Actor Anup Soni staged Atul Satya Kaushik’s play, Ballygunge 1990, during the 50th jubilee celebrations of the Bhartendu Natya Academy in Lucknow. On the sidelines, the actor expressed his desire to reunite professionally with his wife, actor-director Juhi Babbar, soon.
They last worked together in Nadira Babbar’s Begum Jaan, written by Javed Siddique, some eight years ago. “Our son is still too young, so we are waiting for him to grow up a bit more before we work together once again. If we work together, we both need to travel. For now, we are managing in a way that one travels while the other stays at home. There has been a long gap since we worked together, so we are looking forward to it,” says the actor.
Juhi is currently busy with two monologues she wrote, directed, and produced. Meanwhile, Anup is engaged with his comedy play, My Wife’s Eighth Vachan, and the thriller Ballygunge 1990, which features two characters on stage.
“Both my plays are by Atul, and we get along very well. I am in discussion for a new play with him in a different genre. For me, the story should be relatable; once the script is locked, we can open another play this year,” he states.
Last seen in the OTT series Sare Jahan Se Accha, he will next be seen in Talaash and Hardik Mehta’s Eikhattey. He also recently wrapped the shoot for Panchayat director Deepak Mishra’s feature film Vvan, starring Sidharth Malhotra and Tamannaah Bhatia.
The actor says, “I am not in a hurry. I don’t get FOMO because rangmanch hai mere paas! Now, we have options for OTT series as well. Actors can afford to wait for good film projects by keeping themselves busy in other avenues.”
Last year, he also returned for a few episodes of his signature show, Crime Patrol.
‘Honour to please senior artistes’
Regarding his performance at BNA, he says, “When you perform in front of an audience that is well-versed in this performing art—including people with 40 to 50 years of experience in theatre—it is both exciting and challenging to satisfy them. But the process remains the same: being honest with your audience.”
He adds, “Lucknow has always treated me well, and I have been coming here often for my plays. My journey in acting started with theatre, so it feels like home ground. Initially, I wasn’t able to devote much time to it, but now I enjoy balancing both spaces.”