Tushar Pandey: Hum Chaar is not competing with Gully Boy

Here are excerpts from the interview:

Q. Tell us more about your journey.

I was studying at Kirori Mal college and was a part of its theatre group. I enjoyed acting and soon got through the National School of Drama (NSD). Then I managed to get a full scholarship and moved to London to pursue acting. I was studying at the London School of Performing Arts and doing theatre there for two years. After that I took the decision to come back. I taught acting for a while at NSD and then moved to Mumbai. I did a film titled Beyond Blue that opened at Cannes and even managed to get me the Best Actor award at a festival in Rome. While I was doing theatre actively, I bagged Pink. And then Hum Chaar happened and my next release would be Chhichhore.

Q. How comfortable were you to work on a multi-cast project like Hum Chaar?

When I read the script, I knew it was about four characters and their journey. My experience has taught me that even if you are on-screen for one scene, you need to stand out. Having more actors around was never a worry for me. Also, my character has the most interesting graph. The dialect is very different and even the whole personality is stark opposite to me. He cannot speak English, while it’s my first language now. He lives in a village, and I haven’t even been to one. So all these contradictions made it a really interesting role. It gave me a chance to live a very different life. The film is also an opportunity for me to prove myself. And interestingly, Chhichhore too is a multi-cast and tells the story of six individuals.

The big day is finally here, all our hardwork is finally going to be worth it! Can’t wait to see how you guys like it!@theanshumanm @pritkamani @simransharrma @rajshri @humchaarfilm pic.twitter.com/ljvpvHFNnf

— tushar pandey (@tusharpandeyx) February 15, 2019

Q. Since you are from a theatre background, how much of unlearning did you have to do for Bollywood?

Not too much of unlearning but a lot of new experiences to learn from. In theatre, we need to keep adapting to different locations and situations. So you are never comfortable. And after doing that for all these years, I am always on the quest to mould myself. But I think that has been a blessing for me. Theatre actors come with no baggage and are always up to learn something new. I think the hard work in Hum Chaar is now helping me in Chhichhore as I am getting more comfortable with technicalities.

Q. While theatre works on characters, Bollywood is more of hero worship. Did you find any difference?

I think times have changed completely. Look at Rajkummar Rao or Ayushmann Khurrana, they are not the stereotypical hero but people are ready to put money on them. While there’s a lot to learn from the heroes, I will love to do strong character driven roles. And I feel lucky that as I start my career, Rajshri Productions believed in me with Hum Chaar. It’s a responsibility for all of us to carry it on our shoulders.

Q. How was your experience of working for Hum Chaar?

It was really amazing. Luckily all of us were quite secure about our roles. To be honest, the screen time is equally divided among the four of us. So it made it easier for us to focus on the graph of our characters.

The entire cast and crew had put up together in a hostel while shooting, making us bond better. Also, since it was the first big project for most of us, even the director and DOP, we were all trying to put our best on the project. And the best part was when Sooraj (Barjatya) sir met us before the shoot. He told us to have fun and enjoy the process than worrying about how the film would do at the box office. Coming that from your producer meant a lot.

#HumChaar brought back some nostalgic memories of my college days, it’s been fun working with this new family. Now as we are close to the release, I look back at this memory with glee, here’s hoping that #HumChaar is as fun for you as it was for us💜 #ThrowbackThursday pic.twitter.com/xDlmMDec7R

— tushar pandey (@tusharpandeyx) January 31, 2019

Q. But do you think Hum Chaar will sustain competition with Gully Boy?

I don’t think it’s a competition in any way. Both films are from a very different league. I, myself am excited to see Gully Boy. As for Hum Chaar, I know it will be a conscious decision for the audience to go for the film, but once you are in the theatre, I promise, you will not be disappointed at all.