MUMBAI: Apart from the leads, one character that stands out in Amazon Prime Video and TVF’s latest web series Panchayat is Vikas, the close aide of Jitendra Kumar’s Abhishek Tripathi. Played by newcomer Chandan Roy, Vikas is someone you are likely to come across in your village.

In interaction with the media, Chandan shared his experience of shooting for Panchayat.

Here are excerpts from the conversation.

Q. Have you met anyone in real life who inspired you to create the character of Vikas?

There isn’t anyone specific. The way I have played him is an amalgamation of several Vikas I have seen in my life. I added a little bit of my own imagination to him.

Q. How did Panchayat happen to you?

I used to go for auditions every day. One day, my friends at Casting Bay called me to audition for a small role in Panchayat. It was supposed to be a single day shoot. Being a student of Raghubir Yadav sir, I used to spend evenings at his place. Once he told me that he was traveling to Bhopal to shoot for the same series. I told him I had also auditioned for it and was awaiting selection. This was just a passing chat. Later, he had a talk with some TVF guys. He told them that one of his students has auditioned for a role and they should check it out. TVF saw it and decided to try something else with me. Then they sent me the script for Vikas. This time I auditioned for Vikas. After two days, I got a call that the writer and director want to meet me. That’s how I got to play Vikas Shukla. And that one day role was played by director Deepak Kumar Mishra.

Q. How was it working with actors like Ragubir Yadav, Neena Gupta and Jitendra Kumar?

Panchayat’s set was like a school for me. I used to make notes like a student. I never saw Raghubir sir carrying the script. He used to come so prepared. He only reacted to the lines of his co-stars. Also, he does immense improvisation, so you always need to remain on standby in front of him. That was a huge challenge, but also a huge opportunity for me to prove myself. It motivated me to put in a lot of hard work.

Jeetu bhaiya (Jitendra Kumar) spoke every line with so much conviction, I was in awe. Sometimes I used to do mischief and change the lines. Jeetu bhaiya told me to do whatever I want to, just that give him the cue in the last line. He is an adorable man. As for Neena ma’am, she used to come on the set, wear her costume, get into her character, do some magic with the scene and leave. I got so inspired by seeing them. I only thought I have to do a lot of hard work in life.

Q. Any memory from the set of Panchayat?

Every day we made memories. One the first day of the shoot, some villagers came and saw the board that read “Gram Panchayat, Phulera, District Ballia (Uttar Pradesh)”. That place was actually in Madhya Pradesh, but they thought their village went into UP overnight. Eventually, our production team convinced them that it was still MP and there was a shooting going on. Our production team did recce of over 250 villages until they zeroed down on this location. Luckily, we found everything there including the water tank.

Q. What’s your favourite scene from the show?

One of the scenes is where I am confessing that I broke the light of Panchayat Secretary’s (Jitendra Kumar) bike. My audition was also that scene. Then we had an overnight shift from 6 pm to 6 am while shooting the ‘Bhootha Ped’ episode. We had actually scared a lot of girls on the set saying the place was haunted and they should all tie their hair otherwise the ghost will come. Why I liked this sequence was because I had improvised it adding the “hallelujah” bit. Then in the fifth episode when we did the beer party, our writer told us the script and allowed us to do whatever we feel like, just that he needed certain points example the WhatsApp reference. The entire scene got improvised and turned out so real. You won’t even realise we are acting in it.

Q. You hail from Vaishali in Bihar. Does belonging to a small town help an actor in playing rooted roles?

I feel there is a lot of masala in small towns which you observe as an actor. If you are smart enough, you can use that masala to prepare different dishes giving it any kind of taste. I agree that belonging to a small town might be a plus point for me to understand such a character, but I know if I was offered something else too, I would have done that with the same dedication.

Q. Do you think making a web debut might restrict you in terms of exposure?

I have done small characters on TV as well. I have done a film too which is yet to release. But the web is definitely a far better experience. If you know how to ride a bike properly, you can take it anywhere from a road, a farm, a highway to a flyover. Similarly, if you are able to understand your character, you can enact it on any medium.

Q. You studied journalism and ended up becoming an actor. How did the switch happen?

I had planned everything early. I knew I had to study mass communication from Patna College, go to IIMC and then do a job. After earning some money, I will go to Mumbai. I worked at a media house for two and a half years. To get a good job, I needed a good placement from college. Everything was interlinked, Mumbai being my final destination. When all my friends played cricket in childhood, I used to watch films of Govinda and Mithun Chakraborty.

Q. What’s your next project?

My next is a digital film called Jamun. It was shot in 2018. It is the story of a father-daughter. It could have been my debut film, but it got delayed. It is a beautiful story. It stars Raghubir sir, Shweta Basu Prasad, Sunny Hinduja and several other good actors.

SOURCE – THE INDIAN EXPRESS