AADIL KHAN, who was seen in Disney+Hotstar’s Special Ops 1.5, speaks with SHALINI SAKSENA about his journey from an RJ to an actor and working with Kay Kay Menon

How challenging was your role in Special Ops 1.5?

It was challenging in an interesting way. As an actor whatever work that comes to me, I take it as a challenge because it requires me to understand the character, his journey, what is happening with him in the story, understanding the vision of the director and aligning myself with that. It requires a process which is challenging and I enjoy this.

Did you think of turning it down?

Absolutely not; that would have been a disastrous decision on my part. I had seen Part1; it had come out last year in March and I binged on it. The way it was amazing. I am huge fan of Neeraj sir. He is one of the director's that I always wanted to work with. I was so so excited when I was told that I was asked to test for it.

From RJ to an actor, has it been fraught with struggles?

There is no fun in achieving anything if there is no struggle.   Whatever little I have achieved till now and whatever I will in the future, God willing, struggle will always be there. From Bhopal, coming to Mumbai, getting a show to getting into acting, the journey involved hard work but it has been fun.

How did you bag role in Shikara?

There is an interesting story behind this. My mother told me something when I was an RJ. She said: ‘Beta whatever you do, do it well. You never know which director is listening’. This always stuck in mind whenever I did the show on the radio. This is precisely what happened Indu Sharma used to work with Mukesh Chhabra who was the casting director for Shikara. Vidhu (Vinod Chopra) sir was looking for a particular voice who could essay Shiv Kumar Dhar. Indu was going back home, tuned in to my show who called her assistant who Googled my picture. They said I looked like a Kashmiri as well. That’s how I got on board the project.

How nerve racking was Day 1 of shoot?

Day 1 shoot for Shikara was nerve wracking. I prepared one year for the role. Then came rehearsal. By then I was already Shiv Kumar Dhar. It was more challenging than being nervous.

How was the experience of working with the likes of Neeraj Pandey, Kay Kay Menon?

It was fantastic. Their work speaks for them. Being on the sets with them was a great learning experience. They want others to grow and made sure that wherever I had doubts, they were there for me ad sort them out. They took my confusion seriously and addressed them.

What’s the best part of playing Maninder Singh?

What I loved foremost was that the role involved action. This is my second project; the first I had no idea about action.  So I trained for this role. Neeraj  (Pandey) sir got action-director — Cyril Raffaelli; from Ukraine there was Peter. Both trained me.

Also, the way the character has been written is beautiful. The character has many layers and understanding that and doing action was amazing. I fell in love with Maninder. He is a bad boy and it is fun to play a bad boy.