Mrs actor Nishant Dahiya says he’s getting abusive messages from men, not women: ‘Go and eat rat poison’ | Bollywood-OxBig News Network

In an exclusive chat with Hindustan Times, actor Nishant Dahiya talked about the reception of the film, the ‘extreme’ reactions to his character since its release, what the film stands for. (Also read: Mrs actor Kanwaljit Singh says men won’t change: ‘Koi keechar bhi uchalega toh nahi sudhrenge’)

On the response to the film

When asked about his takeaway from the reception of the film, the actor said, “The reception of the film has been quite unexpected. I genuinely did not think that the film would reach such an audience and such a vast audience. When one is making a film one strives to make a good film and there is the hope that it reaches the audience. For Mrs, it has exceeded my expectations and I’m sure it goes for everyone associated with the film as well. I have received messages from so many places, and I am extremely proud of it. I have received calls from people I know, who don’t watch films like Mrs; they are the ones who like action films, adventure films… I was so pleasantly surprised. Many of my friends even said that I should have given at least a disclaimer to not watch it with my wife (laughs). Because now everything I do, I get a look from my wife!”

Most extreme reactions were from men

The actor says he was surprised how extreme some of the reactions and messages were, and recalls that some even sent abuses his way after watching the film. He adds, “For my character, I have got a lot of love-hate! I have got such lovely messages from women who have told me that they hate my character Diwakar but they really appreciate my work. But the most extreme reactions I have gotten are from men! Men have texted me saying, ‘You dumb***k actor, go and eat rat poison!’ ‘Die somewhere, you mother****er!’ If I had gotten this from a girl I would have understood but I am getting this from men. I think it is more about Diwakar, something they did not like about Diwakar and it touched a nerve in them somewhere.

“Then there was this bizarre message which I don’t recall completely but it was somewhere in the lines of, ‘You are not worthy of being an actor! Because if you were worthy of being an actor you would not have accepted this bad part. You don’t even have the sense of accepting a part.’”

‘95% of the men are like Diwakar’

Nishant went on to add, “If we look around 95% of the men are like Diwakar. I am not lying but it is the truth. I think it is about self-awareness also. A lot of people are not yet aware of what they do, what their actions are. That is the biggest problem with awareness too. Do men recognize what they are doing? Diwakar is not a bad guy but he is just conditioned in a certain way that he does not see whatever he is doing. With Richa leaving and Diwakar marrying a second time it shows that Divakar and his family still did not realize that they were the problem. There is no recognition of what they did.”

Nishant adds that when he was initially offered the part, he refused it. What made him change his mind? Nishant says, “When Aarti offered me the film, my first reaction was no. I had seen The Great Indian Kitchen and I despised the male character. So I said no straight away. When I met Aarti I did not know she was making this film and this was the part she was offering me. I said no and then she told me to give it a second thought. I went home, thought about it, and spoke to Mukesh Chhabra (casting director)… he also called me and said, ‘Why did you refuse the part? I think you should do it. Sleep over it and see what you think of it in the morning.’ For me the most difficult part of playing Diwakar was the fact that I was already hating on the character from the film I had seen. My primary job was to erase what I had already seen and somewhere have a connect with Diwakar in order to play him. I can’t be hating on a character and playing it. How to start from zero with it. Then I met Arati again and I was impressed with how passionate she was with the project, how empathetic she was. She really wanted to make a good film, and I saw how relevant this subject was in the current times. It was a challenge for me as well to do something different with the part, and start afresh.”

The film has also received criticism from a certain section of social media, who said that the film promotes ‘toxic feminism’. Reacting to this, Nishant says, “I felt our film is not just limited to a woman saying, ‘I don’t want to do household work.’ It is much broader than that, our film is about letting the woman make her choice. It is about her choice. Whether she wants to be a homemaker why not? That’s okay. It is not about telling her to not be a homemaker and go out and work. It is about respecting your partner and respecting his/her choices as to what they feel like doing. Whenever someone writes these things that this film is destroying the sanctity of marriage, I wonder why because the film was never about that. It is about pursuing your dreams, doing what you want to do, and to have that freedom to make that choice.”

Mrs is available to watch on ZEE5.