It has been more than a month since the release of Amazon Prime Video series Breathe Into The Shadows. The show marked the digital debut of Abhishek Bachchan, who was seen essaying contrasting characters in the series. While the world celebrated Junior Bachchan's success, the actor unfortunately tested positive for coronavirus a day after the release of Breathe. The 44-year-old was discharged earlier this month, after spending 29 days in the hospital. Abhishek Bachchan recently interacted with indianexpress.com about the success of Breathe, challenges regarding his performance and his journey in the industry. Firstly, congratulations on the success of Breathe Into The Shadows, were you anticipating this kind of a response? Thank you very much! Anticipate? Of course, we always hope for the best. To witness that hope turn into a reality before your eyes is overwhelming. I was certainly not prepared for this kind of response. It far exceeds any expectation of mine. I am very humbled and immensely thankful. What were your initial thoughts on Breathe when the script came to you? The mere concept of the show grabbed my attention. I agreed to do it before the end of our very first meeting. The story, characters and their arcs was just what I was looking for. I knew that it was going to be a huge challenge…but isn’t that how it should be? We must challenge ourselves and try to do work that help us push our creative boundaries. Your performance has been loved by all. Tell us something about getting into the skin of contrasting characters - Avinash and J. Thankfully, both the roles were vastly different from each other, so that made the prep for both of them easier. Because both Mayank Sharma (the director) and I knew that we needed to prep as if they were two separate individuals. Yes, the preparation for both was a long and arduous task. But, something that we enjoyed doing very much. Given that you are a father in real life, was it easier to get emotionally connected with Avinash? One of the first things as an actor I try to do is to try and find a connect with the character. It could be physical or emotional. Once you crack that, it makes the performance a lot easier. It was hard to achieve that in this case because he is a psychiatrist, who is also a family man, and is made to do things that’s tough to try and understand. You have to try and ask yourself - what would you do for your child? To what extent would you go? These seem easy questions to answer, but when it actually comes down to acting on them, that is when they take on a whole new dimension. The confrontation sequence had you swinging from one character to another. How was the experience working on that scene? Harrowing! I requested Mayank to do that last when we were shooting. After we shot it, I needed a vacation. It certainly was one of the most challenging scenes I’ve ever had to do. The biggest concern in my performance was whether I was overdoing it. If we didn’t hit the right performance or emotional notes, then it would come across as fake. And if that happened then the entire show would fall flat. That was a lot of pressure to deal with. Almost seven months of shoot and it all came down to one scene. And that too, such a tricky one. Thankfully, I had Mayank who was so involved and "on the ball“ that I could totally lean on him for support. In addition, Amit, Nithya, Ivana, Resham, Hrishikesh and Srikant were such supportive co-actors - patient, understanding and so encouraging. Read | Review: Breathe Into The Shadows There are memes around the 'C-16' chit that J handed over in the last scene. Could you tell us what it exactly means? No comment! Have you guys been discussing the second season, given the show ended on a cliffhanger? Like I said before, no comment! One feedback about your performance in Breathe that's most special? For me, all feedback is always special. Everyone counts equally. While the world was celebrating your performance, you were in the hospital recovering from Covid-19. Did you miss being part of the celebration? Or the positivity helped you be in high spirits? A bit of both. It was so heartening to see all the love the show was getting and reading about it on social media. It was very encouraging. The digital medium has created a storm, especially in the last few months. As an actor, does the medium play a part when you take up a project? Will you be open to doing more web series after Breathe? I thoroughly enjoyed working in this medium. It’s very exciting. I would love to carry on working in it, if they’ll have me. And what about films releasing directly on OTT? What is your take on the same? Well, personally, nothing will ever replace a cinematic experience for me. Everything about going to the movies is amazing. But, we are living in unprecedented times. Circumstances are such that we cannot go to the movie theater and enjoy the movie experience. In the meantime, movies releasing directly on digital is a very good option for filmmakers to make their product available to the audience. If you could go back in time and advise a young Abhishek Bachchan when he was starting off, what would you tell him? Pay even more attention. Make every second count.
