Mumbai, Aug 27 (IANS): Actor Aarya Babbar is returning to the screen, and will be seen essaying the role of an antagonist, Kalikant Thakur in the television show 'Jagriti – Ek Nayi Subah'.

The show is set in the fictional town of Mokshgarh in the Jamtara district of Jharkhand, and explores the systemic injustice where the people of the 'Chitta' community are branded as criminals at birth, denied education, relegated to professions like hunting and exploited by feudal lords.

Aarya's character is the richest and most powerful man of the village, and bribes the local police and forest officials to run his illegal businesses smoothly. He is an authoritarian, patriarchal, and a deeply misogynistic person, who is cruel towards the people of the Chitta community.

Talking about his part, Aarya Babbar said, “I am very excited to return to television after 8 years with an interesting show like ‘Jagriti’. This is the very first time I have had an opportunity to work with Zee TV. I spent some time with the creative team at the promo shoot working on my dialect, body language for Kalikant and I think we’re really getting into the groove. I isolated myself right before my take to get into the zone of my cruel character".

He further mentioned, "I have played various negative roles in the past, but the character of Kalikant stands out as one of the most complex roles I've ever taken on. I can’t wait for the audience to see the powerful narrative we're trying to create".

Produced by Guroudev Bhalla, ‘Jagriti- Ek Nayi Subah’ is set to premiere on September 16 on Zee TV.