The calm before the storm

Vishal Vashishtha

Sometimes subtle, sometimes loud, at times his intensity is seen only in his eyes - That's Vishal Vashishtha for you. The actor, has quietly made his presence felt, on television for eight years, and now in movies and web shows.

In Netflix's Glory, the actor sheds his familiar boy-next-door image to play Arvind, a Haryanvi cop trying to find the truth while battling personal turmoil. Instead of turning him into "the typical Haryanvi bossy police officer", Vashishtha chose restraint over aggression until hell broke loose. "I had to speak this language, but without the tone and sarcasm that all of us know of. So, that became tricky," says the actor, admitting that he took help from his father, who grew up around Haryanvi culture.

(L-R) Divyenndu, Pulkit Samrat, and Vishal Vashishtha in ‘Glory'. Pics/By Special Arrangement, Instagram

What proved tougher, however, was portraying Arvind's emotional conflict without spelling it out. "It's mostly about him not being physically available for his wife and the relationship never getting established. We later get to know how the marriage came to be, and despite the circumstances, Arvind genuinely cares for her. It's never openly said, but it's always lingering in the background," he says, hinting that sexual incompatibility weighs heavily on the character.

While Arvind largely remains soft-spoken and controlled, one explosive moment pushed Vashishtha emotionally. "Switching from tenderness to violence in a matter of seconds was very difficult because we never wanted to hint earlier that he had that darkness inside him."

Up next, Vashishtha has The Audition, currently doing the festival circuit, and Sudhir Mishra's Summer of 76. "In The Audition, I play a middle-class Marwari boy trying to become an actor. It explores themes like ego, male chauvinism, anxiety, self-doubt, and domestic violence. In Summer of 76, Sudhir Mishra has created a very layered world. The show revolves around students navigating friendships, politics, and the socio-economic climate of the 1970s."

Did you know?

Director Karan Anshuman never gave Vishal Vashishtha the full script of ‘Glory'. "He wanted me to discover things organically, just like the character does," says the actor.