Actor Chandan Roy moved to Mumbai after leaving his full-time journalism job to pursue his dream of becoming an actor. After spending a year taking up small television roles, he got his big break with the web series Panchayat, which premiered in 2020. Its release coincided with the Covid-19 pandemic, which helped the show reach a wider audience and become one of the most popular show on OTT.
In an exclusive interaction with Hindustan Times, Chandan spoke about the exact moment he realised Panchayat had become a hit and that his life was about to change. He also opened up about the fear of being typecast and what he learnt from sharing screen space with veteran actor Raghubir Yadav.
What was the exact moment when you realised Panchayat had become a huge hit, and life is about to change?
When Panchayat released, Covid was going on. I had gone back to my village. I was holding a sack of flour behind my uncle, who was driving his bike. There, a guy came running up to me. He stopped us and said, “Bhaiya, I just watched your show Panchayat; you did such great work in it.” I thought Panchayat would only be watched in big cities like Mumbai and Delhi, but when this kid in a small town like Mahnar came running to me, I felt that something big had happened because Panchayat had reached all the way here. My uncle was also astonished. That kid took a selfie with me, and then I was stopped by another person during that ride.
Do you ever fear being typecast?
Initially, when you don’t have work and money, and you have to run your kitchen, you don’t pay attention to what the character is, whether you even speak in the entire film or if you have a proper scene. But when you get recognition, you can choose whether you want to do a character or not. So, now I am at a stage where I can select or reject a character according to my preference. Now, I tend to avoid characters that I feel will typecast me. For example, I really dislike this character type – ‘Hero ka dost’. I feel even if he is the hero’s friend, he should have a proper background story.
You have worked with two of the film industry’s most senior and critically acclaimed actors, Neena Gupta and Raghubir Yadav. Is there anything you have picked up from their acting and incorporated into your own?
I never do this because I think my work should be very original, and I should not copy another actor’s traits. However, when you work with very senior artists, you definitely observe how they approach a character, how they behave on camera, or how they interact with people on set. So, no doubt, I learn all those things. For instance, I find Raghubir sir’s method very beautiful: even today, he prepares with his script as if he’s appearing for a board exam. He holds a pencil in his hand, checking, listening and reading every line over and over again. Whenever you go to his room, his script is open on his bed, even at this age and after doing so much work.
Chandan stars in short-film Aakhri Ride, which is presented by Anurag Kashyap and Vasan Bala. It is written and directed by Yashoda Parthasarthy and Vijesh Rajan and produced by Ranjan Singh, Vishesh Agrawal, Rajan EPK and Anurag. It is streaming on the youtube channel Oh Short Flips.