Missing Bikramjeet Kanwarpal, Deepak Saigal Remembers The Underused Actor

Bikramjeet Kanwarpal  was  the kind of actor  we saw and recognized  , although we  never knew his  name. He was a  retired army officer who  had  well-etched  roles in four  of the  most  prominent webseries  produced  by Applause Entertainment .

Deepak Sehgal , Head  Of  Content at  Applause Entertainment,  can’t get  over the suddenness  of  Bikramjeet’s  demise.

“He was here one day. The next day he was  not. Bikramjeet played important  parts  in four  of  our series produced  by Applause Entertainment:  Avrodh, Andekhi, Your Honor and  Bhaukaal.  He  was  our go-to guy for  any  strong character with an army background. You know, like the  veteran  actor Iftikher from yesteryears. The minute  the audience saw Iftikher they identified him with the khaki uniform. Bikramjeet had a similar  image when it came  to parts with an army background,” says  Deepak Sehgal.

Bikramjeet didn’t quite  approve of  the typecasting.

Says Deepak, “He would good-naturedly grumble  about being  typecast in army roles, specially when  he would be cast as a Pakistani army officer. He  would say, ‘Please don’t do this to me.’  But what  to do? He made  the casting process so much  easier.When  it came to a role that  required the  character to exude a certain state-sanctioned  authority he  was  just  the actor we  went to. Bikramjeet was  such a  natural in authoritarian  roles. Look at  the subtle  shades  he brought  into his  performance  in our series Andekhi. He  was a tyrant with those  less powerful than him and subservient to those more powerful. Bikramjeet could carry off that  balance so effortlessly.”

 Deepak feels  Bikramjeet  was capable  of  a lot more.  “He  was  the  kind of actor  who could do anything. And he  was  eager to  do more. Much more. Tragically God had other plans. Sad.  He’s gone too soon.”