In a one-to-one conversation with Tanmaya Das, the actor cum full-time Kundalini yoga guru Bijay J Anand opens up about his heartfelt journey to spirituality
Known as an actor turned full-time yoga teacher and art consultant, Bijay J Anand, has started accepting acting offers again in the last two years. Mostly remembered for his role in Pyar Toh Hona Hi Tha in 1998, the actor had declined more than 20 films out of thin air at the peak of his career. Instead, he intuitively developed his taste for art and yoga.
We traverse his personal experience of finding happiness through spirituality. Anand explored several ways to realise happiness, only to find out that happiness comes from within. “Having money didn’t make me happy, and fame didn’t bring me happiness. I questioned myself if fame, money, and success proferred me happiness, the answer was no, and the solution was spirituality” he expressed calmly.
The ‘yoga of awareness’ or Kundalini yoga helps to activate kundalini energy located at the base of the spine. On being asked about the fascination with it, he explained, “it is simply mantras, mudras, and kriyas which open up the chakras. The problem with all of us is that we have blocked chakras. When chakra opens up, your life opens up.”
Unfortunately, due to the Covid protocols, the actor has now been teaching yoga online. “However, before the pandemic, I used to travel to one country every year to teach in major events like conferences, seminars, festivals. The pandemic put a stop to it, so I teach online now,” he added.
Although one cannot consider Kundalini yoga as a methodical approach towards acting, one can always consider stagecraft and dramatics as forms of mediation, and why not? One can always immerse deeply into the characters. Reminiscing old times, he stated, “Acting has always been a form of meditation, earlier it was without realising, now I know what it is. Forgetting who you are to get into the character is a form of meditation.”
Interestingly, the lack of career opportunities paved his way to Bollywood. The actor had uploaded a throwback picture, on Twitter, in 2018 where the young Anand had agreed to do an advertisement with ‘a new girl’, the renowned actress Aishwarya Rai Bachchan. On being asked about his journey, he shared, “When I stepped into the film industry, I was 22 years old. I didn’t have many career options. Since I was into modeling, I had been invited to the film industry. So, it is a natural consequence of the situation.”
In Shershaah, his portrayal of a strict father to Dimple Cheema was particularly satisfying. His first experience with Dharma Production allowed him to communicate with his eyes. In an enthusiastic tone, he conveyed, “It was exciting in a way that it was my first Dharma Production film, so working with Karan Johar was itself a good thing. As an actor to do talking with my eyes was much more exciting, so I was able to communicate in a way that I would like to act, the way I enjoy acting, to create intensity without screaming and shouting. I enjoyed that process also as an actor. It was satisfying from every point of view.”
However, opposite to reel-life in Shershaah, the real Anand is completely different. Being a yoga guru, he rather believes that every soul must live their lives on their terms. With the same serene tone, he continued, “In real life, I am opposite of the role of the character of Dimple’s father. My daughter is told that she can do whatever she wants. The parents’ karma is to allow the soul to blossom. If a soul wants to become a painter then you don’t tell that soul to be a doctor, if the soul enjoys being a gardener, then don’t compel the soul to become an engineer. I would welcome any decision my daughter would make.”
The versatile actor will soon be seen in a new avatar in Om Raut’s Adipurush. The upcoming mythological movie features him in the role of Brahma. Keen in playing the role, he recalled how the actor Saif Ali Khan was meant to do his debut movie alongside Anand while chatting about Adipurush. “Nobody knows in the industry, but Saif was supposed to do his first movie with me as a second hero. There were two heroes and one heroine and that was 25 years ago,” recounted Anand.
His upcoming project includes a supernatural horror film by Jay Krishnan, Ezra, that features Emran Hashmi in the leading role. The new movie Erza is a Malayalam remake of Ezra that will soon be released on an OTT platform.