Tushar Pandey, who played Sundar Srivastava, nicknamed ‘Mummy’, in Sushant Singh Rajput-starrer, Chhichhore is steadily becoming a popular face of the industry. Tushar is now gearing up for Aashram 3. Pandey, who also has Aniruddha Roy Chowdhury’s upcoming film, Lost, in his kitty spoke exclusively with The Free Press Journal where he talked about OTT platforms, Aashram 3, his director Prakash Jha and more.
When asked about Aashram being a game-changer in his career, he shares, “I think Chhichhore was my game-changer in the career. People in the industry were perceiving me in a different way. People on the roads started recognising me and they used to come and talk to me. Aashram gave me a very different audience. It became a rage in tier 2 and 3 cities. Both the projects gave me an understanding of what kind of content people like to watch.”
OTT has been a catalyst in the careers of several actors, especially during the pandemic. “I think people also opened up to OTT in the pandemic. They were at home and wanted to watch. The generic perception has been changed now and people started giving credibility. As an actor, it has opened many avenues in the digital space. There are separate films been made for OTT. It is no more a secondary option. I have just shot a film for OTT,” he explains.
When further probed on feeling competitive within the OTT talents, he tells, “There’s no line between OTT and film actors now. Every second big film actor is doing an OTT show. The viewership has massively increased. Earlier, there was a distinction but now there’s not. I feel the competition has gotten a nice space. There’s a lot of work happening in the digital space but I don’t want to jump to it.”
Spilling the beans on Aashram 3, he reveals, “The experience has been amazing, to be able to work with a prolific filmmaker like Prakash Jha is great. The kind of comfort he gives on the sets is nice. Since he is a director, who also acts, he understands the actor’s psyche. He has a certain vision of telling a story. After Aashram, a lot of work came my way. I am glad that Aashram 3 has been shaping up well.”
Tushar has also wrapped up Pink fame Annirudha Roy Chowdhury’s next directorial, Lost, alongside Pia Bajpiee, Yami Gautam Dhar, Pankaj Kapur, and Rahul Khanna.
“It is a big thing for me that Tony da (Annirudha) called me to play this part since I did Pink too. I can’t reveal much about the film at the moment, but we shot the film in Kolkata,” he concludes.
