EXCLUSIVE: Unpaused actor Ashish Verma recalls sweetest gesture by Atrangi Re co-star Dhanush

Actor Ashish Verma is busy carving his niche in the entertainment industry. The actor has delivered some stellar performances recently and has garnered massive praise for it too. Verma was last seen in the Amazon Prime Video anthology Unpaused. He featured in the short film Teen Tigada and did a phenomenal job. The actor was also a part of Akshay Kumar, Dhanush, and Sara Ali Khan starrer Atrangi Re. He played the role of Dhanush’s best friend, Madhusudhan, a psychiatrist by profession. The actor continues to wow everyone with his performances. Ashish Verma joined Bollywood Bubble for a telephonic interview recently.

In an exclusive chat with us, the Unpaused, Whistleblower, and Atrangi Re fame opened up about his experiences during the shooting of his projects. He shared his thoughts on certain topics and revealed interesting details.

What was your experience on the sets of Unpaused, while shooting for the film?

Unpaused was a very very nice shooting experience. So, what happened during the shooting of Unpaused was, we were literally at the location for about four nights, four days. And the way you see us in the short film, that’s how we have become. Because, we were in an abandoned factory of sorts, which was very dusty. So, after a point, we stopped using makeup, because we are already in that condition. It was a very nice experience. And it looks very authentic on screen because we were living that part. We were at that place for three, four days.

 

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What does working on Unpaused mean to you?

Unpaused is also very close to me because it’s been made by my classmates from the Film and Television Institute of India. They are from FTII, Pune. So, the director is a batchmate of mine, the camera person is a batchmate of mine, the editor is a batchmate of mine. So, this project is very much close to home. It’s like a home project.

Can you share something about your role in Unpaused?

It was very different from what I played in Atrangi Re. So, like I got lucky. What I have done in Whistleblower was also totally different. So, I have been very lucky to get very diverse roles. It has been very very nice. And, with Unpaused, I got an opportunity with accent also, to try a different accent. As an actor, I would like to do even more different parts in the coming future. So, it’s always nice to keep experimenting and keep evolving as a performer.

The trailer of Unpaused gives a glimpse of your character in Teen Tigada. It even features how you don’t easily get pleased with the food that is served. How big of a foodie are you?

I love cooking and I love food and I love experimenting with food. I cook a lot of Indian cuisines. I have developed a newly found love for Sushi. These days I am just going for Sushi.

The actor further shared that Dal and Rice or Curry and rice is his comfort food, something that he would love to have any day.

 

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Any fun moments you recall from the shooting sets of Atrangi Re?

There were a lot of moments with Aanand sir and Himanshu. Like after pack-up, we used to sit at the restaurant, Aanand sir’s room, and discuss how the scene went, how we could’ve done it differently. And generally in life, he (Aanand L Rai) was the head of the family. I could be vulnerable in front of him. And I can tell him all my problems, like an elder brother.

What was your most memorable incident from the sets of the film Atrangi Re?

What happened was me and Dhanush did not get a lot of time to rehearse together. We just happened to meet on sets. On day one of the shoot, when we were all shooting and it was very cold in Benaras. So, we started with the Benaras schedule and I am supposed to play Dhanush’s best friend, but we did not get time as actors to bond and create that chemistry. From the first shot we were expected to be best friends and I was very much in awe of Dhanush. Because Dhanush is a very very fine actor and plus he’s a huge star. I was wondering how to build the chemistry. It was so cold in Benaras and we were shooting under that crane machine, so both me and Dhanush, we both were wet. And, I was shivering a little and Dhanush called me and said, ‘Hey I have a blanket. Let’s share the blanket’. And he wrapped his blanket around me and we both were sitting on a chair, using the same blanket. At that very moment, what a month workshop could have done, to build that chemistry, that gesture by Dhanush was enough to cement that relationship that we are trying to show on the screen.

 

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Can you share what experience you had while shooting with Dhanush?

It was splendid. He’s such a fine actor that he’s beyond language. When Dhanush acts, he’s not restricted by any language. He could add meaning to gibberish. He could give you so much to play with, just by being his character. It’s just very good give and take that happened.

How was it while working with Akshay Kumar?

He made me so comfortable, I never felt a moment that I was working with a superstar like Akshay Kumar. He was so much fun and he was just like any other co-actor would be. And with that, it’s a very good quality for an actor to have a child-like enthusiasm. And he had it in him. It was so much fun.

What do have to say about Atrangi Re co-star Sara Ali Khan?

Sara is a lot of fun to work with because she is young. She has a lot of energy, a lot of fun to work with. There is always a lot of happiness around her. So, when you act with her, you can take the scene to another level. You know she’ll react and play along really really well.

 

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Talking about your future projects, on the work front, Ashish Verma has a show with Homi Adajania, which is yet to be titled. The actor even mentioned that currently is busy reading interesting scripts and is “trying to find something that is really really exciting“.

Also Read: After Atrangi Re, Dhanush and Aanand L Rai to collaborate once again?