Lack of challenging roles keeps Omi Vaidya away from Bollywood

Omi Vaidya's became an overnight sensation after playing nerdy 'Chatur Ramalingam' in 2009 film "3 Idiots' but did not do as many films in India and the actor cites lack of challenging roles as the reason for his absence from Bollywood.
Post "3 idiots", Omi starred in just four films - "Dil Toh Baccha Hai Ji", "Desi Boyz", "Players" and "Jodi Breakers", which released in 2012.
The actor 34-year-old actor says though he has enjoyed his stint with Hindi films especially in terms of money, he was not getting roles which excited him enough.
"I am grateful for being remembered for my role in '3 Idiots' because most people work all their lives to get that kind of fame. I got into this profession because I wanted to do something different. '3 Idiots' was very challenging as I did not know the language and I did not grow up in India," Omi told PTI over phone from Washington DC.

The actor says travelling to exotic locales for his films shoots and getting to hang out with big Bollywood stars was a great experience but was not enough to convince him to continue doing big-budget movies in India.
"After '3 Idiots', I did take up other projects which were enjoyable, I was paid very well and was appreciated by people. But the challenge of life is about learning constantly. Some people are just happy with making good money but I want to continue growing and for that you have to do different things. I strive on doing something different."

"Brown Nation" has been created and written by Matt Grubb, George Kanatt and Abi Varghese.

"I had a child so these are the times you can't replace. I am just trying to spend as much time with my son and wife as I can. I am also working on projects like 'Brown Nation' which is novel and ground-breaking. I wanted to do something more challenging than the same old Bollywood films."
The series will release on Netflix on November 15. Besides Omi, the series also features Rajeev Varma, Shenaz Treasurywala and Melanie Chandra.
Omi, who plays Balan, the South Indian guy hired to work in the company, says "Brown Nation" will deliver a slice of typical Indian life with ironies intact.

"I play Balan. It is a very different from anything that I have ever done and a show like this has also not been made before. It is an Indian show and it's going to get a place in America, besides getting a worldwide audience thanks to Netflix."
Other than India-themed shows on US television and Indian origin actors, Omi is also happy to see Bollywood stars like Priyanka Chopra and Deepika Padukone making a mark with their respective projects in America.
Referring to Priyanka's FBI agent role in US TV series "Quantico", the actor says,"South Asians are typically known in the US as computer scientists, convenience store owners, lawyers or doctors. Having an Indian as an FBI agent is a very good thing.

"It is great to see more Indians making a mark. Be it Aziz Ansari ('Master of None'), Priyanka or Deepika Padukone in a film. All of this is progress. We need to see more people who look like us on TV or in movies.