Actor and YouTuber Bhuvan Bam has opened up about the creative freedom he received while portraying revolutionary leader Rash Behari Bose in the recently released period series The Revolutionaries.
Bhuvan spoke about his experience in an interaction along with director Nikkhil Advani and co-stars Rohit Saraf, Pratibha Ranta and Gurfateh Parizada. He credited Advani with giving him the space to experiment with the character and find the right approach to portraying Bose.
Bhuvan admitted that he initially knew little about Rash Behari Bose and even encountered confusion among friends, who assumed he was referring to Subhas Chandra Bose.
“It took sir’s guidance to begin with. Honestly, I didn’t know about Rash ji. I spoke with my friends about it. I told them that I am playing Bose in this show and everyone said, ‘Subhash Chandra Bose’. I was like, ‘No, Rash Behari Bose’,” he said.
The actor said the experience made him realise how much he needed to learn about the revolutionary before taking on the role.
“That’s what made me more aware that what I am missing in life and if I want to play his character, then how much I should know about him. And there is a lot of information about Rash ji available on the internet. But he is not much documented visually,” Bhuvan said.
He then approached Advani seeking permission to bring his own interpretation to the role.
“I asked him, ‘Sir, I want to bring in my own flavour to this character. So, if you allow me, I will do it in a certain way. If you like it, I will continue this for the next 70 days’. So, sir was kind enough to let me be,” he recalled.
Bhuvan said that within the first week of filming, he began to understand the pitch and tone he wanted to bring to Rash Behari Bose.
“While playing that character, during the show, I figured out on the 5th or the 6th day that this is the pitch and the tone of the character that I want to take for this show,” he said.
Comparing Bose’s versatility to that of cricketer Ravindra Jadeja, Bhuvan added, “He was like Ravindra Jadeja, he could do anything, and would fit in any role.”
The Revolutionaries follows Indian freedom fighters who believed that armed resistance was vital to ending British rule in India. The series also traces the efforts of revolutionaries whose sustained activities contributed to the British Empire shifting its capital from Kolkata to Delhi.
Produced by Monisha Advani and Madhu Bhojwani under the banner of Emmay Entertainment, the series has been written by Sanjeev Sanyal and is streaming on Prime Video.