“I’m Open To Where Destiny And Life Take Me”, Reyaansh Vir Chadha

Reyaansh Vir Chadha , who plays the role of Akshay in Dangal TV’s Prem Bandhan tells JYOTHI VENKATESH in this exclusive and intimate telephonic interview for bollyy.com and Mayapuri that in a day’s shoot, the movie actors can get only a maximum of 5 minutes of content, but TV actors manage to shoot at least 90% of one episode of every show that comes up to 19 minutes of content

Tell me something about your character of Akshay Malhotra in Dangal TV’s Prem Bandhan.

His relationship with Janki (Chhavi Pandey) has begun on a note of friendship and he tries to help her out as she is stuck in a situation.

Akshay also saves her life and helps her grow. Later on, in the show, he gets to know her and also falls in love with her.

What made you take up the show Prem Bandhan?

As I have already worked with Balaji, it was one of the major reasons for me to take up the show.

My journey with Balaji has been fabulous. ‘Ye Hai Mohabbatein’ has been amazing for me and I really enjoyed working with them.

One thing I realized is when you work with Balaji, you get to know that as far as production values and creativity, Balaji is quite strong.

As an I actor it was quite satisfying and relaxing and didn’t tantamount to taking any extraneous pressure.

Do you have a background in theatre?

When I came to Bombay, I started my career in theatre. Frankly, I'm a very introverted person and I had no plans of getting into acting.

I used to get a lot of modeling offers and that's how my career started. So, when I was staying here, some of my friends told me to try theatre and advised me to join the stage.

I joined the Ideal Group who staged several plays on social issues like dowry etc. which related to social elements.

We used to even go to colleges and perform along with street plays. And once I started doing theatre, I fell in love with acting and realized I can take it up as a full-fledged career.

Are you an expert in adapting to situations?

Yes, I am. In theatre, we used to get the script and we used to practice it for months together and get the best out of it.

A lot of people say that doing television is easy and narration of a script is easy, but I feel it is a lot more than this.

On the contrary, I would say that it's very difficult and different from what we think. Here we need to be very quick and spontaneous and it’s very easy for a television actor to perform well on a film set.

The graph gets polished every day as there are a lot of rehearsal and hard work out into it.

TV actors have to be disciplined as they have a strict deadline to adhere to and they have to windup the episodes whereas the movie actors can take it a little easy!

Well, if you see, in a day’s shoot, the movie actors can get a maximum of 5 minutes of content.

But on a TV set, you have to manage to shoot at least 90% of one episode that comes up to 19 minutes of content. So, imagine the kind of speed we need to work in.

How did you get your first break with Balaji Telefilms in Yeh Hai Mohabbatein?

It was a usual process through auditions. You get shortlisted and you are called for a look test.

If you get finalized then you are called for a costume trial and then you are on the set. So this is how I got my first break.

The character was that of a very flamboyant guy who could do anything for the sake of his dear mother, incidentally enacted by none other than veteran actress Sudha Chandran.

So he had to take revenge with the leading lady. But eventually, he figures that things were misunderstood among the families.

Why did you leave your job as a cabin crew?

It was my first job but with due respect, I don't think that job was meant for me. I get bored very easily with monotonous work and didn't see any scope for growth for me.

I worked for 6 months as I have never done anything in my life that has not given me immense satisfaction.

I don’t like waking up every morning and being frustrated about reporting for the job I am supposed to go in for.

Can you name at least five film producers who are in your Wish list?

I would love to work with Anurag Kashyap for sure. Then there is Karan Johar. I would love to work in a completely different genre with Prabhu Deva for a Tamil or for that matter Telugu action movie.

I would even love to work with Anurag Basu for the kind of characters that he sets out to make. Sanjay Leela Bhansali is one more filmmaker who is definitely in the list of my top 5.

Who are your favorite actors?

I worship Mr. Amitabh Bachchan. I believe he is one of the most fabulous actors we have. And among the recent ones, I just love Ranbir Kapoor’s work.

He is an amazing actor. I also love Nawazuddin (Siddiqui) Sir and Pankaj (Tripathi) Sir also. Irrfan Khan was definitely one of the best actors of the decade.

Who are your favorite actresses?

Well, it gets very difficult to choose among the actresses but I love the way Alia (Bhatt) acts and I am also a very huge Sridevi fan.

After having seen you in TV serials like Yeh Hai Mohabbatein and now Prem Bandhan, are there any chances of seeing you in films too?

Yes, of course, when the time is right. There will be a time when I hope that I will give you an interview for bollyy.com and Mayapuri and talk about my film.

You said you are introverted. Are you also very shy in front of the media?

Yeah, I don’t go for all media parties as I don’t feel comfortable. Being an introvert, I always get to play characters, who are extroverts and people then come up to me and say you are very different.

I say that it was a role that I played and it’s not necessary that even I have to be like that. Actually, it is a compliment for me because in real life, I am very shy but play the role of an extrovert character.

What attracted you to take up acting in the first place?

Like I said that I never wanted to be an actor but I fell in love with acting while performing on the stage.

Where do you see yourself 5 years later?

I actually don’t have an answer to this because no one can say what life holds for you. I don’t know because I’m open to where destiny and life take me. I know I’m going to act but the rest lies in the hands of my destiny.

Are you open to doing web shows?

Yes of course. People are doing fantastic work and vivid content is coming on the OTT platform and it's very satisfying for an actor.

So, I would love to be a part of something which is very good. Right now, I’m not doing a web show because when you shooting one show, all your dates are blocked and looking with the channel as well as the producers, especially since it’s tough to do two projects because people are shooting in different locations and it’s not practically possible to travel to different cities at the same time.