Straight Answers

Sanjay Suri, Actor, On the course of his career in Bollywood.

What is your next movie, Jhankar Beats, all about?

Jhankar Beats deals with striking a balance between one’s personal life, professional life and passion. ‘Jhankar’ is a local music competition in which Rahul Bose and I participate. What is interesting is the treatment of the film and how situations are seen from a lighter perspective.

What role do you play in the film?

I play a middle-class man happily married to Juhi Chawla for six-seven years. My role is that of a foodie with a sense of humour and a passion for music.

Will you ever manage to break away from the ‘nice guy’ image?

Personally, I am looking for different roles. In fact, given a chance, I would love to do out-and-out negative roles but, at the end of the day, I can only choose from what I am offered. It is the creative shortsightedness of film-makers which tends to typecast actors.

What about your upcoming films?

I am exploring a diverse selection of roles. There is Sanjay Gupta’s Plan, which is about different dreams, diverse aspirations and plans going wrong. I play one of four guys who get involved in a kidnapping case. Then, there is Ek Pal Ke Liye, in which my character has shades of grey. Pinjar, a period film co-starring Urmila and Manoj Bajpai, has as a pre-Independence setting. I play an educated and sophisticated poet in the movie. In Insaaf, I essay the role of an upright IAS officer. All in all, I have much to look forward to.