EXCLUSIVE: Tanuj Virwani calls Jennifer Winget his ‘favourite co-star;’ Shares excitement for Code M season 2

Ever since Ekta Kapoor announced Code M season 2 in January, fans are eagerly waiting to see Jennifer Winget and Tanuj Virwani onscreen again. However, the shooting of the web show has not started yet, due to the COVID crisis. Jennifer wowed fans as Major Monica, while Tanuj was seen as Legal Council Angad Sandhu in the first season.

We, at Bollywood Bubble, recently, got in touch with Tanuj Virwani to know more about Code M season 2 and his bond with Jennifer Winget. We also asked him about the nepotism debate, completing almost 10 years in the industry, and more. Over to him:

You’ve worked opposite Jennifer Winget in Code M, and Ekta Kapoor has announced already Code M season 2, are you a part of it? Also, how has it been sharing the screen with Jennifer?

Well, Jennifer Winget is definitely one of my favourite co-stars that I have collaborated with. She’s amazing and I’m happy to call her a very, very dear friend of mine as well. We actually did not know each other before we started shooting Code M. We got to know each other through the course of the show. Jennifer, me and our director Akshay, get on like a house on fire. It was fantastic. I’m really looking forward to getting back to work on season two. I have read the story of Code M season 2 and it’s extremely gripping. I can’t wait to start shooting for it and for it to release. It was one of those sleeper hits of 2020, and it came out of nowhere. So, we’re all very excited as a team and we hope to give you guys an even better season this time around.

 

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A lot of times actors tend to limit themselves in a genre or a medium, did you ever have such a phase?

Yes, that is an occupational hazard, and that’s a very, very interesting question. It does kind of happen. Sometimes it’s not just because of the actors because if people accept you in a certain kind of role and you start getting offered only those sorts of roles. That’s a problem that I faced Inside Edge released. So, I had to consciously make it a point to stay away from getting a stereotype and getting stuck in one slot. I kept a sizeable gap between Inside Edge one and then two years later I came up with Poison. But I also feel a lot of it is in our hands. We obviously have to make the best of whatever opportunities present themselves and that’s what the hope and intention always are.

So, I feel it’s important to keep on trying to develop yourself your skills as an actor and trying to present new sights to your personality to the audience. Otherwise, we as an audience are spoilt for choice and it’s very easy to move on from one type of acting. And I never want to be held guilty of doing the same sort of jig in every role. Sometimes the audiences accept my work wholeheartedly, sometimes they reject it. But at least it’s not for lack of trying or lack of attempting to do something different.

Do you think being the son of famous actress Rati Agnihotri has made your journey in the entertainment industry easy? What do you think about the debates of ‘nepotism’ and ‘insider-outsider?’

I believe it’s a bit of a double-edged sword. There are definitely certain advantages of having a famous parent being a star kid easy access within the industry. Certain people will meet you and grant you an audience, because out of respect for, well, in this case, my mother. But having said that, there are a lot of disadvantages also because the expectations are a whole lot more people expect you to be as good as your famous parent in your very first film. And that’s really next to impossible. A lot of comparisons. If you do well, they say it’s because of your parent, if you don’t do well, they say, oh, despite having a famous parent, he or she was still not able to do well.

In my case, I mean, well, I had a very humbling start, it wasn’t the most auspicious of beginning. So, I’ve had to really work my way up slowly and steadily up the ladder. And that’s the hope and intention. So, I just feel every day is a challenge, every project is a challenge, every scene is a challenge and it’s just whether you are up to the task or not, and that’s just my stance on it. Like, my mother can give me her last name, but eventually, I have to carve a niche for myself and be known by my first name.

You’re going to complete 10 years in the industry in two years now, how has your journey been? Do you think you’ve achieved whatever you had planned in these years? Do you have any regrets per se?

Oh, wow. I haven’t even thought of it suddenly seems like a really long time you know? Well, it’s been very fascinating. It’s been quite a roller coaster ride; the highs have been pretty high and the lows have also been really low. So, it taught me one thing is that you can never let the situation get the better of you don’t let success ever go to your head. Don’t let failure ever go to your heart. Understand that you need to stay humble, you need to stay grounded, and you need to be hungry most importantly, because I genuinely consider every single day that I am on a film set be it a promotion, or at OTT set anything.

It’s a blessing I’m really grateful for it because this is something I love doing and how many people out there really get a chance to monetize what their passion in life is. so, I hope that in the next 10 years and hopefully many, many decades after I will consistently be able to entertain all of you. Y’all have been very kind to me so far. And I just want to thank all you guys out there for helping me live my dreams.

Lastly, what has been the ‘changing point’ of your career?

I definitely feel without a doubt it would have to be Season One of Inside Edge because when I look at my career when I take a step back and look at it, I look at life before Inside Edge and life after inside edge. And that was definitely a big turning point in my career. You know, there were times when I even doubted myself, I’m like, Am I good enough? Can I actually pull this off? Will I even be employed? You know, there’s a lot of doubt that sets in when you’re not doing well, and your, your projects, your films are not being accepted. But that changed a lot of things that changed the perception of me, suddenly, the kind of rules that I was being offered, also started to change.

Once you start having that faith, that belief and confidence in yourself, then it also positively affect your performances. And, it just so happened that the webspace blew up in a big way around the time of inside edge, you know, and I just feel it was being at the right place at the right in case of being a perfect storm. So you start to cash in now.

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