Actor Aditya Seal is content with his year, having had multiple projects released, and chooses to stay detached from box office results. Despite Khel Khel Mein's underwhelming commercial response, Aditya is drawing happiness from knowing that audiences appreciated the film, valuing their positive experience over numbers.

Khel Khel Mein received rave reviews and faced tough competition from Stree 2. It failed to elicit the expected response at the ticket window, however. In an interview with Hindustan Times, Aditya reflects on the failure, and his latest project, Amar Prem Ki Prem Kahani.

On Khel Khel Mein failure

Khel Khel Mein opened on August 15, competing with Rajkummar Rao and Shraddha Kapoor’s horror-comedy Stree 2. It featured Akshay Kumar, Vaani Kapoor, Taapsee Pannu and Fardeen Khan amongst others.

Looking back, Aditya says, “You have to learn how to detach. The only good thing that I took away from that film was that it was loved”.

“People who had seen the film reviewers, the critics who had seen it, had loved the film. Everybody who had seen the film came up to me and said what a fabulous film it was, calling it a laughter riot. Doing the numbers or not doing the numbers, is in nobody's hands,” he tells us, adding, “Going out there with the right intent of making a good film and people appreciating, is a job well done”.

The film has been released on OTT now, and Aditya hopes it will get “the eyeballs that we were wanting”.

“More than doing the numbers for me, it is about just making sure that a film like this, which has been received so well by people, should not go unnoticed,” he asserts.

On playing a gay character

Moving on from the project, Aditya was most recently seen in a gay character in a queer love story, Amar Prem Ki Prem Kahani

“We have tried to normalise the entire relationship. We are not trying to show the struggles that they go through to be accepted. We have shown that the families have accepted them, and what next? It is normalising this reality which exists,” he mentions about the film, going on to share that he was not hesitant to pick the gay role.

Aditya shares, “It is a story which needs to be told. We have friends who belong to the community. It is a reality which exists. And it was something that I haven't done”.

After working on the film, Aditya is wondering “how can anybody have an issue or how could one criminalise it”.

He questions, “When it is legit to individuals who have the birthright of falling in love with anybody... Imagine you are in love with somebody but you are not allowed to express it... How do you control your natural emotions?”

On what’s next

Now, he is awaiting the release of Mere Husband ki Biwi and the project with Kajol and Prabhu Deva.

“I want to work on diverse projects. I don't want to be typecast. I want my character to be recognised. They should not be just a regular boy next door. I just want to do something which is very interesting, something which challenges me,” he says, adding that is what his upcoming slate reflects.

Read Also: Simmer time: Why shows are playing the long game

HOW DID YOU LIKE THIS ARTICLE? CHOOSE YOUR EMOTICON !