Playing a Cheating Husband in Out of Love was in Contrast to All My Positive Roles, Says Purab Kohli

From the fun and lovable KD in Rock On to the silently resolute Ibrahim in Airlift, Purab Kohli has played mostly good-natured characters, but he has taken quite a different direction with his new web series Out of Love. An official adaptation of BBC series Doctor Foster, Out of Love has Purab play an unfaithful husband to Rasika Dugal's Meera Kapoor.

The Indian adaptation has been directed by Tigmanshu Dhulia and Aijaz Khan. The 5 part series centers on the character of Meera, whose life changes when she finds out about her husband's infidelity. Purab says getting into the character was initially difficult, given that he doesn't identify with the role at all.

"I had seen the BBC original much before I got the call to do the Indian version. It was a bit difficult for me to play the part initially, considering the image I have. This was quite in contrast to the positive roles I usually play. This is a guy who's cheating on his wife. I remember having a conversation about this with Tigmanshu, and he said, 'This character is a dishonest, lying, ba***rd. So long as you stay true to that it will come across quite nicely.' In all my previous projects I sort of immerse myself into the characters, but here I just completely switched off from being Purab Kohli and became Akarsh Kapoor," he said.

Last seen in a small role in Mission Mangal, Purab says there are many reasons why his acting projects have been few and far between.

He said, "I moved out of Mumbai a while back, and last year in September, I even moved out of the country. I live in London and I go back and forth, so for me to come here a lot of logistical things have to be solved. I love films and it's always amazing to be a part of them, but I also want a nice story to work on."

Purab sounds aware of the situation when he looks back at his roles but his tone is quite hopeful.

"After Rock On, Airlift was a big success. No film of mine where I have been in a prominent, lead kind of role, has been a hit, so people still think of KD. Surprisingly, people who have seen KD in Rock On cannot recognise me as Ibrahim in Airlift. I am assuming that's a good thing that I looked so different in Airlift. These days if you do not show your face often, people tend to forget you," said Purab.

The 40-year-old actor has also done web shows like Typewriter and It's Not That Simple. He quips, "I hear Typewriter has done very well internationally."

Purab says it was always a conscious decision to not fill up his plate with projects. And now, after getting married and having two kids, he is even keener on balancing the personal and professional.

"I always did one project and took a break. When you are on a shoot, you lead a sort of regimented life. You need to take some time off after that to recover from the physical aspect of working as an actor and also need to mentally detach from that character. There's no better way of coming back to your true self than being with your children and your wife. My daughter is now almost four, and my son is 10 months old. It's lovely to watch them to grow," said Purab.

Out of Love is now streaming on Hotstar VIP.