NewsX was recently joined by actor Priyanshu Painyuli for an exclusive conversation. Priyanshu talked about his famous character, Robin, from Amazon Prime Video’s Mirzapur 2, his famous dialogue, “Yeh bhi theek hai” and the rise of OTT platforms.
When asked about how it feels to be part of something special, Priyanshu said, “It is very overwhelming when people recognise you on the road. When you post anything on Instagram, anything on social media, people comment every day telling me “yeh bhi theek hai”. I think a lot of brands have used this as a tagline in their promotions too, so it’s nicer to see them connect with this character.”
When asked if his character’s famous line was his idea, he said, “Yeah, this was during the discussion with the writer and the director. I said we need to give him a takiya kalaam. And generally, in India, I have seen a lot of people doing this, a lot of people have a certain way of repeating one thing. “Yeh bhi theek hai” was something I had heard from an uncle and I thought it looked nice for this character. When we kept using it, the director got very excited.”
In a short span of time, Priyanshu has done a lot of projects which include theatre, Hindi movies, a Hollywood film, web series, and various other projects with OTT platforms. When asked if he has any favourite and what scope do newer actors and upcoming talent have due to the rise of OTT, Priyanshu said, “I think for me and a lot of actors who have done theatre, the stage remains the stage. The more stage theatre you do, the higher you get performing. There is not any day where you go on stage and don’t feel like performing, but there are days when you go in front of the camera and feel lazy and make excuses like ‘it’s cold’! On stage, it is always like, ‘let’s perform’! It is the instant gratitude and applause that you get from the audience. But they are all very different mediums. I love cinema and the camera also because the kind of approach you have, the kind of process you go through and the number of days we spend thinking about one part and preparing for it, you have to be hooked for a long time. Thankfully, I’m still early and exploring, and luckily I have explored web and Hindi films and a lot of variations. I’m trying to do different kinds of roles also. This is where I come to the OTT side. OTT is giving us the opportunity to do different kinds of roles. OTT is experimenting, OTT is the new wave of entertainment right now for everybody.”
“People watch shows while travelling, on planes, at home after coming from work. Now theatres have opened and we are thinking of when people will come to the theatres as we really want our films there as well. But the OTT boom happened because of the unfortunate pandemic. People were at home and locked in and some massive shows came by, like Patal Lok, Scam 1992 and Mirzapur. If you see the range of things, it’s great. New actors have come in, new writers and directors too. We are experimenting a lot because there is a comfort factor and we can tell a story in a different format. It is not just for two hours, and we can explore a character, a part for eight hours, across seasons. So, I think this is great for actors, writers and directors. But I just love the cinema feel. My heart is also with theatre. When you watch an actor on a big screen, in a dark room with your popcorn, that’s a completely different experience,” he added.
Speaking about how his journey has been, coming from a non-filmy background to Mumbai, Priyanshu said, “Since school and college, the most exciting thing for me was to go to the notice board and see if there’s a competition happening for dance and drama. I was inclined towards music and used to play percussion. I got in the dance team and learnt to dance. I was not bad at studies, I used to pass with decent marks. But my teachers knew that this guy is inclined towards something else from the beginning.” He said further, “I love telling stories. If my friends ask me what I have been up to, I start from the beginning and then come to the middle and then to the end. Whether through music, dance or drama or movies or the stage, I wanted to be a storyteller. That’s what pulled me in and I had to come to Mumbai. I did some work down south in Bangalore also, started my theatre there, shot something and learned filmmaking and shot some documentaries, music videos and short films. I still make a lot of short films. But Bombay was where I had to step in and start my game all over. Thankfully, theatre happened and then I shifted to films.”
Talking about when people can see his latest project, Rashmi Rocket, Priyanshu said, “2021 is the plan. We are still finishing it. We have one last schedule to finish. Hopefully, it should be out in the second half of 2021 and we are also looking at how audiences are reacting to coming to theatres now. Rashmi Rocket is special to me because I have seen my dad wear the uniform and this is the first time I’m wearing it as my role is of an Army officer. It’s a sports drama and Tapsee is playing an athlete. Our love story unveils with the sports backdrop in the film. We are covering a very important issue and that is what attracted me to it. So that is the whole drama in the film and I’m very excited.”
When asked if there will be another season of Mirzapur, Priyanshu said, “I think this is the one question I’m asked every day and at every shoot. I’m very eagerly waiting to start (season) 3 and see where the writers are going to take this character. But we have not formally planned when and where we are going to start. But we know we have to start it this year. Let’s hope we get Robin back and something more. The exploration of the character hasn’t happened and we have kept him mysterious.”
Priyanshu concluded by talking of his future projects. “Apart from Mirzapur there is another show, I can’t reveal anything about it. I have to start shooting for it today at the film city, but let’s just keep that a mystery too. It is a very interesting show with a very good cast. There is also a film called Pippa which has been announced. It’s with Ishaan Khatter, Mrunal Thakur and Raja Menon is directing it. It’s a war drama and I’m really excited for that,” he said.