Had never thought I would do commercial films: Divyendu Sharma

Actor Divyendu Sharma says he entered the film industry with an aim to do more of indie projects but his outlook towards commercial cinema changed after his debut "Pyaar Ka Punchnama".

Divyendu, a student of FTII, did theatre for three years in Delhi, before moving to Mumbai to become an actor.

As destiny would have it, his first Bollywood movie "Pyaar Ka Punchnama", was not only a commercial success but also bagged him the most promising newcomer award.

"I had never imagined I would come into commercial or mainstream cinema. Coming from FTII, I had thought I will only do indie films and will do small films.

"But then 'Pyaar Ka Punchnama' happened and things changed. The fact is that people are looking at stories that interest them," Divyendu told PTI.

Though he won acclaim for his commercial outings with "Pyaar Ka Punchnama" and "Chashme Badoor", he says he decided to not stick to one genre.

"I wanted to explore other stuff. It was a hard path. I am not here to play safe and cling on to doing one particular kind of films. 'Batti Gul Meter Chalu', 'Toilet Ek Prem Katha' were different characters. I am glad all the decisions that I made have paid off," the actor says.

He will next be seen in Amazon Prime Original series "Mirzapur", directed by Karan Anshuman, and for him not the medium but the content matters.

"Today lines are blurring between all mediums. I come from film institute and any medium of art doesn't bother me. I don't known if mediums do anything to actors in terms of work. If you are doing good work, then you do get noticed," he adds.

The series also featuring Shweta Tripathi, Pankaj Tripathi, Vikrant Massey, Ali Fazal, Rasika Duggal in pivotal roles will stream on Amazon Prime Video from November 16.