Actor Pranav Sachdeva couldn’t believe his luck when he got to know that he would be sharing the stage with megastar Amitabh Bachchan in the film Uunchai. Not only Big B, but working with filmmaker Sooraj Barjatiya and Anupam Kher was a treat, says the actor.
“The first day I was to be in a scene with Mr Bachchan, I was almost peeing in my pants! The moment he walked in, there was this gust of great fragrance. His perfume is simply the best that I have ever smelled – obviously I could never gather the courage to ask him which one it was. Then, on another day, I had to sit right next to him in the scene. I just folded my hands, did a namaskar and didn’t dare to say anything else. They had an anaconda air conditioner on us but I was still sweating with nervousness. Later, Mr Bachchan broke the ice, made me comfortable, he didn’t have to but he was kind enough to make a young actor feel so included. It was an honour and a blessing to be sharing the screen with the Mahanayak of Indian cinema,” he says.
Talking about bagging Anupam Kher’s son’s role in the film, he says, “I remember covid was peaking again and work had taken a back seat, especially the entertainment industry was badly hit. It was during that time I received a call from casting director Mr Mukesh Chhabra’s office. I must have auditioned in early 2021 and received a call back almost after one year. I was thrilled to know that I was shortlisted for a Sooraj Barjatya film. When I met Sooraj sir I was blown away by his humility and grace.”
Meanwhile, the actor has been part of many meaningful roles in the past. “My previous projects were lead roles in web shows: ‘Hadh’ on Sony Liv, Dilliwood on MXPlayer. Maaya 2 for Jiocinema, Unafraid for Viuclip. I have also acted in several sketches of digital platforms like TVF, Timeliners, PopXO etc, and acted in a short film called Almaariyan which is to release on OTT platform in the coming month. I played the protagonist in the TV show ‘Zindagi dot com’ on DD National, directed by Mr Umesh Bisht and the parallel lead in ‘Agar Tum Saath Ho’ on Zindagi channel. Recently, I acted in another tv show, ‘Disha Di Wedding’ on Pitaara TV,” he says.
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He adds, “Currently, I am touring with the Primetime theatre company’s play ‘Devika Rani’ directed by Ms Lillette Dubey. I was also recently a part of ‘Womanly Voices’ a cine play directed by her on Zee5 and Tata Sky Theatre. I have also played the lead in plays with veterans like Mr Asrani and Late Mr Tom Alter in plays performed all over the country.”
However, this film will always be special for him. “I have been doing professional theatre for around 14-15 years, my first camera gig was for television around a decade ago and then finally this film happened. I have grown up aspiring to be on the silver screen. Not just mine, this was also my father’s dream. When the late actor/director Ravi Basvani saw me in a play at Modern School and he told me, ‘You are good, you should join the National School Of Drama.’ But my dad wanted me to be an advocate so I could take care of our family’s litigation. This is a story that my father has narrated a million times…I’ve always known that in his heart of hearts, he has always wanted to be an actor. But the dream didn’t die, he lived it through me. I watched the film with him in the theatre and I hope I made him proud,” he says.
