BENGALURU: Mikhail Sen played the character of Amit Chatterji, ‘a Bengali bhadralok’ in Mira Nair’s A Suitable Boy with so much ease. It almost appeared that he was destined for it. Life after the much-talked about series has been great for Sen with diverse offers coming his way. One such is British series The Good Karma Hospital, which also includes actors like Shabana Azami, Rajat Kapoor, Sayani Gupta, and Darshan Jariwala, to name a few.
Shot in picturesque Sri Lanka, Sen plays the character of Nimish Chari, who he explains as a bit of a ‘wheeler-dealer’. While he admits that the shoot was a lot of fun, he also calls himself ‘fortunate for having been part of it’. “It was amazing to be with a fabulous cast on the beaches of Sri Lanka. Of course, we were in lockdown, so we could not leave the hotel and spent a lot of time together,” says Sen, adding that Nimish has been brought in to save one of the characters — whose visa has expired — from being deported.
Nimish’s character, a ‘slightly deceptive and dodgy kind of lawyer’, made Sen fall in love with the role. But what’s interesting is Sen’s portrayal of Nimish which is inspired by a friend of his from Bengaluru. “I always look for people like the character I’m playing. So I used some mannerisms of a friend of mine,” says Sen with a laugh.
The series has seen some big Indian actors being part of it. Sen says he is nothing but lucky to be in the company of such ‘brilliant’ actors. “For instance, Shabana Azami is someone I have always looked up to. She is one of the finest actors that India has produced. There was no pressure but I feel very privileged to be part of a show,” says Sen, who took a detour to namma ooru after he was done with the shoot.
“I was in Bengaluru for 10 days because I needed some ‘Airlines dosae’, good filter coffee and ‘Nagarjuna biryani’. But most importantly to see my parents,” says Sen. Living in the middle of a pandemic, Sen seems to have figured his way to keep positive. “There’s some peace in the chaos, you just have to allow yourself to be comfortable in the uncertainty.
The career I chose, whether I like it or not, is filled with uncertainty at the best of times. Pandemic or otherwise, an actor doesn’t always have work. So I just believe in going with the flow. I don’t think I’ve mastered the art yet, but I’m practising it,” says Sen, who is part of a project — that will be out at the end of the year — with a ‘well-known production house’.
After shooting to fame with A Suitable Boy, actor Mikhail Sen is once again the talk of the town for his new series, The Good Karma Hospital,a British medical drama, where he stars alongside Neil Morrissey and Darshan Jariwala