A magical partnership
Ankur and Shriyam hit it off in City of Dreams 2
It has been seen time and again that two contrasting characters when paired create magic on screen. Actors Ankur Rathee and Shriyam Bhagnani have been able to capture audience attention through their characters Arvind and Tanya Mehta in Nagesh Kukunoor’s City of Dreams Season 2, which released on an OTT platform.
Ankur’s character in the series is that of a spoiled brat, but when he meets Shriyam, his life totally changes as he falls in love with Tanya’s feisty, innocent, comfortablein her-skin character.
Ankur is an Indian-American actor and dancer best known for his roles in Four More Shots Please, Zoya Akhtar’s Made in Heaven, the Hindi films Thappad, The Tashkent Files, Taish, and as a finalist on Dance India Dance (2009). He graduated from Princeton University where he trained under artistes like Tony Award-winner John Rando, and Tonynominee Leigh Silverman.
He also briefly studied filmmaking at USC School of Cinematic Arts. After moving to New York City, he continued his training with Alice Spivak in the Stanislavsky Technique and began doing off-Broadway theatre.
Not many know Shriyam was a state level tennis player. It was during college while performing in a play that she fell in love with acting. Shriyam is known for movies like Baaghi 2 and Batti Gul Meter Chalu. She trained at Barry John Acting Studio, earning a diploma, and thereafter took up jobs in the film industry related to production, and assisting directors to get a holistic understanding of the craft.
Despite being associated with a family that is well entrenched in Bollywood (she is the niece of producer Vasu Bhagnani), Shriyam has had a modest, self-made journey thus far, achieving gradual progress in the last few years.
Talking about receiving such appreciation for her role as Tanya, Shriyam says, “When I read about the character of Tanya, I knew people would like her. But when people actually saw it and appreciated, it was surprising in a good way. I am not from Mumbai, but from Kolkata, and for the last four-and-a half-years I have been giving a lot of auditions. But when I got a call for the role of Tanya, I knew I would do it.”
She says, “For the role I was asked to gain weight, but the effort was worth it. Tanya was different from me, but it was a fun ride.”
For Ankur it was gratifying to receive such love. “This is the first time I have played a role — one the audience would like to slap at first but ends up empathising with.
“To prepare for Arvind, I had to look deep inside to bring out the character’s negative nuances.” It is everyone’s dream to work with Nagesh Kukunoor, and for these newcomers it was a dream come true too.
“Working with Nagesh Sir was great. He knows the actors inside out and is so focussed and inspiring,” Ankur says.
Both actors are full of praise for each other. “Ankur is a great co-star and fun to be with on the set,” says Shriyam. And Ankur feels Shriyam has an innocent look which helps him to transport into the scene and evoke the required vulnerability.