Purab Kohli, an actor who just made his big-budget Hollywood debut, is glad that his choice to travel to London, United Kingdom, to pursue a career in the West is finally paying off. “After appearing in The Wachowskis’ Sense8, they wanted to visit the West (filmmaker Wachowskis sisters, Lana and Lilly). That’s when my mentality changed, and they began to see it as a chance since Indian actors are in fantasy series and films all around the world,” Kohli explains.
Adding to his statement, the actor said, “That’s why I moved to London. The shift here was to try and increase visibility or (taking) one step closer to Hollywood, getting myself an agent, networking with casting directors, as an actor who has a relatively successful career in India but is wanting to explore the West.”
Kohli made his mark in Hollywood by acting with Keanu Reeves, Carrie-Anne Moss, and Priyanka Chopra Jonas in Lana Wachowski’s The Matrix Resurrections. When asked why he chose London over Los Angeles, the 42-year-old responded, “Moving into the States would be too much because I work a lot in India as well. So, this is a halfway point, where I can fly down to India for work, and to the West as well.”
The actor recalled filming the film in Berlin during the epidemic as a “huge engine operating” along a complex path. “I’d worked with Lana and her team previously, but managing the enormity of the film as well as the crew, with such big sets erected for the movie, while keeping everyone in the bubble was something different,” he says.
Kohli’s decision was also in line with the expanding talent exchange and the correct narrative shift. He gave an example of Priyanka Nick Jonas and said, “She has such a powerful as well as real character in a series like A Matrix, which is such a major thing”.
“Even though Indian talent has always been there, from Om Puri Ji to Irrfan Khan, the film is now breaking down borders and becoming more diversified.” Also, I think, Indians are such a large number of people in the world, so we have to be represented in every kind of entertainment,” he says, adding, “In addition to this, I also dubbed for latest part of The Matrix in Hindi, which shows that there is large audience as well, which plays a big role in all the decisions”.