For Tanuj Virwani, the first half of 2024 has been nothing short of extraordinary. The actor, who has been a part of several interesting projects like Yodha and Splitsvilla 15, has cemented his status as a versatile talent. Tanuj also found profound happiness on the personal level as he announced that he will soon become a father. In an exclusive interview with The Free Press Journal, Tanuj opened up about the nuances of his journey and reflected on the highs and lows of his career.
On his recent career choices, Tanuj said, "It's a good time to be an actor, especially in the OTT space. Also, this year, I've had Yodha, which was my first theatrical release in over seven years. I'm hosting Splitsvilla 15, which opened a whole different audience for me. I have actually had no experience of reality shows. So, I felt I was just thrown to the deep end of the sea. Luckily, I somehow managed. But I believe I've made interesting career choices."
Despite being the son of veteran actress Rati Agnihotri, Tanuj's initial years in the film industry was not a cakewalk. He believes the audience decides the fate of actors. "When I entered the industry, I was naive. I thought it would be a walk in the park for me since my mom was a successful actress. But nothing can be further away from the truth. At the end of the day, the audience decides whose film or show to watch. I feel that I was a bit complacent and I did not take my work seriously enough, which is why I faced rejections. The best people get rejected many times because the casting director, the director, the people who are in charge of taking these decisions, have to be able to visualise a particular role. And it's not possible for one actor to be able to fit in every role. So I feel rejection is good as long as you don't take that to your heart," Tanuj said.
He added, "My mom always tells me, 'Never take failure to your heart, but never let success go to your head either'. You have to know that no matter what, tomorrow's a new day, you'll get more opportunities and that's the beauty of this industry."
Tanuj admitted that he has learnt from his mistakes. He explained, "When you do different projects, everything will not exactly work out the way you hoped it would. I've faced my fair share of rejection and of failure and of flop movies. But I also feel you learn a lot from them. If everything you touch turns to gold, then you maybe don't value it as much, maybe that hunger becomes less. So, I feel it's important for us to think out of the box and be brave and try new things. Sometimes we need to fall and learn from our mistakes."
Tanuj's determination paved the way for him to carve out his own path in the industry. Looking back at his journey, Tanuj shared, "I'm open to doing everything. My career has not followed a fixed path. I started off with films, did a bunch of web series, and now I'm hosting a reality show. I go by my instinct. Also, I'm always hungry for more. I feel once you're satisfied, you start taking things a little easy and become complacent. So, in order for that drive to be there, there should always be a little bit of like, no, we can do more, we can do better. The person I aspire to be is me 10 years from now. I want to be that person I visualise in my head and to be in order to reach where I want to be. If I get satisfied now, I'll never get there."
On a concluding note, Tanuj said he has his hands full with projects. He recently wrapped the shoot of a web series. The actor revealed he has done a film with Vijay Raaz which is yet to be titled. He will be seen in a show with KK Menon. Tanuj also has a rom-com Divya Agarwal and the second season of Rana Naidu.
