Viineet Kumar on Betaal: A lot of technical things are involved while performing horror

Viineet Kumar spoke on his latest Netflix show Betaal, working in horror genre for the first time and getting into the skin of Vikram Sirohi.

Actor Viineet Kumar said he had to internalise a lot of things while playing Vikram Sirohi in the latest Netflix series Betaal. The zombie horror web series also stars Aahana Kumra, Suchitra Pillai, Jitendra Joshi among others.

In a Facebook LIVE session from The Indian Express page, Viineet spoke how he got into the skin of playing the character of a defense personnel.

“There’s a stereotype we see onscreen around a character from defense. So my attempt was to portray it differently. I could see Vikram Sirohi as someone with a dark past that haunts him, he is struggling to come out of it because he is unable to share it with anyone. Sometimes Vikram is confused, sometimes he’s scared, but when everything gets clear, he is a different person. Also generally, a military character is made larger than life and glamourised so much. When I spoke to my friends from the defense, they told me they come across such encounters only 2-3 times in their careers, otherwise they just keep themselves prepared,” Vineet shared.

The actor, who played a significant role in Netflix’s Bard of Blood, revealed the challenges he faced while shooting for the horror genre. “I never did horror before. There’s a lot of technical things involved which you need to keep in mind while performing in a project that is a mix of horror and thriller, like Betaal. Whenever there is VFX involved in a scene, you need to perform assuming a lot of things. For example, if someone is standing behind you, I need to imagine that person’s body language, posture and dialogues. Such things were a new experience,” he said.

Viineet also spoke on his favourite part of the series. “Most of the time Vikram is someone who is distressed with his past, he is not finding his answers. For me, the intriguing part was what happened between him and that girl, which continues to haunt him. It is is his dark secret, and when he comes out of it, it was a very crucial thing. And then, he ends up saving Saanvi as a redemption.”

Viineet’s upcoming projects include Tryst With Destiny, Aadhar, Gunjan Saxena and the Hindi remake of Tamil film Thiruttu Payale 2 along with Urvashi Rautela.