Bhavesh Joshi Could’ve Been Much Better With A More Aggressive Marketing, Says Priyanshu

Mumbai has seen a lot of new faces coming into the city to realize their Bollywood dreams but very few make it there in the first place! And there are even fewer who manage to receive all the limelight, rave reviews; praises and admiration from the word go!

Well, when this quintessential North Indian boy from South India came down to Mumbai with Bollywood dreams in his eyes, little did he expect that he will get it all in such a short span of time. At least that is what I inferred from our conversation that took place on a day when the city was enveloped in a visage of dark clouds and the first monsoons of the year lashed on the glass windows!

There was a common string – After a long dry spell, the monsoons that hit Mumbai, was new and brought a fresh whiff of the cool wind that the city was so eagerly waiting for and on the other hand, the guy I was talking to was new to the silver screen and his audiences welcomed him with an ardor which is seldom seen!  Isn’t that splendid?!

Priyanshu are you listening?

Well, Priyanshu Painyuli is not your average Joe, there is so much more to him than what meets the eye. Painyuli who started off as a theatre artist graduated to doing web series and then finally films. His first mainstream film was the Vikramaditya Motwane directed Bhavesh Joshi Superhero wherein he plays the titular role. Much has been said about his portrayal of the character. It wouldn’t be an exaggeration to state that almost every publication praised his performance. In a heart of hearts conversation with me, this Dehradun born actor revealed a lot about his personality, his understanding of films surely didn’t sound like a rookie.

Excerpts from the interview:

How was life before and after Bhavesh? Are you in a happy space now?

Right now it is much more comfortable and satisfying, especially because I am doing work that you have always wanted to do. Before shifting to Mumbai, I had done some work but that was all in Bangalore. In Mumbai, people barely care of what you have done or achieved outside the precincts of the city. They are always keen to know what you have achieved or done in here.  You have to prove yourself here. I have done my film schooling back in Bangalore from S.A.E (School of Audio engineering). It is an Australia based institute. It has its own digital filmmaking course, which I pursued for two years, did a few projects, documentaries, music videos and simultaneously was dabbling in professional theatre as well. My whole school and college life by the way was spent doing just that.

From what you say, I feel there was no particular time when the acting bug bit you, since that is what you always were doing.

I never quite planned my coming down to Mumbai, throughout my school and college years, I was into dramatics, dance and other performing arts. I used to represent my college in various fests and competitions, everyone knew me because I used to bunk classes to be part of these inter-college competitions and fests. I was a second-year B.A. student of Christ College where you had to have a certain percentage of attendance in order to be able to write the examinations; I was pretty low on that. But I left that college, didn’t finish my degree and went on to do a diploma in films. We formed a small production company through which we shot documentaries and did music videos for bands, for me acting used to happen with short films and theatre. But then, when I knew that I wanted to take up acting seriously I had to come down to Mumbai. That’s how Mumbai happened to me and it was great!

In Mumbai initially, I was focused on the stage. I met Rajit Kapur, did a lot of theatre, then the web series happened and finally films! It was a bit difficult in the beginning but I stuck around and kept in touch with people. Theatre really helped me because a lot of people saw me and called me for an audition, that’s how I came in touch with the casting directors and work followed.

How did Bhavesh happen, what did Vikramaditya Motwane see in you to cast you in the titular role?

I don’t know, it happened through Mukesh Saab (Mukesh Chabbra). He has always trusted me throughout. One of his associates had seen my plays, he called me for another film that never took off but he kept calling me for many more auditions, he was forever benign and consoling in his demeanour. I have always been very choosy with work because I firmly believe that the right choices make you the kind of actor you are. His company one again called me for Bhavesh and I auditioned for the role and the next thing I know is Vikramaditya Motvane reading out the script to us in his room.

How was the camaraderie between you and Vikramaditya?

He is a great guy; I have been a fan of all his work till date. When I got to know, he would be my director, I was in awe of him. At Phantom, all are very open about suggestions and the vibe is pretty chilled out. We did a lot of workshops together. Motvane was pretty encouraging about improvisations, which was very nice because I didn’t expect directors to be that accommodating.  We were all new and we used to do a scene repeatedly and then come up with our own inputs. The best part of it all was, he would take those feedbacks. We had a great working relationship and that worked for the film.

