Tanya Maniktala is already enjoying a successful year with two back to back projects. While she was seen alongside Shantanu Maheshwari in one of it’s kind romantic thriller fantasy Tooth Pari: When Love Bites, the actress finally ventured into movies with Santosh Sivan’s Mumbaikar.
The action-thriller that featured actors like Vijay Sethupathi, Vikrant Massey, Sanjay Misra,
Ranvir Shorey and Hridhu Haroon saw Tanya essaying a HR was an official remake of 2017 Tamil film Maanagaram, which was a Lokesh Kanagaraj directorial.
The copywriter-turned-actor made an everlasting mark in the entertainment industry with her character of Lata Mehra in Mira Nair’s The Suitable Boys. Ever since then, Tanya managed to break through the clutter of OTT with memorable performances in web series like Chutzpah, Feels Like Ishq, How To Fall In Love and the most cherished one FLAMES.
In an exclusive interview with News18 Showsha, Tanya Maniktala opened up about her first ever feature length film, her experience on the sets of Mumbaikar, her bond with Shantanu Maheshwari, her aspirations as an actor and much more.
Here are the excerpts:
Considering you have been a popular face in the web series space, how come you never did feature length films earlier? Were you waiting for the right scripts?
I definitely was. There was a lot of waiting when it came to the scripts that I chose to associate with. But also at the same time, Mumbaikar was actually shot in 2021. So it’s been a long time in the making. We shot for it and it was supposed to have a theatrical release but obviously Covid hit us and then there was a long time for waiting for theatres to open up. But ofcourse, that was not happening so we were waiting for the right platform to associate with. Because the platform makes all the difference and we are so grateful that Mumbaikar got a platform like JioCinema. And considering the lineups of shows and movies they have just announced, it really gives the audience something to look forward to and it targets certain audience. So I think Mumbaikar couldn’t have a better platform. So yes, there was definitely was selective about scripts I was choosing but there was also a long waiting period that happened in the middle.
Mumbaikar is the kind of film or genre you’ve not previously dealt with. How did you like the action-thriller space of the film? Did you undergo any kind of prep for it?
My character wasn’t really involved in action of it but yes Ishita’s character and Ranveer is there with the kid, they are together when the action scene is happening and there is a lot more action happening that happens later in the movie. I wasn’t prepping for the action but I was obviously in the background, something was happening and witnessing all of it in first person in the flesh is I think that was very exciting for me. So I really enjoyed the process of it.
So what gravitated you towards this film? Considering it was a remake of a highly-acclaimed film, and remakes haven’t quite done well in recent times, were there any reservations on your end?
I agree completely that there is a certain expectation and certain bias when you are going for a remake because obviously the original has been made and obviously it’s done so well and it’s so good which is why it is going for a remake. So there is a certain pressure on you as well that whether we’ll ever be able to live up to that standard? But I knew already beforehand there were actors like Vikrant Massey, Vijay Sethupathi, Indoo, Sachin Sir, Sanjay Sir. And obviously at the helm of it all, our director Santosh Sivan who have been associated with it. I knew that if such explosive people come together then there is definitely something good coming out of it. And if nothing else, it’s going to be a learning experience for me. Rest assured I was in good hands. I knew I was a good company and we all can go through it together.
Sharing screen space with stalwarts like Vijay Sethupathi and Sanjay Mishra must have been a great learning curve for you. What was your overall experience with the co-actors?
How did their expertise aid you?
Signing the movie and knowing that I would be working with these people, you already prepare yourself to learn so much. And I think that is what my experience from Mumbaikar was like. I was learning so much from each and every character. I did not get to share screen space with Vijay Sethupathi a lot but we were hanging out on sets and we were talking and relaxing together. But then, you watch them and you learn so much from them. For that, you don’t necessarily have to work with them like in front of the camera. It can be just watching and you can still takeaway so much if you are open to that process of learning. Most of my scenes were with Vikrant Massey and Hridhu. With them also, I learnt so much. Even though Hridhu was new in this field and still learning, we were sharing our experiences with each other. So having that one person with you is also being so open to learning, that was also a beautiful experience for me. Sanjay Sir when we were in the cab scene and how he was so effortless. Everything he does with a sense of comic timing, we all know how impeccable that is. In this movie, he plays an innocent, naive person who has come from a village and he also after certain things, bigger aspirations and he wants to do more. The innocence he brought to that character, I think I haven’t seen him do a character like that. For me, I was really living up my dream.
What was the most exciting and interesting thing about the sets of Mumbaikar?
