Vikrant Massey –  He Has Arrived And How!

Vikrant Massey – the name is now becoming synonymous with quality content in both web series and films. (Maybe even advertisements, have you seen his cute kwality walls ads with Alia?) We can now even say that he has joined the elite web series squad of Radhika Apte, Shwetha Tripathi, Pankaj Tripathi, and Jim Sarbh. But before we talk about his current conquests, let’s refresh our memories about this wonderfully gifted actor once again.

I distinctly remember that episode of Balika Vadhu, where the young widow, Jagya’s sister runs into the new guy in town, Shyam. The lean kurta clad man with a sweet smile of his face and twinkle in his eyes had come from the city only to change the widow’s life forever. I had really liked his character back then but he wasn’t the lead and his character was slowly faded out. And I thought that was the last I had seen of that handsome man.

Venturing Into Mainstream Cinema

How glad was I that I was proven wrong in 2013. The trailer of Lootera was released and I again saw this guy, this time I knew the name, Vikrant Massey. The movie released and was well appreciated in the critics’ circle. Vikrant as a friend of Ranveer’s character was in particular lauded for his impressive and subtle acting. And then “Dil Dhadakne Do” happened followed by “Lipstick under my burkha” along with “Half Girlfriend”(where it was the popular opinion that Vikrant was the only bearable person). I understood that this man had arrived on the scene.

I had been told that I should watch “Death in the Gunj” to see the true actor that Vikrant Massey is and after many months, I watched it on a streaming platform. Vikrant Massey played Shutu, a character so pure yet so tormented that it took me a couple of days to get over the impact of it. Massey absolutely killed it getting nominated for Best Actor (Critics) at Filmfare Awards 2018 for his soulful performance.

He is now going to be playing the lead beside Deepika Padukone in Meghna Gulzar’s Chhapaak. He has a few more impressive projects underway making him the actor to watch out for in the coming times.

This was his filmography. Another and more interesting part of his career, however, is his television, web series and short film segment. Like Shah Rukh Khan, Vikrant also started out his career through Television. Apart from Balika Vadhu, he also acted in Dhoom Machao Dhoom, Baba Aiso Varr Dhoondho, Qubool Hai and several other. His training in ballet dancing and his work with Shaimak Davar gave him the chance to be the choreographer on Dhoom Machao Dhoom.

Making The Most Of OTT Platforms

With the advent of streaming platforms, Vikrant like many other actors found the perfect place to showcase his talent and grow as an artist. Although his most successful outing till date has been Mirzapur, where he played the brain of the two brothers, Bablu Pandit, his other shows like Broken but beautiful and Made in Heaven have had good reception in the audience. The recently released BBC’s Criminal Justice on Hotstar is well on its way to establishing Vikrant as an actor to watch out for.

Criminal Justice gives Massey an arena to unleash his best acting potential. The legal drama has some standout moments which would be a dream to act for any actor worth their salt. I can’t delve deep into the story because of the risk of spoilers. But hey, do yourself a favor and add Criminal Justice to your weekend binge-watch list.

Vikrant Massey belongs to that breed of intelligent actors who bring the written word to life, who live characters so well that the audience never sees the actor playing it, who are bringing upon that paradigm shift in the entertainment industry where “content is truly the king”

Here’s hoping that we get to see a lot more of Vikrant Massey in the coming years, both on the big screen as well as the smaller screens. More power to you, Shyam!