Tushar basking in the appreciation that ‘Mummy’ brought him
Your nicknames either embarrass you or make you feel special. Actor Tushar Pandey is feeling both. While his character is initially uncomfortable when his friends nickname him ‘Mummy’ in the Nitesh Tiwari film, the actor is glad that people are identifying him with his screen name. Whenever he steps out, people call him by the name and Tushar couldn’t have been happier.
“I remember when I read the script for the first time to understand the graph of the character, I realised that this is going to be funny. He is timid, maintains a low profile and is a mamma’s boy — the reason why he gets ragged in college. But the fact that the film also highlights his emotional side — when he speaks to his son — is quite interesting. People have come up to me and mentioned this and how much they connected with Mummy... I never expected this appreciation,” says Tushar, who made a blink-and-miss appearance as a scrawny college student in an audition in Rang De Basanti (2006).
In the film, which follows the journey of a bunch of good friends, one wonders if Sushant Singh Rajput and Shraddha Kapoor’s presence made Tushar work more on his character to stand out. But he says he never got perturbed by the star presence.
“I knew what I was signing up for... also, that this isn’t a typical film and my role that draws from real life, isn’t something that is common on screen. But such things didn’t bother me at all. I knew how much of the film was on my shoulders… We worked like a team and Nitesh sir made sure all our characters were well-etched,” says the actor, who was also seen in Shoojit Sircar’s Pink (2016).
Did films like Pink and Chhichhore help him bag better offers in the industry? The actor says, “Things have obviously changed for better. Not just films, I’m also actively doing theatre. After Pink happened, when I wasn’t getting good offers, I concentrated on theatre. Then Chhichhore happened. The idea is to keep going… There are a few film and web show offers that I have. Let’s see which ones work out.”