Bhuvan Arora, who shot into prominence as Shahid Kapur’s best friend in Farzi, and later played Kartik Aaryan’s best friend in Chandu Champion, is now a cop on the scent of a string of brutal murders in the Zee5 crime drama Janaawar: The Beast Within. A t2 chat.

Why is the title Janaawar and not Jaanwar?

Because, in the region where we shot and the story is based in, they don’t call an animal jaanwar. It’s janaawar in their dialect. This show is based in a fictional village called Chhand but the location was Chhattisgarh and the language we speak is Chhattisgarhi.

Did you have to pick up the local dialect?

Yeah, we had a dialect coach on the set. And also, before the shooting had started, we did a workshop. That’s a prerequisite for me. I never step on a set without getting the dialect right.

In Farzi also, you had a very Bombayia dialect.

Thankfully, because I was living in Mumbai for nine years, I had picked up that Mumbai accent pretty much by myself. But for other shows like Dupahiya or another show that I’ve done which is not out yet, Tatkal, I sought a dialect coach. Both roles needed Bihari accents. It adds to the authenticity of the show.

Janaawar, a Zee5 show

What other local traits did the director incorporate in this, other than the language itself?

Quite a few things, like how for people of the village where we were shooting it’s okay to physically abuse someone, but verbal abuse is considered more humiliating than even slapping a person. So they have to be sweet to each other while talking. We also saw how welcoming and helpful they are. If you’re stranded in the middle of the night and have nowhere to go, no food to eat, you can just go to any house. They will make sure to feed you, they’re so warm and welcoming. A lot of such things we imbibed were used in the show,

You play a policeman, right? And it seems it’s quite a gruesome crime that he’s trying to crack. The trailer shows the head of a corpse to be missing.

Yes. He’s the thanedar. It’s actually a pretty complex crime, which is layered with mythology, caste difference and personal battles, which is why the title is Janaawar: The Beast Within, because there are a lot of inner demons that the character is facing.

There’s a part in the trailer where your character, the sub-inspector, says that anger can make a man do anything…

That’s something that really resonates with me. It is also written in the script — anger can lead you to do so many things that you never even anticipate that you can do.

How would you describe your character?

My character, Kumar, comes from a very small tribal community. Nobody from his community has reached this far in life — joining the police force. He’s the first one to do so. He comes from a very, very small house, his father was very poor. He had a life filled with humiliation and discrimination, and he’s risen above it all to reach where he has. And it’s also a character which has deep differences with God. He always questions the existence of God, and is also trying to be a righteous man in a society which doesn’t permit him to be so.

Where in Chhatisgarh was this shot?

The actual village was Kasdol — a very beautiful location. We had shot in the middle of the forest, and oh my God, what breathtaking views! The village is right next to the forest, and the whole crime investigation becomes all the more complex because the forest is very dense, and the whole story and the murders are happening inside the forest.

Farzi involved a financial crime. Is there any comparison between the two crime thrillers?

There I was the man committing the crime. Here I’m the man who’s solving the crime. That makes a difference. (Laughs) To be honest, it’s good to be on both sides.

What’s coming next from you?

Janaawar is out. There are a lot of second seasons that I’m doing of the shows that I’ve done before. We’re doing the subsequent season of Dupahiya right now. There’s another show that I finished called Tatkal, which should also come out soon. There is also an interesting bunch of things that I’m not at liberty to talk about at this point. Next year will be a good year.