He is one of the most underrated actors in Bollywood, but that doesn’t stop him from enjoying a fabulous fan base. We caught up with Sanjay Suri, as his next big release is about to hit the marquee, writes Shubarna Mukerji Shu.

He has enamoured us with many performances, be it Pinjar, My Brother Nikhil, Jhankar Beats or recently Chauranga. And Sanjay Suri is again ready to charm his fans in Mona Darling. Over to the talented actor…

Tell us about the film and your role in Mona_Darling? All we know is that it has nothing to do with the Mona Darling that we saw with Ajit…

(Laughs) That is true, it has nothing to do with that, but the name is very fitting, which you will come to know through the course of the film. Mona Darling is a Who Dunnit’ thriller set in a campus. I play “The Dean” of the institute called ‘Indian School of Technology’. What I liked about the character is that besides being a disciplinarian he is a friend, philosopher and guide to his students – confidante of sorts. It was nice getting into this character, it was a nice mix of attitudes which was nice. My character in the film is someone who is respected for who he is, and yet he is approachable. And of course, for himself he has standards he wants to attend first being maintaining the rich legacy of the institution.

Frankly, I cannot recollect when was the last time I had my fill of a Sanjay Suri film. I feel it has been too long since I saw a Sanjay Suri film. Don’t you agree it has been too long. And then when I hear you coming out with Mona Darling, i want to know what makes this one film so special.

I was last seen in CHAURANGA (it made me happy being part of a film which won the best film at MAMI ) that released in 2016 along with a special appearance in Nil Battey Sannata. Anshuman had worked in my film Chauranga and he had mentioned to me about this script. Later he introduced me to Shashi ( director of Mona Darling). He gave me a narration one day and I was very engaged and curious to know how the story unfolded. Overall I liked the feel and plot including my role in the film. Later when Anshuman decided to produce the film I was more than happy to be a part of his first production.

What’s your favourite genre of Cinema and we certainly want to know why? 


The kind of films i like is really vast…. let’s just say that there is no particular genre that I dislike, but yes thrillers are exciting because as an audience one starts participating in the mystery solving and joining the dots which I find very engaging. In fact I have also now Produced and acted in a psychological thriller called “My Birthday Song”.

There is something about thrillers that makes us restless as an audience. How does the actor treat the genre, enacting a suspense that you surely already know?

I love thrillers, smarter they are the better. As a sub genre of thrillers ‘psychological thrillers” are very exciting. As an actor one just has to follow the writer – director because any deviation of sorts can have a domino effect which may not work. Within the brackets one can value add if at all and keep it smart but many times people end up spoon feeding. The idea of a thriller is to keep the audience engaged and restless, with a satisfying pay off in the end.

What was the best part of being on sets of Mona_darling? 


Small, friendly and a professional crew can make a film journey very enjoyable. I loved the directors clarity and followed him fully on his directions and the co actors were fully prepared and hard working lot which made things very easy. All of them were wonderful to work with also coz they are lovely people.

So other than Mona Darling, which are your favourite thrillers?


Oh! There are many and many but I like I said, I enjoy psychological ones the most.

What makes Mona_darling an experience that the audience should not miss? 


I think for me any thriller that doesn’t spoon feed, keeps you engaged and gives you an experience with a good pay off is worth watching and I hope the audience will find that in Mona Darling.

You are good friends with Anshuman Jha, who is producing this film, tell us if there is one way you can describe your co-stars, what would it be?

Allow me two words, I’ll go with talented and professional. –Cineblitz

Credits: freepressjournal