Exclusive! Tushar Pandey: I’m getting offers to play a confused guy every month since Chhichhore’s release

Sony LIV is all set to present a film called #Homecoming which will see Hussain Dalal (last seen in Toofaan), Kabir Singh’s Soham Majumdar and Chhichhore actor Tushar Pandey as the male leads. The trio got together and spoke about their project and their most remembered work and how they have been stereotyped by that work. While talking to OTTplay exclusively, Soham spoke about how he kept being approached to play a best friend. Tushar, on the other hand, recalled how he still gets the role of a confused guy. Excerpts…

Did you guys have to understand the culture of Kolkata to understand your #Homecoming characters better? Tell me the preparation process.

Soham: It was a lot of fun. I don’t think we had to internalize something very different from whatever we are personally because all of us (Tushar, me and Hussain) have done theatre in the past. So it was just getting back to that life in a way. What I did was interacting with a backstage manager for tropes. I didn’t have to prepare separately per say. We had a lot of workshops with the entire unit – 27 to 30 actors. In a theatre group, it is very important to have chemistry. Unless and until we did the workshops, we didn’t look like a theatre group.

Tushar: I had to get a little context of Calcutta because the film is set around there and talks about the past, cultural references and more. I’m not from Kolkata. I’ve only read a little bit about it in literature or in my college days, there was a sense that I had to spend time with familiarity. My character is also born and brought up in Kolkata so I was trying to understand whatever I could. The advantage was that I have played a Bengali character before. There was some residue that helped me to get into the character. Apart from that, a huge credit would go to all the actors from Kolkata. They’ve really helped a lot in not just fine the balance but also make it natural. When I saw the film, it felt like I don’t look like someone who isn’t from Kolkata, so that level of comfort was there. I made sure that I do speak Bengali in parts in the film. I did spend some time in trying to get that because I want to stay true to my audience as much as possible. The energy was spent in finding the balance. It took some time but because most of the people in the cast and crew are from Kolkata, it did help a lot.

Hussain: For me, it was very simple actually. I would listen to Soham and watch Tushar. It is the only way to learn cinema in India. Jokes apart, I got to spend a lot of time with Shomojit, the director. I just wanted to understand how does he see the project. It was important for me to know what he’s trying to say. We had such amazing people. Tushar did a workshop with us and I spoke to Soham so much. Hence, the prep happened to me in the process of reaching shoot. By the time we began filming, I understood what we were trying to say. At the same time, my advantage is that I was playing a character who doesn’t completely speak Bengali. I think spending time with my director helped a lot.

S: I agree. Shomojit is actually the soul of the film. Spending time with him definitely helped all of us a lot. Me being from Kolkata, I didn’t feel like Hussain and Tushar are not from there too. It is also why we do not call Homecoming a Bengali or Hindi film. We are calling it a Calcutta film because you speak all the languages there. The first thing me and Hussain did was go out and eat.

H: Yeah, we ate biryani first. We generally bonded a lot, not only over Kolkata biryani. You know sometimes when you shoot for a project, every once-in-a-while you meet people who you really like yaar. We were hanging out too much, six hours a day.

Hussain, after Toofan, are you ready to create a storm with #Homecoming?

Time will pass, films will come. If everybody doesn’t get a cough and cold, then we’re all good. Yes, there’s lots of love and anxiousness. Inshallah, everything will be good.

T: He’s just being humble. He’s becoming more and more successful and doing the kind of work that the audience wants to see. Now he’s just being the humble boy saying that things happen. Let me answer for Hussain, 2021 has been really good, 2022 is looking killer and 2023, where I cannot announce the films I’m working on, will be the best year ever.

#Homecoming trailer has a lot of aspects. Of course, it is about these three theatre actors in Kolkata but there are other things going on too. So, when you read the script, what was it that you took back – which made you think it is this story that I want to tell?

T: In all our lives, we need the one trigger that makes us understand what do we want to do in life. This film is a story set on one night. It is this one night that helps everyone in the film to understand what they really want down their life or what makes them proceed further with the conviction that they have or whatever was left behind. We all as artists have been struggling and trying to understand what do we really want to say – be it through art or work. It definitely resonated with me. Having said that, I personally connected a lot with the character because I have started performance with theatre and my whole journey has been theatre. This idea about not to worry about money, what people would say but just going and performing plays on streets out of pure passion to say something – it is what helped me understand more about the film and my character. Our director also made this film after dealing with so many issues. The pure passion to say that he really wants to make something, it reflected in me and that got me excited for the film.

H: I like the human story of it. I was reading Soham, Tushar, Sayani and Plobita’s part when what really reached out to me is that when you’re young, everybody is passionate and then one day, somebody turns around and says ‘listen that’s just your hobby. Forget art, you have to go to work.’ Some of us go to work while others pursue what the world calls ‘hobby’. When we become successful, they say wow but when we don’t, they call us the ‘poor chap who does theatre’. In India, theatre is a profession where very rich people do theatre because theatre keeps you very poor. It’s not broadway or the West. So, if you are chasing this dream, you might not make it or even not be an artist. People call themselves artists but how do you prove that? When we meet 10 years later, some of these people made it and some didn’t. I really enjoyed that reality and truth. Thus, I wanted to be a part of the project – because it talks about a larger truth – that it is cute when you are young but suddenly you have responsibilities and people choose many things in a decade. That’s what hit me.

