After leaving a lasting impression in one of 2020s most successful shows, 'Aarya', actor/musician Alexx O’Nell is all set to wow audiences once again this year with a series of projects across various genres and platforms. Besides acting, Alexx recently launched his music career with the single ‘Still On My Mind’, (the video of which features actress Shama Sikander), to significant critical acclaim*. And based on his work in 'Aarya', he subsequently released ‘A Bhagavad Gita Song’ a track he composed and sung entirely in Sanskrit!

Well adding to a filmography that boasts of projects like 'Inside Edge', 'Bose', and 'Main Aur Charles' among over three dozen others, *Alexx will next be seen in a pivotal role in the Rajkumar Rao, Janhvi Kapoor, and Varun Sharma starrer ‘Roohi’, slated to hit the screens on the 11th March. 'Roohi' is the first of a number of projects that Alexx will see release in 2021, including cameos in 'Chehre' and 'Bhoot Police' and lead roles in the Bengali epic 'Golondaaj', and 'The Battle of Bhima Koregaon' (with Arjun Rampal) in Hindi.

To know more about such projects that he is working on we got in a candid chat with him where he has spoken about some interesting stuff. Check below.

Could u tell us about your journey in the music industry what challenges have you faced?

To be honest, it has been a rocky one with lots of challenges, endless mistakes, but many lessons learned.

I taught myself to play guitar when I was 15 or so, and have been composing and recording ever since. Like most artists, I thought that the best way / only way to release my music was to sign with a major music label. So I put all my effort into doing that and I was extremely excited when I finally had a contract with one of the so-called “Big 3” for my debut album. However, for a number of reasons, before even releasing a single song, we went our separate ways. What I learned from the time and effort (over literally years) that I put into this deal was: signing with a music label is by no means the end of your struggle, it's just the beginning of a new phase of your struggle. And equally important, no one cares more than you (or even as much as you) about getting your music out there.

So, there I was in 2020, with full control over my music restored, and I decided I was done with major labels or labels at all, and I wanted to independently release. But there was a problem. For the past 10 years, I’d been incredibly busy with acting work (for which I am eternally grateful) and the time to learn what I needed to learn to get my music to an audience, let alone actually do what I needed to do, simply wasn’t available. Armed with a newfound understanding, and while still in the Netherlands, I connected with the Paris-based ‘Believe Music’.

And finally after a few months, with Believe as my distributor, both ‘Still On My Mind feat. Shama Sikander’ and ‘A Bhagavad Gita Song’ music videos became available on YouTube and other video services, and the audio is now streaming in 240 territories worldwide on virtually every service imaginable!

All of your projects are very different from one another in terms of genres and themes. As an actor how difficult or seamless is it to slip into one character which is poles apart from another one?

It's a challenge, sure, but I sincerely believe that everyone is an actor, playing various roles in their day-to-day lives.  The same things that help you get into character' and live your various personalities, help actors too. If I'm playing a musician, I need to not just wear the clothes but have skills like being able to sing and play. If I'm playing a footballer, the same thing, I'd better be in shape and be able to handle a football. But one way in which an actor playing a role is different is the need to create, and believe the character's backstory. Actors need to create this and let those experiences and the resulting beliefs and habits as well as their present desires and so on influence their actions through the course of the story.

Roohi is a horror-comedy and both Rajkumar and Varun Sharma are known for their comic chops, how was it working with them and Jahnvi Kapoor as well?

It was fabulous! I started my Indian film career with two comedies back to back, if you remember 'Cheeni Kum' and 'Lions Of Punjab Presents'…? But 'Roohi' is my first Horror Comedy and indeed first Comedy since working with Akshay Kumar on ‘Joker’ way back in 2012!!

Rajkumar and I have worked together on two projects before and it's always fabulous catching up with him, but it was my first time collaborating with this fabulous actor and wonderful guy Varun. Yes, these two are indeed well known for their comic timing, and I can only hope that I've held my own in ‘Roohi’. Janhvi is just lovely and though we didn't share much screen time, it was a joy chatting with her and watching her perform.

What's your character in the film? Any preparation you did for the same?

I play the role of a documentary filmmaker named Tim, and Raj and Varun's characters are essentially his subjects/friends/guides in this part-hilarious and part-terrifying story. I worked in journalism in the past, so I had a good understanding of how Tim would have arrived on the scene, what he would be looking to accomplish, how he would conduct himself, etc. But I also track down a number of films and series in which documentary filming forms part of the story, especially in the comedic genre where they’re generally called "mockumentaries". There are essentially two types, one where the journalist is seen on screen, like in 'This is Spinal Tap', and one where they’re not, like in ‘Modern Family’, ‘The Office’, ‘Parks And Recreation’, etc.. 'Roohi' incorporates elements of the former. Not only is this my first horror-comedy, but it's also the first project in which I've been involved that employs this narrative technique- using the perspective of an observer/interviewer. We've all be trained by documentaries and news programs to accept the credibility of shaky and somewhat out-of-focus footage, so I think it's a wonderful way of making the audience more readily buy into the idea that the events are unfolding are real.

Who has been your inspiration?

There are really too many to name, but when it comes to music, I really look up to Ed Sheeran, John Mayer, Arijit Singh, Atif Aslam, Counting Crows, U2, and so on.

Tell us about your upcoming projects?

2021 is honestly the most exciting year for me ever. There are so many projects I'm looking forward to sharing with the world, and not just films and series, but music as well!

Shortly after 'Roohi' I'm planning to release my third original song and music video, we can talk more about that when it's ready to go.

I'm looking forward to a few cameos that will hit theatres over the span of 2021 including 'Chehre' with Emraan Hashmi and Krystal D'souza on the 30th of April, and I'm nearly finished shooting for 'Bhoot Police' which is scheduled for the 10th September, and finally 'RRR' will be out on the 13th October in which I worked with Aliya Bhatt for the first time. But apart from music, what I'm most excited about, are my main roles in 'Golandaaj' a Bengali football-based epic with Dev Adhikari, 'The Battle of Bhima Koregaon in Hindi with Arjun Rampal, and three web series, two for Amazon and one for Hoichoi. They haven't yet been announced, so I can't reveal anything about them yet, but I'll let you know as soon as I can!