Gurmeet Choudhary shares why he kept rejecting projects on OTT | Exclusive 

Gurmeet Choudhary Pic/Instagram

Actor Gurmeet Choudhary is all set to mark his web series debut with ‘Commander Karan Saxena'. He will be seen portraying a R&AW agent who packs a punch in a never-seen-before avatar. In an exclusive interaction with mid-day.com, Gurmeet opens up about his role and why this series ticked all the boxes for his debut on the OTT platform.

Gurmeet, who flaunts a ripped physique in the show underwent a dramatic fitness transformation for the same. The actor, who has not had a samosa, his favourite, for the last 14 years, shared, "Playing the commander was very challenging because you had to stay fit. We did on-location shoots with many intense action sequences. I knew it wouldn't be easy. I generally stay fit, but training for the role of a commander was different. It involved sprinting, and kickboxing. My dad has been in the army, so I took some training tips from him. Luckily, I documented it because everyone needs to know that we have to go through this entire journey to embody a character."

Gurmeet rose to fame for his portrayal of Rama in the television series 'Ramayan'. It is also where he found his wife Debina Bonnerjee, who played Sita. Over the years, the actor has worked in shows like ‘Geet - Hui Sabse Parayi', ‘Punar Vivaah - Zindagi Milegi Dobara', as well as movies like ‘Khamoshiyan', ‘Wajah Tum Ho', ‘Paltan', and ‘The Wife'. The actor, who comes bearing a body that is fit to be an action star reveals that he's never done anything that suits the genre up until now.

He asserts, "I love action, but I've never had the opportunity to do an out-and-out action entertainer. There's quite a lot of action in this role, which I really enjoy. When you start liking something a lot, you eventually get it. For the past year or two, I have felt like I've had enough. Now, whatever I want to do, I will do it; otherwise, I won't.

"This marks my debut on OTT. I hadn't done anything like this before. I kept rejecting offers. It's not like I wasn't approached for a series before. But nothing that interesting ever appealed to me. I was looking for a role with a larger-than-life character. This one has action, it's commercial, it's patriotic, it's emotional, and it has a mother's angle. So I feel there couldn't have been a better opportunity than this. Therefore, I believe this is my best debut on an OTT platform," he concludes.

'Commander Karan Saxena' is based on a character created by acclaimed writer Amit Khan. It also stars Iqbal Khan and Hruta Durgule and will be out on Disney+ Hotstar from July 8.