Cast Chat ~ Tu Hai Mera Sunday

Dealing with the topic of space crunch, Milind Dhaimade’s Tu Hai Mera Sunday shows the urban city life.

With a huge cast, including Barun Sobti, Shahana Goswami, Rasika Dugal, Vishal Malhotra, Maanvi Gagroo, Avinash Tiwary, Jay Upadhyay, Nakul Bhalla and many more seasoned actors, the film is said to bring a smile on the viewers’ face.

Tu Hai Mera Sunday was screened in MAMI Mumbai Film Festival last year and since then has travelled across the globe where it has been hugely appreciated and even received standing ovations.

The movie is all set to have its theatrical release in India and we caught up with few of the cast members who are bubbling with excitement and optimism regarding the outcome of the film. Here is an excerpt from the chat we had with Barun Sobti, Shahana Goswami, Rasika Dugal and Maanvi Gagroo where they speak about their roles in the film and the different platforms of acting.

Shahana Goswami

What was about your role that appealed to you, was there a trait of the character that you personally identify with?

The film depicts women in India in all its reality, which we don’t get to see in other films and often don’t get to perform as well. What I found relatable was also the fact there is a lot going on in her life yet she takes life in her own stride. In fact, all the female characters are happy in their existence and they take each day as it comes.

They are strong and they don’t let things get to them.

Was there an aspect of the character that you couldn’t relate to?

I couldn’t relate to the way she works in the corporate world, she is into brand marketing. That is a world that I don’t relate to at all. The politics and dynamics of the world is something that I don’t connect to.

You have been type-casted because of your movies in the past, is this a welcome change and what other projects are you working on?

Yes, I am very happy about Tu Hai Mera Sunday.

I think it is a very different kind of role and had a lot of new things for me. I have been type-casted for my work in the past, so this is a welcome change. Other than this, I have an international film called ‘In the Shadows’, which we are showing in MAMI this year and a couple of others in line. The movie will be released sometime next year in India.

Besides that, I have just signed on a web series, Sacred Games, which I am looking forward to.

Barun Sobti

Can you tell us what about your role stood out for you?

The whole myth for the leading guy to be a macho man, fighting and everything, was not present in this character. Here, I saw the scope of how cute this guy can be in an Indian film, where you cannot beat the stereotype.

It was great playing a character where you don’t have to fit the conventions. That is what I love most about this character. I found that there was enormous amount of scope for the character to grow.

You are a prominent personality on television, how was your transition from TV to films and were there any noticeable changes in the two industries?

The approach is different, but the acting is the same.

In the film, the approach is to gather a huge response in a single day and the approach in the television is to telecast every day.

Besides Tu Hai Mera Sunday, which other movie will we see you in the near future?

After Tu Hai Mera Sunday, I have another film that is lined up called 22 Yard. The movie is set to come out early next year.

Rasika Dugal

Tell us a bit about your role in the film, you learnt sign language for the role, was that difficult?

My character is raising two physically impaired children. She has gone through some turmoil in her life and has moved to the city. At times, you develop a coping mechanism where you try to not define to yourself that there are not too many things going around. That is what my character is doing. But at the same time, she knows that all is not well in her life, but she doesn’t want to acknowledge it.

Talking about sign language, I always like to pick up a new skill when I am working on something and add to my bag of tricks as an actor. In this case it was sign language. Also, the kids I was working with were children from Rotary Sanskar dham Academy and I think as basic courtesy as a co-actor I should know a language they speak. I think it was the greatest gift I got from the film.

You have been part of television, web series and movies, so how difficult or easy is to adapt to each mode of entertainment?

I personally don’t think that there is anything different in the way I approach my performance.

In films, there are different directors and scripts, so there is a different pitch and tonality that is expected of you. The difference is in the requirements of the character or story and not the medium.

But there was one thing that I found interesting while I was shooting for a TV series by Nikhil Advani called Prisoners of War. There I was playing an emotionally hydrant role. In television, you are shooting pretty much linearly unlike films, so I had so much more time to build a character. By the time I reached the third month my character reaches a very high emotional high point.

I found it very easy to be there and therefore realised that when I enter a film my preparation should be as much as it was in the third month of a television series so I should be living with the film that much earlier.

Maanvi Gagroo

Can you describe your character a bit and was it easy connecting with the character?

I play  Dominic’s (Played by Vishal Malhotra) brother’s fiancé in the film. The character has her own set of problems, but as a person she is very accepting of people. Moreover, she is a very warm person and all-in-all she is just a good soul.

She is an aspirational character for me, I would like to be more like her. I would like to be more accepting of people. I am warm by nature, but I am a fairly judgemental person so I would like to change that and be more like her.

You have acted on various platforms, is there a medium that you are comfortable or prefer as compared to others?

There are two major platforms, one is camera acting and then there is stage acting.

Within the camera acting realm your core ideas of approaching the character remains the same. The thing that differs here is the time you get. For example, in Television you don’t get that much time as there are deadlines to be met and shows to be telecast. Movies are shorter period of time and web series are somewhere in the middle. That is the major difference in all the different platform, but as an actor it is more or less the same.

Tu hai mera Sunday releases on 06 October 2017.