Sharad Kelkar sat at home for 1.5 years without work to avoid being typecast: People were trying to limit me | Interview

Sharad Kelkar talks about his new web series, Taskaree, and how he avoided being typecast by learning to say no.

From television to OTT and films, Sharad Kelkar has had a stellar career stretching over two decades. In this time, the actor has played everyone from heroes to villains, from emperors to criminal overlords, and more. And yet, he admits there was a time when people in the industry were trying to limit him and his range. In a candid conversation with Hindustan Times, Sharad talks about his acting journey, choices, and more.

Sharad Kelkar is currently starring in the Netflix show Taskaree.

‘People tried to limit me’

Sharad’s roles, both positive and negative, have seen him play suave, sophisticated individuals. When asked if being slotted in one type of role ever limited him, Sharad responds, “I had been limited because people had been trying. But I've been refusing work left, right, and centre for, I think, almost a year and a half. I was sitting at home because I was getting the same kind of stuff. So you have to say no.”

Sharad recalls how he began to get many roles of police officers at the same time. “At some time, people were trying to limit me to a cop, maybe because of my personality or my voice. But you need to take a strong decision in life that, ‘I don't want to repeat myself’.”

‘I try not to repeat myself’

The actor adds that moving from TV and films to OTT helped him avoid being typecast. “To be very honest, maybe because of OTT, I keep on shifting from this to that, and I try not to repeat myself. Sometimes, maybe the outer character is the same, but the shades are different.”

Sharad is currently starring in Neeraj Pandey’s Taskaree, a show that sees him play an international smuggler. The show stars Emraan Hashmi as a customs officer hunting Sharad’s syndicate down. Taskaree is currently streaming on Netflix.