TVF’s Panchayat, one of the most-loved OTT shows of current times, continued its successful run with the recent launch of its second season, receiving equally glowing reactions as its first season did.
While the show boasts of a wonderful ensemble cast, led by Jitendra Kumar, the most promising actor to come out of the streaming era, and veterans like Raghubir Yadav and Neena Gupta, the biggest surprise package of the show has been Chandan Roy. Playing Vikas, the earnest, ever-smiling assistant to Abhishek (Kumar), Roy has won everyone’s heart with his portrayal of a young villager who often acts as a well-meaning mediator between the urban and still-settling Abhishek and the traditional Sarpanch-figure Brijbhushan Dubey (Raghubir Yadav).
However, for someone who achieved such an instant connect with the audience, Chandan Roy sounds comfortably detached and level-headed as he talks about the nature of audience’s reception. He elaborates, “You cannot take praise too seriously, or else you become too complacent. When someone gives you a compliment, it becomes more of a challenge to maintain that level of work and sincerity from your end.”
The early Panchayat meetings
Roy recalls the initial days and nervousness of working on Panchayat, working with veterans like Raghubir Yadav and Neena Gupta, and how his director and writer duo helped him deal with it. “We had a 5-day workshop in order to break the ice with co-actors. And even though I had a rapport with Raghubir Ji, I was still new and filled with all the fears of the world. I also felt overwhelmingly responsible for making the most of this opportunity. That is when my director (Deepak Kumar Mishra) and writer (Chandan Kumar) noticed my nervousness and told me “These are all big actors, no doubt, but remember one thing - on the sets, you all are equal. If you feel conscious of their stature, it will then reflect in your performance. So go in there, believing you all are on the same level.” Roy adds how the advice from his writer-director duo helped him navigate the initial worries, and slowly find his groove.
The 27-year-old actor also ensures to clarify that over the years, he has moved over the idea of having a certain favourite actor or a role model. He adds, “There were many actors whom I really enjoyed watching while growing up, but once I began to learn the craft of acting, I stopped having any certain favourites in terms of modeling myself after someone. I want to be one of my own kind, and create my own style.” Roy also strongly believes that while one can gradually understand the technicalities and craft of acting, the art of acting itself can not be taught from scratch.
“I would remember the plays by heart"
Roy brims with nostalgia when asked about his formative years (in Mahnar, Bihar where he grew up) and the times when he first found himself bit by the acting bug. “I was fascinated by the idea of how an everyman, who went about his or her life for the entire day, could suddenly put on a costume, go on stage in the evening, and become something else.” He adds, “My obsession reached such a level that I would remember an entire play by heart, that's how often I would watch these plays.” By the time Roy was 12, he was already on stage, enacting small parts in their local Nautankis, and letting the acting bug bite him deeper.
So once he came of age, Roy naturally started looking for ways that would keep him close to his passion for acting - and soon enrolled at Patna College for a Mass Communication course. Roy credits his time spent both at Patna College as well as later at IIMC, Delhi for helping him develop the personality and temperament suitable for an artist.
He suddenly sounds like a nervous village boy all over again as he reminisces about his first year in Delhi. “It was a big thing for a village boy like me to come to a city and live this urban life - so it was a shock at first. However, that place (IIMC) was like Mecca-Madina for people like us, letting us engage with students from all over, coming from such varied cultural backgrounds. That's where I developed myself as a creative person, that’s where my imagination found flight.”
“I didn't want a 9-to-5 life”
However, coming from an average middle-class household as he did, Roy also realised the need to financially sustain himself before he could jump in to pursue acting full-time - so Roy began looking for employment, and found himself hired as a journalist for Dainik Jagran in Delhi. Roy remembers how the interviewer, noticing his passion for acting, instantly goaded him to pursue acting - but Roy made his intentions clear. “I told her I need the job - for food, for survival, and to do theatre so that I could keep my love for acting alive - and I was hired at a monthly salary of 12000.”
Roy also tells me how after active involvement in the theatre back in Patna, Roy hadn’t given the same kind of time and energy to doing plays during his IIMC stint - and he practiced a similar refrain in his first few months at Dainik Jagran as well. He adds, “I was aware that I couldn't afford to slack off at this job, but I also did not want to live an ordinary life. I like challenges and I need excitement to keep myself going on."
"I had realised way back in my mid-teens that I am not meant for a 9-to-5 job life. During my journalism stint, I would look at some of my colleagues and be afraid of falling into that mould.”
So, after six months at his first job, once he became a little assured of his job security there, Roy got in touch with a couple of theatre groups who were active on the JNU campus (where the IIMC building is) and began working with them. Roy soon joined a local theatre group ‘Behroop,’ and as tells me, “Once I started this time, there was no stopping me. I would finish my 9 hours, and would instantly rush off to be with my theatre buddies. After working for a year with the groups at JNU, I did some plays with other groups at Mandi House, with a bunch of other young enthusiasts. After our plays, I would also hang out and have dinner with them at their hostel. It was a lovely time - I miss that zeal and enthusiasm.”
“I was prepared to walk the Versova streets for years"
And yet, the eventual destination for Roy was always Mumbai - everything else was a rest-stop. He tells me, “I was so obsessed with the idea of Mumbai that I would treat it like a holy shrine. I would kiss the trains that were headed for Lokmanya Tilak Terminus.” Roy began saving some money every month from his salary, for his ‘Bombay plan’ - and in October 2017, Roy finally arrived in his city of dreams.
Roy tells me how, on his very first day in the city, he stepped out with his friend - and the friend took him to Aram Nagar (a locality in Versova), telling him that this is where all the casting agencies operate from. “I roamed around those lanes that entire day, convinced that I would be willing to spend the next 15-20 years walking these streets. My well-meaning friends advised me to explore acting for 2-3 years at most, reminding me how it’s difficult to change fields after a certain time. But I had no plan B; for me, it was always all or nothing. And gradually, I realised that everyone around me is a comrade in this joint struggle. So every morning, I would just leave the house and try my luck at whatever audition calls I would learn of.”
It was during one of these daily hustles that Roy met Raghubir Yadav, where the veteran actor was conducting a workshop. “It was a 20-day workshop, and that’s where we bonded and formed some sort of a mentor-protege relationship - and what a great stroke of coincidence - I was sharing screen with my Guru in my first big role.”
“Love for this city remains intact"
When asked about how his equation with Mumbai, the city that was once a dream for him and has now become such an affirming reality, Roy gleams with gratitude as he tells me that his love for the city hasn’t diminished a bit. He elaborates, “It’s like if you really love someone, you will only focus on their beauty, despite the tough moments you have with them. When I was in Delhi, I would search Mumbai on Internet, zoom the image on Google maps, - trying to find where Bandra is or Juhu is, where I knew most of the film stars lived. Even after I arrived here, there were many nights when I would wake up and just feel grateful for finally being here at this place that I had dreamt of for ages. And over the years, this city has given me much more than I could even ask for - It's a beautiful feeling.”
BH Harsh is a film critic who spends most of his time watching movies and making notes, hoping to create, as Peggy Olsen put it, something of lasting value.
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