Tahir Raj Bhasin on why having four consecutive releases within a month is a ‘happy problem to have’-Entertainment News , Firstpost

Tahir Raj Bhasin in Looop Lapeta

Tahir Raj Bhasin has been on a roll with a theatrical release like 83, followed up by OTT projects like Voot Select’s Ranjish Hi Sahi, and Netflix India’s Yeh Kaali Kaali Ankhein and Looop Lapeta, all within a space of two months. Bhasin spoke to Firstpost about the whirlwind time he’s been having, working in an ensemble cast, and what worked for him when the chips were down.

We have to usually pretend when interviewing stars that ‘they have been busy’ but with you, that has literally been the case with four releases in the space of two months. What has this felt like?

Well, to be honest I like to look at them as happy problems. It has been a manic whirlwind two months. When people ask what have you been shooting for, I tell them I’ve been shooting for promotions. There have been instances when I blanked out at times, and had to remember for a second what exactly am I promoting here. But it has taken me two years of shoots to get here. The stars seem to have been aligned, that such diverse projects came out just one after the other. It’s a good problem to have.

But have you also wished they were spread over, allowed you the time to absorb it all?

There are goods and bads to both I guess. Maybe spread over six months, these releases would have had a ripple effect, but altogether at the same time, they’ve felt like a tidal wave. I have been receiving messages from around the world from as far as Japan about Yeh Kaali Kaali Ankhein.

This is the easier part of the journey of an actor for a family to participate in. But what role has your family played in the days when the work and this adulation seemed further, and maybe even unlikely

They have been incredibly supportive. I am from a defence family so I’ve lived all over India. It was the movies during the shifting and changing that became a permanent home for me. I was fascinated with the big screen because it became my permanent friend amid all the moving around. But acting really began once I came to Delhi. My family had always seen me work at it not just as a hobby, so I didn’t just tell them overnight. The conversation with my dad that I was going to Mumbai to become an actor was obviously a difficult one but thankfully, they’ve always been supportive. In fact, they’ve never given up on me. That is mentorship in a nutshell.

Post Mardaani, there could and probably should have been a lot more work coming your way but it seemingly did not materialise. What would you tell your younger self about that phase of life?

I would definitely want my younger self to be more patient, less anxious, because there is this sense of wanting everything to happen overnight.

Is that because of the nature of the industry you are in?

I agree. There is a downside to stardom. The pressure increases, and people wonder if you’re just a one-hit-wonder or if you can sustain good work over a period of time. It happened, to an extent, to me after Mardaani. But what kept me going, as you asked, was that I always felt Mardaani was 1/100th of what I was capable of. It gave me conviction to wait for the right scripts. Because in the industry, as soon as you get recognition, you instantly want to recreate it. The first year after Mardaani, I had to refuse seven scripts because they all seemed and sounded like an extension of something that I had already done. It wasn’t easy of course, but yes it takes conviction.

The dynamic of the ensemble cast has evolved over the last decade where now, every actor has a character to play. You have been in two, the fun Chhichhore and the epic 83. What has enabled this on the actor’s side?

I think a lot of credit for this goes to the audience. We’re living in era where cinemagoers have grown up on watching an Ocean’s Eleven. We are watching Avengers, so we’ve gotten used to seeing huge stars in ensembles. But if you are in the hands of good directors, you know they’ve brought you on to serve a specific purpose. When I first read the script for Chhichhore, and I read how Derek had been imagined, it was all there, his ‘hostel ka baap’ type personality. It’s important how your character drives the story, and as long as that works, it all comes together in the end.

I think what has also changed since the time I did Mardaani is that back then, you could either be a film star or a TV star. But now you can be a hybrid star. Someone wrote about me recently that I’m ‘the new star of OTT.’ It’s good for now, but the aim is to be the hybrid.

Is Satya from Looop Lapeta your best work according to you?

The minute I signed Looop Lapeta, I knew Akash Bhatia would give it a treatment unlike anything we’ve ever seen here. The DOP [Yash Khanna] brought his own visual language, and it had to stand out because it is the official adaptation of a cult international classic. As for Satya, he is probably the most exciting character I’ve played because he is so erratic, he thinks he is a romantic hero but he is so severely flawed. Also he is different characters within the film, almost three different at different points in the film. That is what I find so interesting about the character, the many rhythms he has. 

So what is next, a moment of lull for a change?

Not really, I can’t wait to get back to shooting. It’s where I am the most at peace. And it is such an exciting time where you can juggle between OTT and cinema…

Anything you wish would come your way?

An out-and-out comedy. With Satya, I’ve just touched the surface I feel. It was more dramatic. A comedy would be just the thing.

Manik Sharma writes on art and culture, cinema, books, and everything in between.