Mumbai, Jun 16 (IANS): Actor Ashok Kumar Beniwal, who will be seen portraying a gay professor in the upcoming movie 'Jahangir National University', has called it a big deal, stating that if he had been offered such a character at the beginning of his career, he might not have been able to do it.

Ashok, who is known for his work in 'Dil Hai Tumhara' and 'Apharan', shared that during the lockdown, he reconnected with the film's director, Vinay Sharma, a long-time friend since their days working on 'Zila Ghaziabad'.

It was then that Vinay told him about the movie and the role, which he believed was perfect for Ashok.

"Vinay said he had a new film going on the floor, and it included a character, a professor who is gay, which he thought would be perfect for me. It was a big deal that he thought I would fit into that character. I was very happy. I felt that if I had been given such a character at the beginning of my career, around 15 years ago, I might not have been able to do it. But when he mentioned it, I felt a great thrill inside," Ashok said.

He further shared: "It was a very challenging role for me, and it was fun and very interesting. So many emotions arose, and I was very happy that he kept me in mind for such a character, visualised me in that role, and cast me, which turned out to be perfect. I appreciate his perspective. I felt really grateful. That's how it started."

Ashok also shared that even off-camera on the set, he stayed in character and interacted with others, which made the transition feel natural and was appreciated by everyone.

"There was always a crowd of about 200 to 500 people on the set every day. I became so naturally involved in the character that when there were scenes involving functions and when I wore a saree for the first time, the automatic transformation into the character was really appreciated by everyone. I enjoyed it a lot," said the 'Hate Story-2' fame.

The actor added: "Even after almost one to three months of playing this character, my gestures and posture still reflected the role. I realised that even during get-togethers with this group, they would say, ‘Oh, Professor Bhaskar has arrived!’ This meant that his mannerisms, body language, and everything about him were slowly extracted from me."

‘Jahangir National University’ stars Urvashi Rautela, Piyush Mishra, Ravi Kishan, Siddharth Bodke, Vijay Raj, Rashmi Desai, Atul Pandey, and Shivjyoti Rajput.

Produced under the banner of Mahakal Movies Private Ltd by Pratima Datta, the film will be released on June 21 in theatres.