varma and mahesh manjrekar who understand actors well further reinforced this belief so being an actor has been my greatest advantageduring your acting career did you ever consider transitioning into character roles supporting roles or even television how did you navigate that phase in your careerwhen the offers for the kind of films and roles i wanted started to dwindle i was open to playing character roles i never had a fixation on being the main lead or protagonist that didnt matter to me however due to my appearance people didnt consider me for character roles many friends working on interesting films told me that they couldnt cast me because i looked like a hero not a character it was frustrating because i wanted to be an actor not just a showman dancing in sunglasses under the sun the industry had this perception that heroes should have dance training fight training and horse riding skills i wanted to focus on acting not showmanship being from a nonfilmy background i didnt have the star baggage i came from an engineering background in delhi with a desire to be in the creative field television often came with attractive monetary offers but the storytelling quality disappointed me whenever i considered a tv role i would check the quality of the story and realise it wasnt something i could do it wasnt suitable for me i thought it would lead to depression it was challenging to find my way but i also saw that the stories i observed in real life were not being portrayed in filmscan you tell us about the kind of storytelling you were looking for in your films were they urban stories or perhaps movies like that of woody allendefinitely im drawn to urban stories many urban narratives are dominated by the city itself and the characters often feel overwhelmed by it whether its stories set in mumbai or delhi the city becomes a central element that influences the entire narrative individuals often struggle to find their identity in the city where the sense of community is not as tightly knit i wanted to explore stories of middleclass urban characters who are lost and searching for their place in this unstructured urban environment ive always been a fan of woody allen and stanley kubrick as they tell deeply human stories within a specific setting they have been a great inspiration for me to tell my own stories for example chitrakut explores how five individuals search for love challenging the notion of ideal love and emphasising the evolving nature of relationships love is ethereal and transformative and it leaves a lasting impact on individuals as they grow and changewhats next for you in your career as a director and storytellerim currently working on a project based on one of the hindu epics i have a deep admiration for these epics and believe they contain incredible stories i feel its important to introduce these stories to the younger generation and make them