He says he is piggy-backing on Sunny Leone to re-launch himself and we think TANUJ VIRWANI’s honesty is plain HOT, writes SHUBARNA MUKERJI SHU.
ONE NIGHT STAND is getting a lot of eyeballs, and clearly all Sunny Leone’s films manage to grab eyeballs. However, this time around the film promises to be more… more than item numbers, more than raunchiness… It’s about emotions that both the leading actors in the film are leaving bare. “It’s commendable, for someone who already has a huge fan base, to come out and want to do something different; I am really glad to have got the opportunity to peg my film on her name,” Tanuj says of Leone. “Given my first couple of films didn’t have that one factor that would pull people to the theatres, this is certainly a good beginning,” he adds, making no bones about needing a name to launch him, to make people sit up and take notice. For his sake, we are happy. After all, there’s something inherently positive about Tanuj and it shows in his earnestness and his cinema. Excerpts from our chat…
Given you have been making short films, wherein lies your lust?
There is no question about it… I might have been perplexed as a child when I would hear everyone call my mother ‘Sapna’ thanks to her film EK DUUJE KE LIYE, but for me today, that’s where I want to be. I want to make the niche for myself wherein I do something that everyone would relate to, and recognise me by my work. So there is no confusion in my mind for sure – I want to be known as an actor.
But it hasn’t been easy thus far… what are your fears?
Of course there are loads of insecurities as an actor. I know I have a long way to go and I am trying, I am anxious, I have always been receptive to criticism and I genuinely try to incorporate what people are saying but then there are a lot of trollers out there. They just want to troll you, abuse you for nothing. And abusing is no constructive criticism; it is not even criticism. So you cannot take it to heart, you just have to ignore it.
Having said that, it is also a fact that once you sign up to be a public figure, you end up becoming public property, so you take it as it comes. There will be anxiety, there will be criticism but you will not want to trade it for anything else ever… So that’s the way it is for me, so far!
What’s so hot about movies?
Everything! It’s awesome, the whole experience. They say when you read a book it’s awesome because you have your own interpretation of the story. I really feel that the movie experience too can be your very own. I am someone who you would call perhaps every filmmaker’s delight. I get all charged up when I am watching action films, I cry like a baby when things get sad. I even laugh and hoot when something tickles me. I am the most receptive audience you can get. I always have my emotions right at the surface. If anyone has a problem with it, my attitude is ‘Maine apni seat kepaisediyehai…’ I am going to make sure I enjoy the film. That’s the whole idea about movies, right? When the audience walks into that dark theatre, they basically want to escape reality and enjoy themselves. If I manage to come out with a goofy smile plastered on my face, it is paisa vasool.
Another hot trend now is social media, which is bursting at the seams…
It is awesome to be informed. I am here and I can get information about anything I want at a click. It is damn good, but then there is such a thing as too much information, too. I have had to consciously decide not to see my phone post 11pm. If someone needs me they will call on my landline. I don’t want to be a slave to social network; I certainly don’t want to tempt a meltdown.
It is tough enough when I have to go pacifying my friends who demand explanations for not calling them when I go touring cities for film promotions. It is not their fault; they don’t know our schedules are so tight. Yet, I need to give explanations which gets tough. So when it comes to social networking, I want to hold onto the reins, thus holding onto my sanity a wee bit longer.
