Actor Manu Rishi Chadha, who plays former Pakistan army chief Pervez Musharraf in the Netflix series Operation Safed Sagar, recently shared that the role has earned him both love and hate. While this is not the first time the actor has portrayed a negative character, his performance in the series has received considerable attention.
Speaking to PTI, Chadha said: “People have told me, ‘If we didn’t love you, we would only hate you’ and that they are experiencing this strange kind of ‘love filled with hate’ for the character.”
He added: “I have been receiving long messages from people who were deeply hurt by what happened in 1999… That is why I felt that while it may be easier to forgive Pakistan, forgiving Musharraf would not be as easy. Even people from the armed forces messaged me and said they were deeply affected.”
Manu Rishi Chadha said that when he took on the role, he was worried that audiences might begin associating the character’s personality with him in real life.
“Sometimes it can work the other way, people may start thinking that if the character is such, then the actor must also be like that. Thankfully, I had done comedy before and had made people laugh and feel affection for me, so they understood that I had acted well and that I was not actually like the character. Otherwise, it would have become very difficult.”
Pervez Musharraf was one of the key Pakistani military leaders involved in the planning and execution of the 1999 Kargil conflict, which began with the infiltration of Pakistani troops and irregulars into positions on the Indian side of the Line of Control.
He added: “I think it was very important to play him with stillness. I should always keep my volume correct. I’m not like that. I’m a Chadha from Delhi, boss! Punjab’s Punjabis are still subtle. Punjabis from Delhi are a bit overboard. I also realised while reading the script that I need to take a little pause before each dialogue. I’ve used all my pauses as weapons, actually. I didn’t watch the monitor during the scenes. When I thought I’d made a mistake, I’d say sorry, but the director would reassure me that I was doing it very well. So, I was nervous, and had doubts about my performance. But the day I’m not nervous, I make big f*ck-ups.”
