Indian Money Heist actor Ajay Jethi says he’d never heard of the show before bagging role, picks stars for Bollywood remake

Indian actor Ajay Jethi, who has a supporting role in the latest season of Money Heist, has said that he’d never even heard of the show before bagging a role in it.

Barcelona-based Indian actor Ajay Jethi hadn’t even heard of Money Heist before he was offered a role in the show’s fourth season. It’s only when his manager told him about the global popularity of the show that Jethi went back and did his research.

Ajay Jethi in a still from Money Heist.

The actor played Pakistani hacker Shakir in the latest season of the show, which released on Netflix recently. In an interview to The Quint, Jethi said that he was surprised to learn that the show wasn’t just popular in Spain, but also among the Indian and Pakistani communities.

He said that he doesn’t even have a television, leave alone a Netflix account. In an earlier interview to Manorama, he said, “I arrived in Spain in 2005 on a work visa and since then, worked as a construction labourer for a year. I then shifted to a factory job and using the money from there, I took Spanish language lessons and acting classes.”

Jethi said in the Quint interview that he was apprehensive about publicising his involvement in the series, “because before a project is finished, you have no idea what the final product will end up looking like.” He said he feels grateful that after 17 years as a working actor, his efforts paid off. “It’s a small character, but I never expected to get this much love.”

He continued, “People from India, Pakistan, Australia, Canada sent me messages. I got a little emotional. Punjabis are proud of me because they feel I’m one of them. Pakistanis were proud because my character helps The Professor.”

Asked about which Indian actors would be perfect in a local remake of the show, Jethi said, making a reference to Ayushmann Khurrana’s recent declaration that he’d want to do roles like the Professor’s, “Ayushmann Khurrana is a good actor, he’s struggled hard to be where he is, but the first name that comes to mind when I think of The Professor; I think Irrfan Khan would take it to another level.” For the Professor’s girlfriend, Jethi thought Vidya Balan would be a good choice.

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