Actor Chandan Roy Sanyal, who is collecting praises for his recently released series Aashram 3, says that he didn’t open his social media handles for a while right after the season was released as his phone was constantly ringing. The new season sees his character Swami Bhupendra Singh (Bhuppa Swami) in a different avatar. Sanyal says that ever since he did Aashram, things have been fantastic for him as he is getting offers back to back. However, the actor says that he is yet to do a great comic or a romantic role.
In a free-wheeling chat with News18, he also talked about his journey towards spiritualism and his spiritual awakening. Excerpts:
How is your character different in the third season of Aashram and how has the response been?
In the first two seasons, you see how dark and competitive Bhuppa is and how he is such a great businessman, and a calm and cold-blooded person. But in this season we see other shades of him. He is constantly being pushed by Baba (Bobby Deol), his friend, who he worked all his life for. You will see how Baba keeps challenging him and keeps questioning his ethics for him. So Bhuppa now raises a question about his friendship and it makes him wonder and upset.
The response has been great and it has been picking up. I had switched off my social media as my phone was constantly ringing. The appreciation was amazing but I was away from social media for some time.
After Aashram, how have things changed for you?
My equity and stake have risen a lot after the release of Aashram. Luckily there is another show I did, titled ‘Ray’ on Netflix which also got me a lot of great reviews. Then Sanak also did well so luckily all my work has only added to the glory and people have started sending me amazing characters. I get an offer almost every week for some film or a series and it is really humbling.
Has this recognition and appreciation helped you get the roles you have always wanted to do?
It is picking up. I still not have gotten what I want to do but I think it is a matter of time. I am really manifesting this every day that I get to do some great comedy. I think I have a great sense of humour and great comic timing and I want to try comedy, and romance and want to do some long format romantic stories. I am always inspired by the kind of work Mr Kamal Haasan did and he is one of my favourite actors of all time.
Any specific filmmaker you want to collaborate with for these two genres you want to explore?
I would love to work with Vishal Bhardwaj, Mani Ratnam, Anurag Kashyap and Vikramaditya Motwane. Some other filmmakers I adore and would love to work with are Vidhu Vinod Chopra and Rajkumar Hirani.
How has OTT helped you as an actor?
OTT has really helped me explore as an actor because the kind of films I did was critically acclaimed and my roles were also appreciated. But in films, you don’t have much time and space to perform. I sincerely feel that will change for me now but the kind of work I am doing on OTT has given me a lot of space to perform. Especially with Aashram. We have released the third season and we’re already on the fourth season. So you get to stay with your character for a long time. A lot of people have started messaging me saying, ‘you are a star, what an act, nobody like you.’ All these kinds of messages are really humbling. OTT has given me that space to explore and the length and space to perform.
Aashram deals with a lot of spirituality. How spiritually inclined are you in real life?
I have been acting since my college days and I have always asked people why they wanted to become an actor. Most of them said they are passionate, love acting or wanted to be famous and have loads of money and a car. Then I realised why I want to become an actor. I actually started acting because it made me forget my worries and gave me a lot of confidence. Earlier, I was shy and reserved. It changed my personality and then I started enjoying acting. It helped me grow as a person and everything changed.
When I lost my father in February, I was going through one of my darkest phases. I was low as I saw a man dying in front of my eyes and felt helpless. I didn’t know what to do and everything was gloomy around me. Then you realise what is life, because in a minute everything changes. Then I realised there is something I am seeking and I turned to reading books and meeting people who gave me some really good answers. I started watching a lot of stuff on YouTube and writing as well.
My dad’s going away changed me as a person but I have found another reason to live. Singer KK going away a few days ago was such a shocker for all of us. But that’s what life is and there is nothing you can do about it. All these things made me turn to spiritualism and I realised I was always spiritual. The awakening has started to happen now.
