Mumbai, March 15 (IANS) Veteran actor Ashish Vidyarthi has opened up about the challenges he faced being repeatedly typecast as the villain in Bollywood films.

Known for his iconic portrayals of antagonistic characters, Vidyarthi discussed how this typecasting shaped his career and the impact it had on his acting journey.

In an exclusive conversation with IANS, Ashish, while talking about his project, “Marvel’s Wastelanders,” shared, “Over the years, I’ve known that I have a funny bone, so I decided to explore stand-up comedy. Otherwise, people kept casting me only as a nefarious guy who kills. That experience added another layer to my portrayal of Doctor Doom. He’s not just a villain saying, “I’ll kill, kill, kill.” He has an acerbic sense of humour and a sarcastic way of looking at things. So yes, everything I’ve done as an actor adds to my next project. In fact, I’m in Vadodara right now for a stand-up show this evening.”

Vidyarthi, who has voiced ‘Doctor Doom’ in Hindi, also spoke about the most exciting part of being a part of this entire franchise. The ‘Ziddi’ actor shared, “Working in audio has always interested me. And when you're working in audio with a leader like Audible, which is at the forefront of premium audio storytelling, that was great. Then, of course, it was about my role. I got interested in creating an entire role using just my voice. When I first joined, I knew nothing about this world. But as I started sharing with people, they were like, “Wait, you're doing Wastelanders?” That’s when I realized the scale of this universe, and I got hooked. I had a wonderful time being part of it.”

The final season, “Marvel’s Wastelanders,” features Saif Ali Khan as the voice of Star-Lord, Jaideep Ahlawat as Hawkeye, Kareena Kapoor Khan as Black Widow, Sharad Kelkar as Wolverine, Ashish Vidyarthi as Doom, and Yashaswini Dayama as Valeria Richards.

“Marvel's Wastelanders” marks the first collaboration between Audible and Marvel Entertainment. This six-season audio epic debuted in June 2021 in English.