The lighting. I think coming from Santosh Sivan’s movie, you have to expect that. Definitely the way these scenes were lit up, I’ve never seen something like that on a set. How quick he was with his shots, he knew exactly what he wanted in the cinematography aspect of it and it was such a phenomenal thing to watch.
At this juncture of your career, what kind of challenges you are looking for that can push you as an actor?
I think there is so much more that the audience hasn’t seen that I have to offer. So I hope the projects that I do, they get to see different aspects of it, they get to see different shades of Tanya, they get to see different shades of the characters that I am doing. Because you can play the same emotion but there are different degrees of emotions that you are playing. I wouldn’t say that I want to stop doing sweet roles because there are various emotions to sweet as well. There are different ways of playing that. So I think that is also one of the biggest challenges that how you can play the same thing in a different way. So even that I hope for.
What are some of your own criterias and deal breakers set in place for you to greenlit a certain role or project?
The foremost, it goes without saying, it has to be the story. The story is king. You have to like it. And then the character. I think sometimes we forget and we go for characters rather than stories and we forget what it was all about. Because then you make it about the individual selves. So I would always want to have my focus on stories and for my character to be a contribution to that story. Those two are my first and biggest lists of cutoffs. And then definitely the people I am working with. I want to work with good people. Be it new, be it acclaimed, I want to be working with good people who are willing to teach me and people I can learn from. I think I learn from everybody but I don’t think everybody is willing to teach me. Right now, touchwood I have been very lucky to have people who are willing to teach me. Because they come with such experience and different stratas of life and everything and they are open to processes and they are open to new things. They open you to such new experiences
and new perspectives in life and I think I never want to lose out on that. These things are pretty much it.
You seem to share a very good friendship with Shantanu Maheshwari. How would define your friendship with him?
It involves a lot of leg-pulling but it also comes from a fact that we both understand each other. We are very similar yet we are very different in the way we present ourselves. Because Shantanu is the mastikhor guy and I am the quieter one. But around him, because he is always pulling my leg, I am always laughing. And I can take a joke so it’s okay. And I think that is what our friendship is really all about that understanding where both of us are coming from.
The Suitable Boys attained critical acclaim and your performance was unequivocally praised by the audience, do you as an actor feel that the dues and recognition given to you by the entertainment industry were inadequate in comparison to your co-actors was less?
I don’t know. It’s about the choices you make and I think I made my choices which I am living out right now. So I don’t think I can really put that on anybody else. Yes, I wish I had made more of it but I was also still learning to grasp at new things and how to be in the limelight and how to handle all of it. Now I can just say that I could have done better but I hope I can still make amends and so more.
FLAMES is another series that you always like to go back to. Of all the three seasons, which one was the most memorable one for you and why? How have both Tanya and Ishita evolved in both reel and real life over the years?
I think with every character, you bring so much of yourself into it. And it’s not Just about the skills that you have picked up through the journey but also your personality reflects in that character. I think Ishita’s character also, as Tanya is growing, as I am maturing, as I am learning things, Ishita’s character also is on this journey with me and I am with this journey with her where we are both coming to our own selves. That’s why I like the second season the best because I saw how Ishita embracing and accepting her flaws, her vulnerability, her braveness, her tenderness and everything. I use this word tender a lot because I associate myself with that word a lot. How you grow and do not let go of that innocence, I think these characters whatever I do, I want to bring them this. Whatever, however they might be, I want them to be honest. I want to have that honesty and innocence in them.
How competitive are you as an actor? Do you ever feel the pressure of being at par with your peers? How do you deal with that?
I am a competitive person but also I am not. Because I think that whatever is meant for you, will come to you and you have to be patient. When you work from a state of desperation, when you are in that frequency, you are attracting the wrong things and your intentions are not right then. So you’ve got to believe that you are meant for it, you’ve got to believe that you are it. I think then it will come to you. So I am competitive but with myself. I have to work on myself. I have to do better. Most things I want to learn. Most things I want to do. So there is never a competition with the exterior world that if they are doing that, I have to do this. It’s never that because we all are very unique, we all are very different and we all meant for different things. So if I start cloning them, then I lose myself and they already have an original one, why would they want to go for me? So staying true to myself is what I am learning to do and to cut out the block of the noise that is happening outside.
Finally, what’s next on your plate after Mumbaikar?
After Mumbaikar, there are a few things that are happening right now. Hopefully the prep will start very soon for something. It’s very special to me. And I hope we can talk about it soon as and when it happens.
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