Actor Chandan Roy Sanyal has taken slow yet sure steps in filmdom and wants to make a mark with each role he essays

Sheetal

Actor Chandan Roy Sanyal has a long list of films under his belt, but it is OTT that has given him wider recognition. The actor remains almost ‘unidentifiable’ as the character he portrays casts a bigger shadow on the audience! Only a true cinephile can remember him as Mikhail from Kaminey or Joseph D’Costa from Deepa Mehta’s Midnight’s Children, but everyone would know the Bhopa Swami from the hit show Aasharam!

On Friday, two of his projects, Woh 3 Din and Karm Yuddh, were released. The former is a film, which marks his comeback to theatres after a long time, and the latter is a web series streaming on Disney+Hotstar.

Chandan shares, “It’s not too often that you get to see two of your works releasing on the same date. There’s excitement because I got to play unique characters. The fact that the medium is different for both is a cherry on the cake. As an actor, it’s satisfying to make your presence felt. I am looking forward to viewers’ feedback.”

Great feeling

On what made Chandan accept Woh 3 Din, he said actor Sanjay Mishra had recommended his name to the director. “It’s always a great feeling when your co-actor has followed your work, watched you perform and then recommended you to work alongside him. I am really grateful to Mishra ji for thinking of me while reading the script. It is a matter of immense pride to share screen space with him and see him work in what he does best — comedy.” Chandan likes to approach every role with a fresh perspective and in Woh 3 Din, he has experimented with ‘social comedy’, which he hasn’t done much in his 16 year long career. “There will be lot of laughter in the cinema halls,” he beams.

Shooting with a rickshaw in Woh 3 Din, as Sanjay is the rickshaw-puller while Chandan a passenger, was yet another task. Chandan says, “It was too hot and any retake meant taking the rickshaw back all the way only to be pulled again! Sitting in UP’s summer in June in a black suit is tough, but Sanjay ji had it tougher. It becomes easy when your co-actor is as accommodating and funny as him.”

Web zone

In the web series Karm Yuddh, Chandan Roy Sanyal plays a journalist. Chandan describes his role as, “One of those TV anchors who is very loud, owns the channel and is very powerful. But it’s not the first time that I am playing a journalist and it surely won’t be the last. I had done a web series called Dheet Patangey, where I played Anand, a newspaper journalist.”

Chandan has made a few short films and it is direction that he wants to do in future, besides acting. Fingers crossed!