Kumud Mishra is the happiest when he is acting, whether in films or in theatre, and says the length of his roles have never mattered to him.
Though he started his journey with TV in the mid 90s, Kumud's movie career got a push with Imtiaz Ali's "Rockstar" where he played the affable Khatana bhai.
"I am here to act and whatever comes my way, whether a five-min role or 15-min, I have to justify it at my level. I never have any complaints regarding the length of my character. Whatever little people are knowing me for, it's because of these smaller characters.
"I haven't received any lead roles yet. But if you do your job with honesty, it reaches people and is acknowledged. If the script is good and even if the role is small, it'll be communicated if you've been honest," Kumud told PTI.
This year alone, the actor was seen in "Bharat", "De De Pyaar De", "Article 15" and Kumud said he's glad there are filmmakers seeing him in a different light.
"These are all different filmmakers who want to work with me and you do feel good that they're interested in me. I feel fortunate. They're seeing something in me which is why they're casting me. The day they stop seeing that, I'll be sitting at home."
"After 'Rockstar' I started to discover the other aspect as an actor. A lot of people had thought I don't have any interest in films and I don't want to work. But this wasn't true. I wasn't going to anyone for work. After that I started to enjoy the work coming my way. Better late than never."
"Here, the script was really good. I heard the narration and almost said yes. I then even read the script and realised I had to be a part of it."
Kumud said his character, of a politician-father, is a man who's "part of the society around us."
"This is a complicated process. There were certain scenes here which were making me awkward because I am not comfortable with such scenes. But once you look at the character, it's justified. So you find motivation to do that."