Shreyas Talpade had an exclusive interview with Popdiaries where he talked about his latest role and future projects. He even talked about his return as a dubbing artist for Pushpa 2: The Rule.
Following are his responses to our questions:
After playing a wide range of roles throughout his career, from playing someones,, friend to enemy to a mental health advocate in your recent project, what is next for you?
I am very excited about the films that are due for release which includes Emergency. There's also an interesting horror-comedy called 'Kapkapiii' by the late Sangeeth Sivan sir. There's also a South production and so I am waiting for all these projects to release. I am also currently working on Housefull 5 and Welcome: To The Jungle. But, I am also excited about two of my very favourite projects which are due for release in December. One is Mufasa where I have dubbed for Timon and the other is Pushpa 2. I am really very excited and happy with the line-up.
You were the voice actor for Allu Arjun, giving your voice for the hindi version of Pushpa, are you planning to do the same for the sequel, Pushpa 2: The Rule.
Yes, I am giving my voice for the second part as well. In fact, the trailer just released a while back and got phenomenal response. So, all of us including myself are looking forward to the final film because it has only got bigger and better than part one.
Going back to your roles, each character of yours is different, and there are many, just to be clear, how do you manage to make them unique yet still have that Shreyas touch to it?
Every character will invariably have a Shreyas touch to it. It's not only Shreyas touch, every actor who plays any character has a little bit of himself or herself in it because of the kind of experiences they share through the character on-screen. Apart from that, I have been very fortunate to have worked with some of the best directors in the industry, alongside some phenomenal actors. So, I think every team adds a lot of value to your own performance because we have been taught in theatre that acting is more of reacting. So, until and unless, the other person doesn't really react to what you are doing, whatever I am doing wouldn't make sense. So, it is actually thanks to my directors, Producers and all my co-actors who made sure that I portray something in a different manner, atleast try to do that in a different manner. Obviously, your grooming in theatre will always teach you to try something new each time for your audience. So, it is that love that motivates and prompts me to keep trying new stuff.
Your role in Zindaginama was as a mental health advocate, why only that role and does it have some relevance from your own life?
Technically, no relevance from my personal life apart from the fact that my wife is a clinical psychologist. In general, we would keep discussing about mental health and when this role was offered to me, I felt that I wanted to do it because I feel that as an actor, I never really got such an opportunity to play someone with mental health issues. Second, the kind of character it was, it was important that we portray through our work the kind of problems that not only the patients but also the caregivers go through and how it is important to take care of the caregivers. So, I think it's a very nice collage of these six wonderful stories through Zindaginama through which we tried to bring forward the mental health issues.
You are in the hearts of everyone as a star who puts a smile on their face, but that is set to change with your role in Emergency as Atal Bihari Vajpayee. Can you share something about it?
Firstly, I am extremely excited for Emergency and I am looking forward to it releasing as soon as possible. I really want to thank Kangana Ranaut for giving me the opportunity to play the legendary Shri Atal Vihari Vajpayee ji on-screen. It was a huge responsibility and a big challenge. Yes, I am nervous and there are butterflies in my stomach every time someone mentions me playing Atal ji because it is important that my audience likes what I have attempted on-screen. Apart from that, I feel it is a brilliantly made film and Kangana Ranaut as Indira ji is just phenomenal. In the first 5 mins itself, you forget that it is Kangana Ranaut in the film. She's just so good. So, yes, I am looking forward to this one and I generally hope that nobody has any objections to it and everyone likes the film. Thank you.
This was Shreyas Talpade, who recently starred in Zindaginama as a Mental Health advocate. The anthology series is available on SonyLIV.