Manish Nawani speaks on his character in The Buddy Project Season 2

We had earlier reported on Manish Nawani who starred in the TV shows 12/24 Karol Bagh, Roomies and Gumrah and in Hemant Gaba’s film Shuttlecock Boys bagging a plum role in Channel V’s The Buddy Project (Sunshine Productions). You already know that Manish essays the role of the son of a well-known film star. The actor shared greater details about his character.

His role is of a college going boy called Avijit Chandan Roy. The characters of the first season of the show have left school and are now in a college which imparts mass media courses. Two new characters have been introduced in the second season- Omi (Samridh Bawa) and Avijit (Avi).

Speaking on his character, Manish said, “Besides, having a fight with Omi’s group, my character also has tiffs with his father.” It seems that Avijit is a grim character as he is dressed in dark shades. Manish informed us, “Omi dresses in hip kurtas whereas Avijit wears dark biker jackets and boots.”

Manish admitted that he can’t identify with this role. The reason he gave was, “I was very close to my dad, the late Lal Nawani, who passed away last November. That is why I can’t relate to a character who just can’t get along with his dad. Therein lay the challenge to play the character.”

To get into the skin of a younger role he watched both foreign and Indian youth based films and TV serials. He told us, “I visited my cousin sister at National College (Bandra) where she is pursuing a similar course in communications (media) called BMM. I observed people there, the college lingo and body language.”

The actor will be seen in the upcoming movie Perfect Narangi. Speaking on the character in the film, he says, “It is a story of Aman (played by me) who is on a quest to find his dad and also he is into voyeurism of sorts. He peeps into other people’s buildings and finds the love of his life.”

In his previous film Shuttlecock Boys he played Loveleen who along with his three friends (badminton buddies) struggled to establish their catering business. The film went on to win rave reviews. Reflecting on his character in the film, he said, “I could identify with my character in the film, not just the struggle but Loveleen was also fond of watches and cars like me. He had big dreams and wouldn’t settle for just anything.”

He is full of praise for his director Hemant. “He is by far one of the best directors I have worked with. He knows actors are not puppets and are supposed to do much more than mouthing dialogues. He would explain every situation with a back story and get us going. He also was open to suggestions and changes in the dialogues although he had written the screenplay as well.”

Does he purposely avoid commercial films? “The law of commerce states that anything that sells is commercial. We come up with different terms like ‘commercial’, ‘parellel’ etc. I think any movie that appeals to the audience is commercial.”

When Manish isn’t acting, he diligently works towards upgrading his skills and also dabbles in activities he enjoys. “I like watching films- that’s like a case study for any actor. Also, I attend various workshops ranging from script writing to direction. I also like to travel and read.”

Though his life revolves around acting, Manish has future plans not related to acting too. “I have a production house registered under my name. I have been working on concepts. But as of now I want to concentrate on acting. I also have other business plans not necessarily related to the film or TV industry which I plan to pursue much later in life.”

Manish has great words for praise for his producers of The Buddy Project. “Sudhir and Seema Sharma are the best producers you can ask for to work with. They gave me my first break on TV in Zee TV’s 12/24 Karol Bagh. Just after I lost my dad, I needed something like a role like this. The atmosphere at Sunshine Productions really comforts me.”

The Buddy Project will be telecast from Monday to Friday at 6pm on Channel V from 18 March 2013. The repeat telecast will be at 8pm. We wish this talented actor all the best!