GANGAN ARORA, who plays Happy in SonyLIV’s Tabbar, speaks with SUPRIYA RAMESH about his role, how he got into comedy and his experience doing a thriller
What is Tabbar about?
It's a show based upon a middle class family. Who are living their lives like any other family. Then after an incident, things start spiralling and then we find ourselves in a spot where our morality comes to a halt and you don't know what's right and what's wrong. What we want to do is to take the audience to a spot where you don't know if they are right or wrong or if they are judging themselves. Taking it to that grey area, that's what Tabbar is about.
What is your role?
My character's name is Happy and I'm playing the elder son in the film. He is an aspiring IPS officer and I come home from Delhi after studying.
How did you land this project?
It was a really interesting situation because I was not supposed to be on this project. I was out meeting someone and I met the creator of the show, Harman. They were also looking for an actor at that time. I have been doing a lot of comical roles. So when he narrated me the script I was happy to find something so intense and so well thought out. I wanted to switch genres for a while so I thought I don't want to miss this project.
How was shooting besides your co-stars?
I thought I had won a lottery. Because I was in the company of some great, Pawan Malhotra, Supriya Pathak, Ranveer Shorey. Even the younger lot. All the actors were so terrific that at a moment of time I felt like I got a free masterclass. They were so helpful, especially the senior actors. All of them made sure that we were really comfortable on set and there was no layer of stardom. Pawan Malhotra is an acting legend. He made sure that he talked to us and joked. By the second or third day I had no inhibitions even improvising my moves.
Tell us about your experience doing a thriller.
It was a pleasant experience because after a moment of time as an actor you kind of get type casted for a certain type of roles. Then everyone looks at you like that only. I was constantly looked for a certain kind of role and I was looking for a different role because I wanted to improve as an actor. I won't lie, it took a lot and was scary at times. It kind helped a lot because the script was well written. The director had a very clear vision. In the starting discussions I was so happy because I thought I would be working with alone and I had to do it alone but the team was so nice that we had workshops and everything. As an actor I felt like I have dug deeper as this character than my other projects.
How did directing happen?
I actually studied filmmaking, I wanted to study and understand all the perspectives of filmmaking. As an actor I wanted to understand how the whole set runs. When my director briefs me on set, I can look at it from every point of view. I studied for some time and then I assisted as well. I know the difference between ads and films. How are the briefs done and what are they expecting out of an actor during that. I was doing all that so that in the end of the day it all helps me in acting somehow.
When and how did you find your knack for comedy?
I think it was in college theatre. I figured out that I had given a role to play a boy next door and everyone was taking their lines seriously. I didn't even want to clear the audition because I had great actors around me. So I decided that I'll take a different take on the script and approach it with comedy. I did that and landed the role because everyone thought it was very different and fresh. It started there and I realized that innately also I had this humor from my father and family. I understood how comedy works in a writing way or as a writer. Post that I kept doing a lot of sketches. 20-30 YouTube sketches to understand what it was all about. So by the end of it all right now I am really confident in comedy.
How would you like to differentiate between directing and acting?
I was always into acting. I learned directing to understand acting and recieving directions better. It's different because direction is a process that begins with pre production, production and post production. But then in terms of acting you are a one man job. In a direction you are supported with your teams and you have departments like costumes, make-up, sound, camera. When it comes to acting you are solo and that is why it sometimes becomes too much for the actor after doing something intense. Because nobody is there to understand what we are going through and help us out with the character stuff. Overall I think it's a little more pressure because you are the face of the film.
How was shooting in a pandemic different?
Shooting began in the beginning of this year around March and we had to stop because of the pandemic. We restarted and finished around July.
As an actor the only thing is that everyone on set had to wear a mask. When the camera rolls we can't be wearing masks. There is always a sense of fear in us but luckily our whole team did lot more than us. When I saw them doing the heavy lifting and other strenuous jobs wearing masks I felt my problems to be very small. These guys are doing so much more than all of us. If they can do it so why can't we. all of us did follow all the protocols and luckily none of us got contracted with anything. It all went well.