Tanuj Virwani is crazy about his innings on the OTT. After ‘Inside Edge’, there was no looking back for him.
He talks about his time in the film industry and now in OTT and shares his 10-year journey in the industry. He also spoke about metrosexual/straight men and his soon-to-be-launched brand ‘Shaitaan’ that aims to help men smell good.
Excerpts from the interview with Lipika Varma
Can you tell us more about Murshid?
This is a show we are really excited about. I have actually worked with director Shravan sir before for Kamathipura. He always writes really cool and dark stuff. He doesn’t believe in shooting on sets. He prefers to shoot in real locations. Sometimes he casts normal people instead of actors. It’s a different work dynamic. You are taken out of the safety zone of a film set and put in real situations. It’s a similar experience when you work with actors like KK sir or Zakir sir. I think it’s a sink or swim kind of situation and you have no choice but to step up.
Are you lucky that your career is doing well now with the advent of OTT?
Yes, all actors get good work. I don’t just feel lucky. I feel like I’m in the second half of my career. When I got into this industry, people had either movies or TV to enjoy. I was very clear that I wanted to be an actor. Maybe I wasn’t mentally and physically trained enough to handle the whole circus.
Your film “One Night Stand” was a flop at the box office. Do you regret that?
I remember it was May 5, 2016, when my film One Night Stand with Sunny Leone released. We had high hopes because we wanted to tell an adult story. It was different from the other films she did. The music was really good but it was not a success at the box office. That was my third flop in a row and then I thought my career was over.
Suddenly I got a call from Excel and they said, “Hey, listen, you auditioned for this one show we’re doing. The director really likes your work. Can you come over tomorrow? We want to discuss how we’re going to proceed. And the show ended up becoming ‘Inside Edge,’ which revived my career.”
As the son of Rati Agnihotri, how do you view the industry?
From the outside, the industry seems very glamorous. Even though my mother was such a successful actress, I was never on a film set, so I didn’t really know what life on a film set was really like.
I wasn’t there when she returned to the film business in the early 2000s. I wasn’t exposed to that life. She kept me away from it. So I got a nasty shock when I did a couple of films and they flopped at the box office.
What is a metrosexual man for you? What do you think about it?
I think that self-care is extremely important. When you are clean, people around you feel better. You should take care of yourself. I don’t understand why there is a difference between boys and girls. Even boys have to be clean. We expect our girlfriend or our sister to go to the salon to look well-groomed. In fact, you should have the same expectations from men too.
He says that men also like to attract attention. Everyone likes someone who smells good and is clean when they walk into the room.
How do you differentiate between metrosexual and heterosexual men and separate them from the rest?
To be honest, I don’t know the difference, but I think in this day and age, the ideal man should be someone who is very in tune with his feminine side as well. I sometimes feel like we men tend to overcompensate. Hamein lagta hai ki nahi mard ko dard nahi hota. We need to show our masculinity.
If I watch a movie or see something on the news or in real life and it touches me, then personally I have no problem saying, “Yes, I shed a tear and I’m sad. There’s no need to be ashamed of that.”
Look at the Deol family. They are the most masculine men there are, but they cry the most. They have a strong personality but a soft heart.
