Next year marks Navdeep’s 20th year as an actor. He debuted with Teja’s Jai (2004), a sports drama served with patriotism, at the age of 18. The road has certainly not been all smooth for the actor but two decades and several lessons later, the actor is on a path of reinvention. The upcoming Aha series, Newsense, is a step in that direction. “I used to think that I had to keep doing something to survive here. But I realised that this is what I have been told by people around me and not what I believe in. The biggest takeaway from my journey is that I finally understood I don’t have to do something just for survival but do it only if I like and believe in it,” the actor says over the phone, days ahead of the premiere of the show.
In this conversation with Film Companion, Navdeep discusses his career, the new show, factors that propelled him to shift gears and more.
Edited excerpts below:
You were 17 when you started out. 20 years later, how did your approach to the profession change?
I got much more comfortable over the years, obviously, because we tend to gain expertise in an activity if we indulge in it for such a long time. Theoretically, I don’t think my approach changed drastically. Sure, I’m more at ease now but my understanding of acting remains unaffected. Luckily, I had [filmmaker] Teja garu as my mentor when I started out. He is known for extracting good performances from newcomers and he taught me the craft of acting and the thought process I needed to develop in the right way. For instance, if he sets up a shot for me, he would even tell me what to think while a shot was being filmed. His teachings got embedded in my head as core principles and theories of acting.