S: I don’t know if I can share anything about the script per say but I would like to repeat what Hussain had said – that Homecoming is almost like a love letter to Kolkata. I was just bowled over by that line and thus, I wanted to be a part of the project. I would like to tell you, I was doing this film for which I was given a duplet accommodation. I have no complaints because I really enjoyed that accommodation but back when I used to do theatre, there was this small house where used to perform in a small place in Saket, Delhi. It was not even 100 square feet and 15 of us used to live in that small space and that journey is something that I was reminded of when I was reading the script. I questioned, “How far have we come or how backwards have we gone?” It is a dilemma I was living with and my character also deals with. The question is - Does success mean that you earn a lot of money and are living on the 44th floor of a building or is it just spending quality time with your friends and sharing good thoughts and spreading everything we can spread through our art, in a way? That’s all I would like to say about my character.

Tushar, your claim-to-fame is Chhichhore. Do you believe that #Homecoming has such a role for you too?

H: Can I answer this? Everybody knows what a good actor Tushar is but let me tell you what a good teacher Tushar is. We have invariably ended up asking Tushar live questions every time we were sitting on sets, one of which was, how does he approach his scenes? He then tells you about how he observed a painting in France. “A ‘chicha’ sits behind the lane with a painting. That is where I saw the painting,” he would say. We learn from that. So, do not talk about something as small as success and fame in front of him.

T: To answer simply, I really don’t know. The thing is, I’m trying to do films where I feel I have something to offer. Obviously, the industry is difficult because a lot of times, you end up doing films or projects where you feel that it is better to do something rather than not doing anything for a few months. It’s a fair trade. Right now, I have at least three projects lined up after Homecoming. I do have films but I’m trying to go slow because the industry is more about sustainability and how you’re able to sustain yourself with work rather than doing just one big film and then not doing anything. I would rather look at actors who try to do good work rather than not doing anything. After Chhichhore, I got lot of films with a very similar arc – a simple boy who is confused and scared. Yes, I can do it and might get recognized for it but it won’t do anything for me. I’d much rather do the other kind of films, ones which work for me and give me the credibility. One film that does to me will change that course. Slow and steady is my motto right now.

Are you getting more of those scripts your way or has it changed now?

I got Homecoming which is very different than what Chhichhore was but that (role like Chhichhore) is something which I get regularly. Even now, once a month, I will get a film like that and it would be a big film too. That happens. It’s a very conscious choice. You can look at the actors in the industry who are doing very similar roles because they are famous for that. Full marks to them but I just don’t feel like that because I have spent a lot of time studying acting and understanding what it means to me. So I would rather wait. I’m fairly young and look that. It’s okay, I can give time.

Like you rightly mentioned, filmmakers tend to stereotype actors into one role and cannot look beyond it. How exactly are you planning to break that stereotype?

Homecoming is very different. People sometimes don’t even recognize you as the same actor who performed that certain role. The series that I did called Aashram had a similar world but it’s a completely different character and the journey. It also has to do with me, about how I portray those characters. The idea is to show that a scared and timid boy can be played in multiple ways. I was offered a film after doing Aashram which was amazing because the two characters are very different.

You spoke about Aashram. What is the update on the series. Are we getting a new part of it?

Yes, soon. The next part will be out this year. The shoot is complete and it should come out very soon.

Soham, it is like the role was tailor-made for you, won't you say?

Yes and no. It has no similarities as to how I’ve led my life. I very well knew what I wanted to do and didn’t want to do in life. I pursued an engineering degree and then jumped on to theatre. I knew I didn’t want to do the 9-5 job which a lot of people take a lot of time to realize that. Of course, certain circumstances and situations in life pushed me to do so. Once people watch the film, they’ll know that Soham and Godo (the character I play) are very different people. Having said that, of course, the fact that I was a part of a theatre group and missing it, are tailor-made for me. There were times when I felt like I cheated on Shomojit because I played Soham where I had to be Godo.

While Shahid and Kiara received a lot of claim and offers after Kabir Singh, did playing Shiva help get you recognized in the industry in the terms of getting more offers after the film?

I have left a particular life. I left the monotony for a particular reason. I didn’t wish to play a best friend to another character because not all best friend roles are that well written as in Kabir Singh. I was offered those kind of roles after that but I didn’t wish to do them because they didn’t offer me much. When I was offered Dhamaka, I took it up because it was something I never did. It is difficult to be patient though because we don’t know what will be offered to us or will come our way but definitely, I do not wish to be a part of similar, fabricated roles. If my character helps the arc of the film and has an arc in himself, then I would love to jump on that.

Your upcoming projects?

I work in both the film industries – Bengali and Hindi. I have projects lined up in both the industries. I’m also shooting for Hindi web shows. I’m looking forward to it.