Vikrant Massey on how his wife couldn't recognize him for his look in 'Sector 36', the challenges & more

Vikrant Massey, after basking in the immense success of his film '12th Fail', is now all set for yet another challenging and distinctive role in Netfliz's film 'Sector 36'. The film, which is inspired by many true events, shows Massey as a serial killer. The film also stars Deepak Dobriyal opposite him in a pivotal role as the two engage in a cat-and-mouse chase. In a recent interaction with the press, Vikrant shed light on the film, his role, the challenges he faced and other things.

When questioned about the look of his character in the film Vikrant said, "The credit for that goes entirely to Aaditya. Even for the smallest of details, like if you noticed, I wore very light lenses. The reason behind that was to ensure the character had a subtle touch. We didn't want to overdo the look. We wanted to maintain a natural simplicity in the character's mustache as well, keeping it very minimalistic without making it stand out too much. We didn't experiment much, but it was still necessary to make the character look grounded without generalizing it. And as you mentioned, it's quite unrecognizable. My wife Sheetal almost took some time to realize that it was it's me she was watching, so she couldn't even recognize me."

Talking about the film's premise, he added, "The story really revolves around simplicity. In rural settings, especially in small towns and villages, many men tend to keep their appearance understated. Our aim was to make sure the character blends into the crowd and doesn't stand out. We didn't go for extreme experiments with the look, which was important to stay true to the story. The attention was on keeping things simple but effective."

He also added, "The film has a very strong and well-written script. Bodi has written it beautifully. When I first read it, I knew I had to be a part of it. It was very different from my previous work, like "Twelfth Fail," where I was involved in the scripting process as well. Here, the character I play required me to explore deeper emotions that I haven't portrayed before.

Talking about the challenges of playing the character Vikrant reflected, "On the surface, it was a character I had never played before. It required me to tap into a different emotional zone, which was refreshing but also challenging. The character had a depth that I had to understand fully. It's not easy to play such a role unless you're completely immersed in the story."

He also added, "I don't want to just grab attention by playing a serial killer or similar shocking roles for the sake of it. There are many ways to add shock value, but I don't think that's the right approach. If the story demands it, then it should happen naturally. There are enough sensational things happening in the world; we don't need to artificially add them just to pull in an audience. For me, it's about telling a story in the most authentic way possible. It's not about playing a dark role just for the sake of it. I want to bring depth and authenticity to every character. If the script doesn't require sensationalism, then why add it?"

For the film releasing on Netflix Massey added, "Platforms like Netflix provide a global reach. Whether it's regional content or mainstream Hindi cinema, streaming platforms give us a space to tell our stories to a broader audience. It's the right platform for a film like this because it allows it to be seen by people from different countries and backgrounds."

Directed by debut filmmaker Aditya Nimbalkar, Sector 36 is produced by Dinesh Vijan under the banner of Maddock Films in collaboration with Jio Studios. The film, penned by Bodhayan Roychaudhury, is set to premiere on Netflix on September 13.