Tahir Raj Bhasin on back-to-back releases, playing the ‘hero’: ‘I always wanted to play the romantic lead’

It has been a good year for you.

By far, it is the best year of my career. I wake up feeling encouraged that people are accepting my work and there is validation. To have back-to-back releases means that you have to have back-to-back shoots as well. So, for the past two years, I’ve been shooting continuously, and it just so happened that the stars have aligned and all the films came out at a really great time. This has also allowed me to open a new chapter of doing ‘romantic leads’. Even within that scope, I am doing such diverse projects. You can see how different Yeh Kaali Kaali Aankhein and Looop Lapeta are, despite being on the same platform.

 

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The more work one does, the more acceptance you get from the fraternity and the audience. The audience today is so different than say what it was five year ago, just in terms of the diverse content that they are exposed to. Just recently, this beautiful south Indian superhero film, Minnal Murali, came out. It has such a fab concept and has done really well. Then there are Korean films dubbed in Hindi or with subtitles that could be doing well too. So, the idea of making stories more mainstream has become a possibility.

 

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After playing a negative role in your debut film Mardaani, you have gone ahead and played varied roles. Which is your favourite genre?

Being a romantic hero is my comfort zone. Growing up in the 90s, that was the kind of cinema we saw, and that’s my idea of ‘hero’. So, when I got Mardaani as my first film, I really took it up as a challenge. I had to push my craft in trying to achieve that intense grey character. Back in the day, people would call it anti-hero and there is a certain charm to play these characters as there is a kind of mystery that they bring along. Picking a variety of roles has been a conscious decision for me. I am glad that after Mardaani, I got Force 2 that was full of action; then came Chhichore, a college drama; then I had Manto opposite Nawazuddin Siddiqui, which was directed by Nandita Das and went to Cannes. I recently did 83.

However, 2022 has been fantastic, because of the hattrick of hits with Ranjish Hi Sahi, Yeh Kaali Kaali Aankhein and Looop Lapeta. Romance is something that I had never done before, so I feel so fortunate that these two shows gave me the opportunity. My family is elated, my mother called me and said ‘dene wala jab bhi deta deta chhappar phaad ke…’, and that’s really true.

 

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What I am really glad is that even when there have been back to back releases, all projects are so diverse that you can’t take one and compare it with the other.

What is your criteria when it comes to picking projects?

It has to be the story. If we look at Chhichhore, Darrick was in all senses ‘hostel ka baap’, the character and his story was so visual. It is important for me to know what is the part, and how is it affecting the story. It was the same when I played Sunil Gavaskar in 83. So the story, what my part is doing in it, and the director, these things are important for me.

On joining the OTT league, do you miss theatrical releases?

I think I am very fortunate to be in a space in my career where I can juggle both. This wasn’t true at the time when Mardaani came. You could either be a film star or a TV star, there was nothing in between. OTT is what everyone is consuming today and it is great to be a part of the platform. It is a great time for an actor to be able to co-exist.