‘I LOST OUT ON ABHISHEK CHAUBEY’S SON CHIRIYA’
Actor Annup Soni shares how his commitment to a crime show meant giving up films; but now he’s back
His sensational crimebased show made actor Annup Soni a household name. But hosting it for eight years also had a downside. The actor had to keep turning down all the film offers he received. This included some big films, too.
“I lost out on Abhishek Choubey’s Son Chiriya [starring Sushant Singh Rajput and Bhumi Pednekar]. They wanted a certain look from me, but because of my show, which required me to be clean-shaven, I couldn’t do it. They needed me to grow a beard of 30 days, which wasn’t possible,” shares Anup, who finally quit the TV show this year, and created quite a flutter.
The actor says that a change was imperative “Nobody thought the show will go on for so long. I just felt anchoring is a new aspect, and I’ll do it for a few months. But it became so popular, and I went with the flow. Whenever someone called me for a film, my answer would be ‘I’m sorry, I can’t give you 10 days at a stretch’. After a point, I realised I need to come back, and only for films and web series.”
So, after his contract with the show ended, Annup decided to get back to cinema. “I want to send across this message to everyone in the industry, that I am available for films! Eight years is a long gap, and I lost touch with many filmmakers. I couldn’t forge relationships with the new ones. My last film was in 2008, [Yeh Hausla, directed by Nagesh Kukunoor], and it never released. It was a wellmade film, shot in Rajasthan. I did two-three films after that, but then I got this show,” he says. Back on track, Annup will soon start shooting for Prasthaanam, starring Sanjay Dutt. He reveals that he has a pivotal role in it.
“The film is about relationships. Me, Sanjay and more characters are part of one family, and my character goes through some kind of incident, which changes the whole story.”
As for looking a certain way for a character, the actor is up for experimentation now. “Tell me short haircut, big beard [which I am anyway growing for Prasthaanam], I can do it all,” he signs off.