Like the rest of us, as an audience member, Lakshya Kochhar is waiting for Season 2 of the Prime Video series Bambai Meri Jaan, where he plays the younger son of a cop who chooses to follow in the footsteps of his elder brother, a gangster. In a freewheeling chat, Lakshya tells us why playing Ajju Kadri has been a very special experience, having Kay Kay Menon as his co-star and starting from scratch after debuting in films in 2018 with the Akshay Kumar-starrer Gold.

Bambai Meri Jaan on Amazon Prime Video is your first big release. How is the feeling?

Lakshya Kochhar: It’s a new feeling and it’s a great feeling because as actors we wait for this to happen. The show has been in the Global Top 10 TV shows on Amazon Prime Video and the only Indian show in the Top 10. The response to Bambai Meri Jaan has been fabulous. And I would be lying if I say that we were not expecting this. While filming we knew that we were making something special. So, to see the response that the show is getting is very humbling. All the dividends are paying off for everyone.

What was your reaction when you were shortlisted to play Ajju Kadri in Bambai Meri Jaan?

Lakshya Kochhar: One week after giving an audition, I got a confirmation call that I was shortlisted to play Ajju Kadri. It was the most exciting day in my life because usually, you give an audition and forget about it – jo hoga dekha jayega. But the names attached to Bambai Meri Jaan were so mammoth on paper that I was super glad to be a part of it.

Honestly, I would have taken up any character they offered me but they tested me for Ajju. I hope that they keep developing this character over the next few years. The idea of being a part of this kind of world so early on in my career is very exciting. I’m as happy today as I was that day and I feel great excitement just for the fact that I’m in a show with Kay Kay Menon.

How big a validation is it for you to play an important role in such a big show and how do you want to capitalise on it?

Lakshya Kochhar: Validation is extremely important but it doesn’t sound that great, so I’d call it credibility as an actor. When you are part of a big show, it gives you credibility and people start taking you seriously. You develop a lot of confidence from within with that source of appreciation. When you’re not from the film world, earning that validity and credibility is extremely difficult. It takes a long time. You need to get good projects so that people notice you. So, you definitely feel a sense of gratitude and achievement.

How to capitalise on it? More than us, it is for the world to see that people who have come from outside the industry can do something, we can offer something. As actors, what we want is for people to think that we bring value to projects.

What was fascinating about playing a gangster?

Lakshya Kochhar: It is an actor’s dream to play a gangster. You almost live your alter ego by living a gangster’s life on screen. You can just shoot in the wild, you are beating people up and all that. It is a channelised way of unleashing your alter ego. I think people also enjoy watching gangsters on screen because they can’t do all that in real life.

Playing a gangster was on my bucket list and I’m happy that it happened so early in my career. Now I want to explore numerous other things, especially playing a lover boy. I want to do a love story. It’s been a pleasure playing Ajju Kadri but I hope that people see more than just a gangster in me.

As a person, did you find any similarities between you and Ajju Kadri?

Lakshya Kochhar: I played Ajju Kadri from a very simple primitive word – love. I played him with a lot of love for his family and the world he belongs to. He may not be equipped to do what he wants to do but he still wants to do so much for his family. He can take a bullet for his family and he literally does so in the last scene.

Similarly, when a responsibility hits you in real life, you have to buckle up, be a man and face it. That’s the feeling with which I resonated with Ajju Kadri. Also, he is coming of age. I signed this project four years ago when I had that feeling (I still do) that I could do so much more. Ajju was also like that.

Ajju is so frivolous in the early portions of the show. He is just chilling and has no direction in life. That is something I don’t relate to anymore.

You were excited to act with Kay Kay Menon. What did you learn from him?

Lakshya Kochhar: Kay Kay sir is so precise with everything that he feels his character would need at a particular point. From the start of the shift to the end of it, he remains the character he’s playing. He’s punctual and always inquisitive about building a world for his character. He gives importance to everybody around him. That makes other actors very inclusive in the process. Leading from the front while taking everyone along with him is something that I admire about Kay Kay sir.

What is your most cherished memory with Kay Kay Menon?

Lakshya Kochhar: There’s one pose that Kay Kay sir and I recreate often is doing ‘cheers’ with our glasses. I have posted that photograph on Instagram too. We have recreated that pose five-six times at different locations.

We have a hospital sequence in the show where I was not able to fire a bullet. Kay Kay sir taught me how to fire. There’s a jerk when you fire a bullet. Because Kay Kay sir has played cops multiple times, he taught me how to use a gun.

Once when he was dressed as the old Ismail Kadri, he was finding it boring because he literally doesn’t smile after Episode 6. His character gets angsty and all. So, we used to just sit and chat and make sure that he laughs off screen. We have spent so much time together while filming for the show that we have actually become like a family.

You debuted in 2018 in the Akshay Kumar-starrer Gold.

Lakshya Kochhar: Honestly, I don’t like to call it my debut because it was a very small part of a hockey player and I did it for an experience. I see Bambai Meri Jaan as my first project because of the length of the role and I have front credit in the show too. But I learnt a lot working on Gold. It was a nice experience for me.

Did you have to start from scratch after Gold?

Lakshya Kochhar: In a way, I had to. I did a short film six months after Gold. It is called Second Hand and is streaming on ZEE5. But within a year of Gold’s release, I auditioned for Bambai Meri Jaan and got the part in 2019. But then it kept on getting delayed because of pre-production and Covid-19. So, that’s why there’s a gap of five years between Gold and Bambai Meri Jaan. Now, I am signing things left, right and centre and trying to make up for the lost time.

What have you signed so far?

Lakshya Kochhar: I have shot for a film called Woh Ladki Hai Kahaan which has Taapsee Pannu and Pratik Gandhi. It is produced by Roy Kapur Films. I have a fun cameo in it. I have signed two TVF shows with Amazon Prime Video. I’m starting on one of those in the next few days and the other one probably in January. And hopefully, we shall have Season 2 of Bambai Meri Jaan. Because of the cliffhanger that the show ends on, as an audience also I want to watch Season 2.