Exclusive! Tanaav actor Shashank Arora: Decoding the mind of a Kashmiri youth was tough

Actor Shashank Arora became a popular name in the industry for his roles in award-winning films like Titli, Lipstick Under My Burkha, The Song of Scorpions and Manto. The actor is all set for the release of his new web series titled Tanaav that also stars Manav Vij, Sumit Kaul, and Arbaaz Khan among others.

Set in Kashmir, the show is the Indian adaptation of the Israeli TV show Fauda. Shashank is playing the character of a young separatist who has joined the mission of freeing Kashmir from the Indian government and is working under the instruction of a terrorist Umar Riyaz.

Although he is in support of the cause and took the path of violence to achieve the goal, his mind is constantly in conflict and morality is in question.

Shashank told OTTplay, " I think decoding the mind of a young Kashmiri boy like Junaid that I played on-screen was very tough. These youngsters are living in a forced situation and their definition of normalcy and what we think of normalcy in Mumbai is so very different! But as an artist, we have the responsibility to show the reality, whether one likes it or not."

He continued, " My character Junaid is born in a conflicted area of south Kashmir where from his childhood all he has seen is death, violence and unjust. He is brainwashed, used by those who are on a mission for their agenda, their politics. This is one of the most complicated characters I have ever played so far!"

In the show, Shashank not only embodied the character of a young Kashmiri with a great deal of nuance but also spoke in the Kashmiri language to bring a certain level of authenticity.

"That was, you can say a scary part for me. Look, Kashmiri is a very different language and it is hard to learn. Sir (referring to Sudhir Mishra, director) wanted to add an extra layer of authenticity. Like the way we speak in Hindi and add English words very casually and keep mixing both languages, I was doing the same with Urdu and Kashmiri for my dialogues in Tanaav. I am nervous and hope that it is accepted by the audience, especially those who know both languages," shared the actor.

Written by Ishan Trivedi and Sudhir Mishra, and produced by Sameer Nair - Tanaav also features - Danish Husain, Rajat Kapoor, Ekta Kaul, Sukhmani Sadana, Waluscha De Sousa and Zarina Wahab . The show will be released on November 11 on SonyLIV.