With his most recent performance, Operation Romeo, Sharad Kelkar made the audience furious for numerous right reasons. He portrays the avaricious and evil police officer Mangesh Jhadav in the Hindi version of the Malayalam film Ishq. The Shashant Shah-directed movie, which debuted in April of this year, later appeared on Netflix. The film is currently prepared for its September 24 world television premiere on & pictures.

Sharad, the star of the movie and its high point, opened up about his concerns with playing the tough, menacing part on television. He said, “I can’t do it, it’s too difficult. Even our director acknowledged the character’s difficulty for someone like me because I don’t remember even the slightest detail of the occurrence. I find it repulsive. People will beat me with their slippers. Neeraj Sir unexpectedly said, “If you are feeling so, it’s great for the film.”

After its premiere, the movie spoke for itself, especially after Sharad got the kind of feedback he was hoping for. Following the viewing of the movie, many of my friends called him. He said, “Although they knew who I was, they said, ‘I want to hit you.’ They were pleased with how I performed. Not that I was concerned with the movie. But even though the persona caused me a lot of anxiety during those 20 to 30 days of filming, it was worth it.”

Sharad rejected the theory of method acting. “Every performer operates in a unique way. I act really spontaneously. I don’t practice a lot since it can get boring. But how was he affected by portraying such a challenging role as Mangesh Jhadav? I felt really shallow about myself and was repulsed. The entire movie was recorded at night. I used to wonder what the hell I did on the drive home after packing up. My daughter is eight years old, and I am her father. The agony and process are just a part of being an actor; they are just a part of life. For me, it was quite painful.”

 

Operation Romeo has been compared to a hybrid of mainstream and independent films. Sharad responded when asked which one he preferred personally, saying, “You don’t get to choose which picture is popular or which is parallel. Films like Paan Singh Tomar, which no one thought could be a smash commercially, occasionally find success.” He doesn’t distinguish between commercial and art-house films when acting.