Anantvijay Joshi recently featured in Kathal. The film also starred Sanya Malhotra in the lead and was released on Netflix on May 19, 2023. In an exclusive conversation with News18 Showsha, Anantvijay revealed he was left confused when he was informed about the title of the movie for the first time. He recalled how he thought that it must be an ‘error’ and that the title would have been ‘Katal’ which means murder.
“It (title) came as a WhatsApp message to me and I thought maybe there is some error in writing. I thought it will be Katal, which means a murder (laughs). I thought it might be a murder mystery. But I was also sent some reading material and there was a news clipping about how a Kathal was stolen. It is a true event. When I saw that, I was like, ‘Wow, this will be an amazing storytelling’,” he told us.
However, the actor mentioned he is happy that the film is getting a positive response from the audience. “I expected that people will like it. Wherever I go, people tell me that they watched the movie and that they liked it. After a long time, they could watch a movie with their family. They say ‘isme gaali-galoch nahi hai’, ‘nuidity nahi hai’. Yes, there’s a crime in the film but it has been presented in a very different way. The response is very nice,” he said.
In Kathal, Anantvijay is seen playing the role of a policeman who falls in love with his senior cop – played by Sanya Malhotra. With this combination, the movie takes a dig at the patriarchy in several scenes. Anantvijay called this aspect of his movie ‘great’ and added, “I am so happy to play a character like that because it is a reminder for me too. We are all victims of our conditioning, the society we live in.”
The 33-year-old actor further expressed how toxic masculinity is prevalent even in Bollywood and argued that it is ‘deeply embedded’. “Industry is not alien to society. It is a part of our society. We are the ones responsible. I don’t consider the industry a different planet altogether. We are a reflection of society. So yes, it (masculinity) is deeply embedded. Sometimes we don’t mean to act in that way but we naturally respond in a particular way. It is becoming less now but the way we expect a hero or a man to behave, it is a huge pressure,” he shared.
Anantvijay also recalled an incident from the time when he was shooting in Mathura and revealed how some kids were left disappointed when they were informed that he was the ‘hero’. “There was a time when I was on a film set and we were shooting in Mathura. There were kids who asked, ‘Hero kaun hai?’ I was in the scene and somebody said, ‘voh jo khada hua hai’. Then they said, ‘iske toh body hi nahi hai’. It is not their fault because there have been only alpha heroes – Salman Khan with a big build. But it is a part of toxic masculinity too, when you think a man won’t be a man unless he has a muscular body. That’s the image films have been giving as well for the longest period of time.”
However, the Kathal actor also admitted that the situation is changing now and ‘gradually, we are celebrating all body types’. Recalling another shocking incident, Anantvijay revealed how he was asked to bring ‘hero wala swag’ during one of his auditions.
“If I am playing a part which requires me to be a toxic masculine guy, who has to show himself superior, then it makes sense. One of the creative directors was casting me for a project when she said, ‘bring that hero wala swag’. I remember telling her, ‘I think I naturally do not have the swag you are looking for’,” Anantvijay said.
“We stereotype a lot. People think that their heroes should be walking in a certain way, should be lighting cigarettes, and kicking people. They think that’s when a person will be a hero,” the actor concluded.
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