Tushar Pandey on how theatre background helped him perform in his upcoming film
Dhaval Roy (DNA; September 5, 2019)

For Tushar Pandey, Chhichhore — toplined by Sushant Singh Rajput and Shraddha Kapoor — is not just his big ticket to mainstream Bollywood but also a movie that has helped him showcase his training as a theatre artiste. “Approaching a character is serious work for me. I want to do my homework and detailing,” he states, referring to his days of studying at the National School of Drama (NSD), followed by London International School of Performing Arts and acting in drama in the British capital before moving back to India. Tushar tells us about the process of playing a 20-something college student and then a guy in mid-40s and why he will never give up theatre.

Generation leap
Tushar’s character’s journey in the Nitesh Tiwari directorial begins in college as an overprotected simpleton, Mummy. “He understands the world in a simple manner and his mother is his best friend. When he joins the institute, he comes across people who are worldly wise. One part of the role is that it’s a coming-of-age and figuring out life. The other part is a 45-year-old man, who has completed IIT and moved to a different part of the world,” he elaborates.

Approaching such dichotomous parts wasn’t cakewalk for Tushar. He explains, “I’ve studied in three different colleges and lived in a hostel, so, I could go back in time. The challenge was playing the middle-aged married guy with no hair.”

Tushar gives the credit to Nitesh for giving the actors a freehand to prep the way they wanted and allotting them two-and-a-half months for the transformation — in the psyche, physical appearance and voice since Tushar’s character moves abroad and so on. But this is where his theatre training helped. “I could give it everything I had to make the portrayal real and layered; because stage teaches you to do just that,” says the actor who has directed approximately 15 stage productions and acted in about 25 — like Shikhandi, Romeo-Juliet (with Kalki Koechlin), The Dumb Waiter and King Lear.

Best place to be
Tushar, whose indie film Beyond Blue (2015) premiered at the Cannes Film Festival and fetched him the Best Actor Award in Rome, says that he is in the best place at the moment. “This is the best opportunity for me — to play characters on the big screen to the best of my abilities, while not forgetting my roots in hardcore acting. Theatre will always be with me,” emphasises the actor who has also featured in Pink (2016) and Hum Chaar this year. He hopes Chhichhore will do for his career what Vicky Donor (2012) did for Ayushmann Khurrana, Masaan (2015) for Vicky Kaushal or Trapped (2016) for Rajkummar Rao. “It’s not a hero-heroine and supporting cast set-up but actually the story of seven friends,” he avers.

A special project
The film is also special to Tushar because of Nitesh and the confidence the director instilled in him for his work. “Actors are always a little worried, insecure and they always question themselves. So, when you meet someone who gives you a boost, you come out thinking you’ve done well,” he smiles. Tushar is waiting for the release of the movie, post which, he will be seen in Shikhandi, a play that’s been showing for two years. “I was busy with Hum Chaar and Chhichhore since 2018, so I couldn’t take up much work on stage. But I am in talks for directing and acting in a production next year. I’ll make sure I keep doing something in theatre,” he signs off.