Ashish R. Shukla’s Prague intrigued the audience at Osian International Film Festival last year. For the film’s leading man Chandan Roy Sanyal, it’s been a long wait to see the film release in India. His other film, Bombay’s Most Wanted directed by Aditya Bhattacharya, has also been waiting its turn for a theatrical release. Not wanting to cool his heels at home, Chandan was on the look out for a few noticeable roles. An opportunity came through Nikhil Advani. “He was writing D-Day with Irrfan and Arjun Rampal in mind. While writing he sounded out the idea of the film to me and called me over to discuss it. He narrated the story and offered me a small but interesting part,” says Chandan.
The said part was that of don ‘Goldman’ (Rishi Kapoor)’s nephew. “I had to be brash; over the top. Nikhil Advani made me watch The Devil’s Double . Dominic Cooper’s role as Saddam Hussein’s son Uday is also brazen, but darker,” says Chandan. If most of you who’ve watched D-Day turned your head away from the screen, revolted, during the ‘Alvida’ song as Arjun Rampal attempts to recreate the brutality faced by Shruti Haasan at the hands of Chandan, it was all intended. “I had to look and act menacing, though if I had gone overboard it would have become buffoonery. A few scenes were edited for violence in the ‘Alvida ’ song,” says Chandan.
The actor is unabashed about his reasons for doing the film: “It was a big budget film and gave me the visibility I needed while waiting for Prague and Bombay’s Most Wanted to release. I was tired of sitting at home,” he says.
His role in D-Day has resemblances to that in Kaminey , we note. “It took some effort to do it differently so that I didn’t look repetitive,” he admits.
In the next turn, await Chandan in the psychological thriller Prague , where he is an architect caught in the different facets the historic city has to offer through its underground city, ghettos, synagogues and cathedrals. “It’s a quirky, edgy film and after we completed shooting, it took me a month to get back to my normal self,” he says.
Chandan will also be playing the lead in Abbas Tyrewala’s Mango . “It is a wicked and entertaining film,” he says, signing off.
