Says Tanuj Virwani, who was recently seen in the web series Poison while speaking to Manasi Y Mastakar
Owe it to the digital platform
I consider myself very fortunate to be an actor in this industry during the advent of the OTT and the web series. If you remember when I started my career we had two choices: Either do movies or television. And I’ve always felt that there’s so much of talent both in front as well as behind the camera in our country and the web series has covered that in an amazing manner.
It’s given so many people a platform and canvas to paint a picture and show their creativity and talent and showcase what India is exactly capable of doing on the world Stage. So I think I owe my career to the advent of web series – just as it has been an amazing journey for so many other people, it’s been amazing for me too and I’ve a feeling that this is only the start.
Moral tales that entertain
I consider myself lucky to have bagged Poison in the first place because ever since I became an actor and I saw Varun in Badlapur I thought that we live in an amazing time where the hero does some really bad things yet he’s still the hero which kind of makes him human. I would say in life it’s not about being black or white and I think most of us would agree that we are grey and that there’s good in us as well as bad and it only depends on which part we feed more. So an ordinary person who’s capable of doing something heroic or heinous is what makes us human and Poison allowed me to humanise a lot of that and it gave me an amazing character – a guy who had been through so much of struggle and seen such horrible things that no one should be witness to. Hence he is filled with a lot of vengeance and he realises that if he has that kind of poison or vengeance and hatred or anything negative within him it’s going to burn not just the one you seek to burn but it’s going to destroy him as well. And I like being part of stories which have tales of morality along with entertaining the audience.
Growing up with star mom
Mom had taken a sabbatical after marriage and returned to the big screen only after I turned 16. So during my formative years I viewed her only as my mother as I never got to see that glamorous side of her life.
Of course I knew that she was an actress as wherever we would go, especially abroad, she would get mobbed. It was amazing but I didn’t quite understand or grasp what a big deal it was. Once she did a comeback she was again in the limelight and it’s wonderful having someone in your home with whom you can discuss this medium and acting with. It gives me a lot of perspective not just about how I’m to contribute as an actor but also to my overall growth. Most of the time half the job is to know how to conduct yourself and go about planning your career...in which she’s been very helpful and I consider myself blessed.
Not a cake walk
There was time before I became an actor and my first film coming out I thought it would probably be a walk in the park because my mom’s been an actor and everything looks so glamorous on screen. But trust me, all you aspiring actors nothing can be further away from the truth because the fact of the matter is that it’s an extremely hard industry to be in, it’s very competitive, there is a lot that goes behind the scenes and you have to be not just physically but mentally equipped as well to able to handle that pressure. See you maybe able to make a splash but it’s all about how you consolidate that afterwards as well.
As I was telling a friend, the first film chooses you but what you choose after that is in your hands alone. In hindsight I think it (debut film) was necessary because it only increased my hunger and zeal to want to succeed, go out there and give my 100%, go that extra mile, because it makes you desperate...when your phone doesn’t ring for weeks and in some cases for months it makes you wonder what you’re not doing and what others are doing...it makes you desperate and sometimes being desperate is not necessarily negative if you hone it and fine tune it in the right way it can bring something positive so that’s what I try to do. And even with the little level of success that I’ve achieved I’m still very desperate and hungry and I hope I always stay that way.
Busy year ahead
I have my hands pretty full. Poison came out a while ago it’s doing really well and if all goes well we should be back with season two. I’ve always finished shooting for Inside Edge 2 which should be out later this year. We just commenced shoot for Inside Edge 3 which should release sometime in 2020. I’m also doing a Alt Balaji show called Code M, which stars Jennifer Winget and Rajat Kapoor. Then I’ve another Alt Balaji show called Cartel, which has my favourite Vivek Oberoi along with a host of other talented actors. And I’m also doing an episode for Fuh se Fantasy which is for Voot.
