At the Filmfare OTT Awards 2025 press conference in Mumbai, Jaideep Ahlawat offered a rare and candid look into the evolving landscape of storytelling. While the actor is celebrated for his layered performances, he admitted that revisiting a popular character is far from easy. Ahlawat first spoke about the daunting challenge of sequels, before delving into the deeper creative transformation brought on by India’s OTT boom.
The conversation opened with his thoughts on reprising Hathiram Chaudhary, the character that cemented his legacy in the streaming world. Ahlawat explained why sequels demand more courage and more craft than the first season.
He said, “The biggest challenge with a sequel is that you no longer have the surprise element. As a character, Hathiram is already completely established. Now it’s more difficult to play Hathiram in Season 2 because the story has moved three years ahead—his life has moved ahead too. The drive he once had… he no longer feels he has anything to prove. After what happened to him, he realised this world is almost unamendable… it will continue the way it is.
Season 2 is more difficult for writing and for acting. What more can you do so the audience still feels you’re bringing something new?That is the challenge—as an actor and as a team. Season 2 will always be more difficult than Season 1, no matter which show it is.”
Ahlawat also spoke about the impact of OTT platforms.He shared ,“A very good change happened that a new platform opened up, a new space opened up. Earlier, you could either tell a story in a 22-minute TV episode or in a two-and-a-half-hour film. Now you have options. You can tell a story in two hours, one hour, eight hours and you can even take multiple seasons of eight hours each.This liberty was given to writers, directors, filmmakers and producers. And because of that liberty, we benefited. For us, it became a big opportunity to open up characters more deeply and speak about them in greater detail. When you understand a character only for two hours—that’s also a format, but if the same story is elaborated further, you get to know much more about them.
The point is: because of this format, the change that came was in our thinking. We realised we can tell stories in new ways; we don’t have to be restricted to the traditional cinema format. That change reached us, and for actors it opened a wonderful space with more opportunities.”