actor in a particular type of character, then the scope of his acting gets confined to a particular groove. I don’t want to be bound by any mold. I want to live any kind of character. Art has diversity only when it is meaningful. Sherdil’s character will take my acting to a whole new level. After living one character, I want to imbibe another character in me. People liked me in the role of Kaleen Bhaiya. But before I could be seen as such, it was very important to break this circle. That’s why I kept looking for different roles on OTT and Sherdil is also a step in that direction.

Environment is the most burning issue of the whole world today.This film focuses on this subject.The story is true. In Pithoragarh of Garhwal there was such a Sherdil who loved his family very much and wanted to make himself a tiger hunt to get them the reward money. It has a bit of imagination power to suit the requirements of the cinematography but it is a completely realistic film.The audience will like it. It is true that many big budget films have flopped in recent times. There is risk. But I don’t worry about it.I did my work with utmost dedication and sincerity. That’s enough for me.

Secondly, I am from Bihar. I came from a small village. Bihar has given Bollywood actors like Ashok Kumar, Shatrughan Sinha and Shekhar Suman. If I get a chance, I also want to carry forward the tradition of my province. I want the rates of displacement.