Netflix's recently released series titled Shaque: Trust No One, starring Parineeti Chopra, Tahir Raj Bhasin, Jennifer Winget, Harleen Sethi, and others, has become the talk of the town. The Free Press Journal recently interacted with Tahir and spoke to him about the series, his experience of working with Parineeti Chopra, Yeh Kaali Kaali Ankhein season 3, and more...
What response are you getting for Shaque?
I'm so excited and grateful that the audience's feedback, both on social media as well as on YouTube and Reddit, has been positive. Most people are saying that they decided to watch a few episodes, but binge-watched the whole series. When you're working with a genre like mystery thriller, this is exactly how you want the audience to respond.
You have done films and roles that were in a dark zone. In this series, your character is searching for his daughter. So, how difficult is it to go into a zone and then come out of it, or are you a kind of an actor who comes out of the character as soon as the director says 'cut'?
No, I'm not that kind of actor. It is quite challenging, especially when you're in an emotionally heavy space, like the entire script of Shaque is. What really helps with getting into the zone in a script like this is that we're shooting on location outside of Mumbai. So, you actually travel to a different space; you're staying in a hotel. So, when the shooting gets wrapped up and you come back to your environment, there is a physical change, which sort of signals to your mind that, 'Okay, that chapter is over, we're now doing something else. Now we're living life as normal.' So, it is very challenging!
You and Parineeti both, I would say, are YRF babies. But of course, it took quite a long time to come together for a project. So, how was your experience of working with her?
It was literally like meeting a college batchmate when we were working together. I think it was an absolute blast because we had very little time to sort of form that camaraderie and chemistry of being part of one family. But the fact that we were shooting on location, we were all staying together, and on days off, we would go out either to the mall or go out to eat, it just created a sort of road trip kind of environment.
When the trailer of Shaque was released, a lot of people on social media started commenting, tagging you, that they want to know an update about Yeh Kaali Kaali Ankhein season 3. So, tell us something about that, and how do you feel that one project is coming, but the audience is already waiting for your another project?
I feel very fortunate to have fans like that. It feels very humbling to have left that kind of mark. Yeh Kaali Kaali Ankhein will always remain special to me because it was my first outing with Netflix, and it made such an impact, both critically as well as the audience (loved it). At the moment, the show is still in the writing phase. I cannot comment on when it comes, but I am as excited as all of those comments and waiting to get that call from Netflix to shoot it.
So, what's happening next? Tell us something about your upcoming projects.
The next project is something I'm very excited about because it's the kind of a part that I have never done before. It's a film called Pal Bhar Ke Liye. It's directed by Vikram Phadnis, who has already done two Marathi films, but this is his debut as a Hindi film director. It's a very heartfelt, emotional story that deals with mental health. It's the story of one family, so it's a very intimate and caring kind of film. I'm excited to see how the audience reacts to that.
Is season 2 of Shaque happening?
That is something I can neither confirm nor deny at the moment because, at the moment, we're so busy celebrating the success of the show that no one's really gotten to that question yet.
