Meet actor who wanted to be Army officer, is now king of OTT, once struggled to find work after Alia...

There was a time when this actor struggled to get recognition, and his performances often went unnoticed. That was until one pivotal OTT series turned his fortunes around. It was his portrayal of Delhi Police Officer Hathi Ram Chaudhary in the critically acclaimed web series 'Paatal Lok' that proved to be a game-changer. Yes, we are talking about none other than Jaideep Ahlawat. 

Jaideep Ahlawat hails from Kharkara, Meham village in Rohtak district, Haryana. He pursued his academic interests, earning an MA in English from Maharshi Dayanand University in 2005. His early passions lay in theatre and serving his country. As a young man, he harboured ambitions of becoming an Indian Army officer. However, after facing rejection multiple times in his SSB (Services Selection Board) interviews, he pivoted and discovered his true calling in acting, ultimately embarking on a successful journey in the entertainment industry. He graduated from the prestigious Film and Television Institute of India (FTII) in 2008. His batchmates at FTII included talented actors Vijay Varma, Sunny Hinduja, and Rajkummar Rao.

 

 

 

 

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Jaideep's acting career took off in 2008 with a guest role in the short film 'Narmeen'. He then landed roles in notable films, including Ajay Devgn's 'Aakrosh' and Akshay Kumar's 'Khatta Meetha', Ranbir Kapoor's 'Rockstar', and many other. However, he got his due in OTT shows including The Broken News, The Bard Of Blood, Bloody Brothers and Paatal Lok.

Up next, Jaideep is geared up for the second instalment of Paatal Lok, Paatal Lok 2. He recently shared his struggles during a difficult phase in his career, where he faced a dry spell despite receiving critical acclaim for his performance in the film Raazi. "A time comes when you need to do something and you get a good role. It gets out with people liking it but you still don't have work. After Raazi, I didn't have work. And you are like, 'what went wrong?' Everybody is praising it. Everybody is talking about the role. The scripts that were coming my way were almost the same. Everybody wants me to play an IB (Intelligence Bureau) officer and RAW (Research and Analysis Wing) officer, but I didn't want to do that. I had just done it," he told The Hollywood Reporter. 

The highly anticipated Paatal Lok Season 2, premiering on Prime Video on January 17, promises a fresh narrative, delving deeper into the complexities of Jaideep’s character Inspector Hathiram Chaudhary.