Sanjay Suri talks about his ‘gigolo’ role in Anubhav

Courtesy the stand off between producers and multiplexes, yet another film is being revived from cold storage. Anubhav, which is directed by National Award winning director Rajiv Nath, is the latest to arrive sans any fanfare whatsoever as multiplexes screen this dramatic affair this Friday. With Sanjay Suri and Gul Panag in lead, Anubhav also stars Jackie Shroff, Raj Zutshi, Meeta Vasisht, Sudha Chandran and Shruti Seth in principal roles. Sanjay Suri spoke with us about the film.

In Anubhav, you play the role of a man who is forced by circumstances to become a gigolo. Is it a dark film?

No, I won’t call it dark. The film has many layers and talks about how life is not completely black or white. I would call this more as a real film since it talks about a character that takes a certain stand in life, embarks on a journey and eventually looses his way.

Please elaborate on the journey taken by this character.

In the film, I play a theatre actor who wants to eventually make it big in Bollywood. His life goes for a spin after some unfortunate incidents and he ends up becoming a male prostitute. So while he has been a sensitive man, a true lover and a loyal friend all this while, he turns into a person that no one close to have would have ever imagined.

If one looks at a one-line description of the movie i.e. a man becoming a gigolo, it sounds like Deepak Tijori’s Oops. Is that a fair assumption to make?

Well, if you only tell a story in one line then majority of all movies would be the ‘same’ love stories, all movies set in the past would be ‘period’ and each ‘war’ movie would be the ‘same’ too! But that’s not always the case, right? So no, Anubhav has nothing to do with Oops!

Coming from an award-winning director like Rajiv Nath, the film should have a sensibility of its own, right?

Let me tell you one thing; the fact is that these South Indian guys are very sharp and cinema literate. In fact when I walk into the sets, it is sometimes so intimidating because someone comes and tells me that so and so person has won a National award winner, the other comes and points me to someone with two National awards and moments later there is this guy with three National awards walking in. So it’s an elite bunch to be a part of!