Actor Tahir Raj Bhasin, who has recently delivered four back-to-back hits, gets candid with The Pioneer about his journey, transitioning through different roles, his acting process, and more.
Tejal Sinha
Not one of those actors who’d bring to you a massive list of films, but of course, Tahir Raj Bhasin is surely one of those who’d never disappoint you with his on-screen presence, everytime on screen.
Having grown up at various Air Force stations across the country, with his father and grandfather being fighter pilots at the Indian Air Force, one thing he has always learned throughout—to live a life of adventure. Getting to live and adapt different and new environments in the different cities he’s lived in, it was until he moved to Delhi, where he did his first acting workshop with Barry John at about the age of 13. It was then that he just fell in love with the feeling of performance — being able to lose yourself in a character or a part and having an audience look at you without any judgement.
With his coach seeing that spark in him as an actor, it was that incredible motivation which kept him move along and never look back. And as the acting bug bit him, cinema turned out to be his constant friend. Growing up watching films in the 90s, be it Jo Jeeta Wohi Sikandar, Dil toh Pagal Hai, Amitabh Bachchan’s Agneepath, Kabhi Haan Kabhi Naa, or Jaane bhi do Yaaron, these according to him were some of the classics that would make you laugh, cry, and fall in love with the movies.
Coming to Bombay with dreams in his eyes, he always wanted to sign either a Dharma film or a YRF film. And it was after almost two and a half to three years that he got his first break with Mardaani, a YRF film.
“It was a dream debut, and now that I think about it, it was so clutter-breaking,” shares the Mardaani actor, continuing, “My character was portrayed like this boy next door, but it was his business that made him in the gray, which is why the term anti-hero stuck to the part of Karan Rastogi in Mardaani. Today, when I’ve transitioned to romantic parts, and like in my most recent series Sultan of Delhi, an action-drama role, I feel incredibly fortunate to have started off as an anti-hero character. I am fortunate to be a talent of YRF’s talent management because great talent like Ranveer Singh and Ayushmann Khurrana have been molded. It is basically the help that you get from the behind-the-scenes of what it takes to become a star, which adds tremendous value. I am incredibly fortunate to have had a debut with YRF and to be constantly mentored by them.”
With the zeal he had within, there was never a plan B for the Chhichhore actor. He says, “I think when you enter the creative arts, I wouldn’t call it skepticism; I would call it more concerning from people around you. I think that’s your own conviction, and belief in not only wanting to do this but also not wanting to do anything else, which is why I never had a Plan B. There was always a chase of the feeling of what it is to act and to get a project that allows you to be the best version of yourself, as well as the satisfaction and pride that would come from watching anything that you did. You come chasing a dream, and you commit to that dream.”
Now looking at his filmography with the projects and characters that we get to see, he does not look to work on multiple projects but one at a-time, pushing boundaries for himself. And he says, “It’s definitely been a conscious decision on my part not to get repetitive. This is both for the audience because the audience likes to get engaged in exciting material and also for myself because, as an actor, I want to push my boundaries and limits and be a part of great projects and teams. The idea is to explore as much of the craft, explore diverse projects, and make them as clutter-breaking as possible.”
Well, and so did his hard work pay off, when he had not one or two, but four back-to-back hits. And it’s no less than an ‘amazing season’ for him because: “hits in this industry are nothing that you can predict. You just get on a project because of a gut instinct; you feel that the script appeals to you, the character is going to be really amazing, and if every department does its very best and things fall into place, then things just click. Most recently, with the series Hotstar Sultan of Delhi, which was a very new venture for me because I’ve never played that kind of alpha male hero in a part that demanded so much action, but once again, there’s a lot of gratitude and a lot of excitement for what the future holds.”
“The kind of appreciation and audience feedback that I got for Sultan of Delhi was something I had never experienced before. I’ve been completely overwhelmed, and a lot of this has to do with the fact that this was on Hotstar, right through the World Cup, and a lot of people saw it during that month. The reason why it is an incredible validation is because this part was different from anything else that I have done before. Arjun Bhatia is like this alpha-male hero. That part required a lot of training, a lot of training on body language and styling, and Milan Luthria was just like an absolute mentor, completely laying out what the blueprint for the series and the part were going to be. The fact that the audience has appreciated it and given so much love is just an incredible pay-off for what was a year and a half of a very challenging show,” adds the Yeh Kaali Kaali Ankhein star.
For him, the idea behind picking up a project has always been about being different from the previous one and also for it to be ‘clutter-breaker’. “Good-quality production and stories always take time in writing and in making them. While it might seem like I take time to choose certain projects, it’s the making of them that takes time. For example, in the Sultan of Delhi, it took a year and a half to shoot in some really great locations, be it in Amritsar, Patiala, or Gujarat. But productions of that scale require time to execute, which is where a lot of time is consumed, but yes, the objective is always to do something thats exciting both for me and the audience.”
Well, he has had his hands on both big screens, and also the OTT. Getting to work in both the mediums, he feels privileged to be where he is at the moment. For him, there is nothing more rewarding for an actor to be a part of a successful project. And so, with the tremendous response that he had received for Yeh Kaali Kaali Ankhein, signing off this chat on a brighter note, he says, “A great project always takes time in its development, and that’s where Yeh Kaali Kaali Ankhein season 2 has been. Theres a lot of behind-the-scenes work thats done and the audience is not aware of, but what I can assure your readers is that Yeh Kaali Kalli Ankhein is definitely in the works for season 2. We are planning to go on floors very soon at the start of next year
