Vikas Kumar on Action-Packed Aarya Season 3, Working With Sushmita Sen and More (Exclusive)

We are just a few days away from the release of Disney+ Hotstar’s Aarya Season 3. The crime thriller stars Sushmita Sen, Chandrachur Singh, Sikandar Kher, Vikas Kumar, Viren Vazirani, Jayant Kripalani, Sohaila Kapur, Maya Sarao, and others. Created by Ram Madhvani and Sandeep Modi, the Hindi web series is based on a Dutch series called Penoza. The first two seasons received a great response from the viewers, and everyone is looking forward to knowing how the story will shape in Season 3.

Leisurebyte spoke to Vikas Kumar, who plays ACP Younus Khan, an officer who always has his eye on Aarya and her actions. Khan often tries to help Aarya and warns her from following the wrong path. We asked Vikas about Season 3 and his experience working with Sushmita Sen.

Aarya Season 3 Teaser

Read Excerpts From Our Interview With Aarya Season 3 Actor Vikas Kumar

Season 1 and Season 2 received tremendous response. So what are the emotions the star cast is going through – is there excitement, confidence or nervousness?

None of them is nervous for sure, at least speaking for myself. Whatever I’ve sensed amongst my co-actors, we are extremely excited. Of course, that little element of, you know, whether it will be received the way we perceive it, that’s one thing that will always be there. But we have worked very hard. And right from the beginning, from when the script was written, we knew that we had the best script, you know, from amongst the three seasons that we’ve done. And then, when we went to execute it, of course, the script inspired you to put in a lot more.

Mr Ram Madhvani had just discussed with us that whatever’s happened in seasons one and two, we need to take all that as that has changed and build the characters. So we take all that and shape what we do in season three. So season three is a lot more action, tension and thrill.

The first two seasons had many complexities due to characters, and there were deaths, too. But Aarya Season 3 trailer hinted at a more action-packed threequel, and the number of gunshots and screams I hear, I assume there are a lot more deaths happening on the show. What should fans expect from the new season?

It’s a no-holds-barred thing because, you know, in Season 1, Aarya was not in the business. She was trying to get away. In Season 2, she got away; she came back, and things forced her to stay back and get involved (in the criminal world). But in Season 3, she is full on Don. Wo full rakshas ban chuki hai, apne baccho ko bachane ke liye (She has now become bad to ensure her children’s safety) as she also says. So that’s just upped the ante. If she’s become a Don, I’m all the more hell-bent on catching her.

Aarya Season 3 Trailer

Your scenes with Sushmita Sen have been quite intense so far. The dialogue exchanges, the tension, the cold looks. What is the working experience or being on sets with Sushmita like?

She’s a lovely person that the world has seen. She’s very compassionate and very loving with everyone. I would like to believe I am also an okay guy. That’s just us as people. But we both have an approach to our work, which is very honest and sincere. We both work hard, and when you combine that with the kind of writing that comes in, the way both the characters have been written, and then you get the Ram Madhvani School of Direction — which is leave them and let them do their thing.

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So we follow the milestones, what we call, while we shoot what is basically in the script, but we do it our way. I think, right from season one, there’s something that many people have appreciated. As you said, this chemistry, people call it electricity, tension, which seems to have worked, which we realised while shooting too. We feed off a lot of each other.

There are a lot of looks and exchanges that are happening. There’s a lot of action and reaction happening there, to the extent that we almost direct each other in a scene at times. Even Sushmita has said when we did a scene last season. She came out, and she said that this guy should direct one way because he directs me in the scene, but in a very nice way. Because we are on opposite sides, and mostly, my job is to get her to a place where I want to get her to. So that way, she means I’m directing her. She also stays in character and plays along. So that’s, that’s great fun.

We can have a conversation of any kind, and it will be within the realms of our characters. But it’s been great fun. Yeah, she’s a fabulous co-actor. Of all the things in Aarya, I look forward to all our scenes together. It started with Khan trying to be protective of her, having promised Tej that he would get the family out and provide a safe passage to them, and then trying to make sure that she’s not going down the wrong path.

Then, of course, he’s the ultimate law enforcement guy—a law officer, basically. So, he will do whatever he does within the realms of law and order. So when he realises that Aarya is getting out of hand, there comes a moment where he’s trying to protect her, yet he’s following his duty. Now it’s full-on. So, in Aarya Season 3, expect more of these exchanges. More of these high-tension scenes between us.

What can we expect from Khan in Season 3?

All I can say is Khan is a very good mix of the human gentleman that Khan is and the cop that he is, following his duty. So, there will always be this human side to him when performing his copy duties, but those human emotions or feelings will not blind him. That’s the fun part to play. So Khan will always look at Aarya as a criminal when he has the evidence and reason to believe that. But he also looks at her as a mother and Tej’s wife. But he will not let that come in the way of his duty. That’s all that we play with, which provides all this tension.

Aarya Season 3 releases on Disney+ Hotstar on November 3, 2023.

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