What do you think helped you in your performance in the film? How did you become one with the character?

 Well, you have your answer in your question. I was just being the person and believing in everything the character believes in. Bhavesh was not a very difficult character. He is a very new age young guy, who likes his beer and hanging out with friends and at the same time he doesn’t twitch while doing his own bit for the society. I am in a way like Bhavesh in reality. I do stop at signals and I don’t like unnecessary honking, I hate it when I see garbage strewn all over in the middle of the road. Our job as citizens is to take care of the small things before blaming the government and pointing fingers at it. In that way, I had a lot of semblance to Bhavesh’s character and along with that I seeped in all that Motvane was trying to say through the narrative. That’s how I became the character and gave my heart to it. The people too connect to you when they see that you are there. The acting should not come out as superficial. There are so many people who called and told me, “We cried when you died, we didn’t want you to die!” These are the comments that make an actor feel that the approach towards the character in a particular film was right indeed. Bhavesh was the heart of the film, he is the character who begins it all and drives the narrative. People got that and therefore I feel I was successful in my attempt too!

The kind of business the film did was not pretty impressive but your performance sure has conjured up a storm, did that in any way make you complacent about the business the film did? What in your opinion was the reason behind the low figures at the box office?

This is pretty confusing to me as well because I am not quite aware of the business part of films. There are targets to be achieved by theatres in terms of the number of seats that needs be filled. I personally feel the marketing of the film could have been a bit more aggressive but we have still kept our fingers crossed. People who have watched the film are pretty appreciative of it. We did not expect the film to have a big opening but we surely thought it would gradually gain momentum. We hoped that the word of mouth would work wonders for the film but that didn’t happen.

A film is a film and it should be seen on the big screen. But having said that, today multifarious avenues have crept up especially with the burgeoning of the new media, do you think, the film would’ve garnered more audiences if the film would’ve released online?

I am not sure of that. I really feel a film like Bhavesh was made for the big screen.

Every film is made for the big screen that way but there are many –

That’s right and the thrill and entertainment factor that is there while watching a film on the big screen is something else in comparison to watching a film on your laptop at home. In our film, the way Siddharth Diwan shot the bike chase and some other scenes as well literally comes alive on the big screen. It is just that we could’ve done a better release.

So you admit that you would’ve had a better audience reception if in case it would’ve released online?

That anyway happens with all films today. After the theatrical release, the rights are then sold to the TV broadcasters and the web as well. But, I am not really focusing on the business aspects of a film, I have to learn that and I will start doing that too. But the idea is that a film is made for the big screen and it should be released on the big screen.

You have done a lot many short films as well and the latest one that I happened to see is Yaman. It was impressive that you didn’t shy away from playing a character that had issues with his sexual identity.  Having said that, don’t you think It would be a blot in your character to have done a role that most actors blatantly refuse to do?

For me, that doesn’t matter. When I read the Yaman script and met the director I was convinced this was a beautiful story. That is what is most important to me. For me, the story should really excite you as an actor and then when you feel for the character. Yaman was a nice emotional journey of a couple and the predicament faced by the man! When I met Raghu (Raghuvir Joshi), it was apparent that he was pretty clear about the portrayal of the character. Yaman is one film that I am very proud of. I didn’t want to play the homosexual man in a typical manner and that is why it happened the way it did. Therefore, it is always the story that bears the soul after which comes in my efforts and experiences to make the character come alive on screen.

What kinds of character do you aspire to play on screen? It is not to be mixed with what you would be doing onscreen henceforth - It should be more of something that inculcated the love for films in you and whenever you see that film or character, you say to yourself – “I wish I played this role!”

There are so many films and characters that I have loved and I want to do. But as far as characters are concerned, well – a big impression in my being is that of MR Amitabh Bachchan. He is somebody would just play anything. I have seen him playing an angry man, he did slapstick, and he could play a drunkard with ease. For me, that is the kind of flair I would want to have when it comes to acting! I don’t want to be categorized in a particular role! And the person who I feel is really lovely with his choice of films is Ranbir Kapoor. Be it a Jagga Jasoos or a Rockstar, he is good at anything he does! I would just want to keep on experimenting and learning forever.