‘People should enjoy our work just like the ‘masala’ in their food’

Making a mark, irrespective of the screen space is actor Chandan Roy, who is all set to woo the audience with the upcoming Jaanbaaz Hindustan Ke at Zee5. In an exclusive chat, the actor opens up about the buzz around the show, his character, and more.

Tejal Sinha

After making his mark with his performance in the much-celebrated web series Panchayat, and Hostel Daze, to name a few, actor Chandan Roy is back with a not-so-regular character in the upcoming Jaanbaaz Hindustan Ke.

The story revolves around the journey of IPS officer Kavya Iyer (played by Regina Cassandra), who is on a mission to protect the nation. Even before the show could air, it had become the talk of the town for obvious reasons.

While the buzz around the show is as high as it should be, the Panchayat actor said, “Whenever you have a new project, you do have this excitement, and at the same time, you do have a feeling of being scared, whether the hard work and the message that you’re trying to convey reach the audience or not. One thing we’ve learned is that the results are out of our hands; all you can do is work honestly and leave the rest up to the audience.”

With Jaanbaaz Hindustan Ke, the audience will get to see him as a new character. He plays the character of a hacker named Chandan, whose action speaks volumes. “I have loved my work, but that’s not important. It needs to be loved by the audience, for whom we’ve all worked so hard,”said the actor.

Not having played such a character earlier and not having much knowledge of the technology, Chandan had to do his own research. He said, “For me, it was quite new. I wasn’t required to go out and look at someone’s job. The director told me that whatever is in the script, we have to do, and that is what the script demanded too.

He is very rooted in his land, and like many intelligent, educated small-town guys, even though he does not look smart like an urban youngster, he is very headstrong and intellectual. He is very talented, but on the surface, he does not look like it. We had to show my character as this common man like the rest, but the work he does is a dangerous one. During this, I got to learn a lot. I don’t know much about technology.

I don’t even know about VPN, and this is why I believe we should do different and new characters. It’s like school. I was one of those who used to enjoy going to school but didn’t like studying. So, for such people, these projects teach a lot while having a lot of fun.”

We jokingly quipped if he regretted being a part of one of his works, Khuda na Khasta, or if he should try harder to sustain himself in the industry. To this, he modestly responded, saying, “You do different projects, and all of them wouldn’t perform in the same way.

When you don’t think of the film as a hit and just leave it to the audience, you’ll never have a problem at all. To date, I see myself as a character artist. For me, whether the film works out well or not, as an actor, I don’t care about it. I just feel that I should be like ‘Garam Masala’, just increase the taste, and enjoy. The audience should enjoy our work the same way. I don’t want to work in such a way that people see me on screen and get bored. Even if I’m at the corner of a frame, people should see me and say, ‘Arey yeh toh apna banda hai’. The production banner behind the project, or if it is a short film, doesn’t really matter. As an actor, one has to be able to play their part with complete honesty.”

Asked if he believes that there is a lack of opportunities being provided at the moment, he responded, “There are quite a lot of opportunities, but in the end, it depends on how you take them. If I was offered a similar role or something where I didn’t get to do much as an actor, I would immediately decline. Another thing is that the creators believe in you and your ability to play multiple roles.”

While he goes on to hint at his upcoming characters being in a never-seen-before role, he also said, “If you see me doing a similar project or something where you might not enjoy it, then you should know I did it for money. (he laughed).”