Tanuj Virwani talks Acting Career, Life Lessons & More

In the glistening world of Indian cinema, Tanuj Virwani is an emblem of talent and dedication to his craft.

Beginning his film career with Luv U Soniyo (2013), Tanuj has also worked extensively in television and digital content.

He is famous for his role in the sports series Inside Edge where he plays Vayu Raghavan.

In 2024, Tanuj Virwani also presented MTV Splitsvilla 15 along with Sunny Leone.

He is also the son of the legendary actress Rati Agnihotri, who reigned supreme in Bollywood during the 1980s.

In 1984, she starred in Mashaal alongside none other than Dilip Kumar.

In our exclusive chat, Tanuj Virwani divulged his career and also offered valuable life lessons.

Furthermore, the star also told us that he is expecting his first child in September 2024, opening up about this exciting aspect.

What inspired you to become an actor?

I think I wanted to become an actor since my childhood but I guess I just did not know how to express it publicly.

I just felt that I am perhaps creative and definitely want to enter a creative field.

When I was in school, we did quite a lot of plays.

Then, in college, I took up advertising because that is also a creative pathway.

After that, my attention shifted to films but not as an actor – as a writer and director.

I started working as an assistant director for two years.

After I spent sufficient time on set, imbibing that practical knowledge of how films are made in India and how an assistant works, I felt that writing and directing are interesting.

But at that juncture of my life, I felt that acting is what my true calling is.

I feel that it’s a thrilling feeling when you go on set and look at people completely transforming and turning into a character the moment the director says: “Action”.

After that, when a director calls: “Cut”, they transform back into their real-life personalities.

I think that is what I found very interesting – to be able to live the life of so many different characters.

How did your mother, the veteran actress Rati Agnihotri inspire you?

I think the biggest lesson I got from her was to keep working on my process and my craft.

She taught me never to think that I have arrived and now there’s nobody that can do my job better than I can.

It’s not about someone doing your job better than you but rather people do it differently.

So you always have to be at the top of your game.

We get a lot of opportunities here but there are many threats too.

So you always make sure that you treat yourself not just as a person or as an artist but as a commodity.

I’m soon about to start promoting my new show so I’m not an actor at that point.

I’m a salesman because I want the audience to watch my show.

When I am in front of the camera and I’m portraying a character, I’m an actor at that time.

It’s very different so my mother always taught me that you have to be in the present about what you currently are.

Be very neutral and be very open to fluidity.

If you become rigid and think that you can do something but can’t do something else, it becomes extremely difficult for you to thrive as an actor.

It’s not like you’re building a business where you start at the ground floor and you’ll slowly open more branches.

As an actor, it’s almost like going to the casino in Vegas. You might be down on your luck and one Friday, a release changes everything.

You have to make sure that you don’t take success or failure too seriously.

If you take failure too seriously, you’re only focusing on the negatives.

If you take success seriously, you start falling in love with that and we all know that nothing ever lasts forever.

It’s a constantly evolving ecosystem so I think that’s what my mother, after being an active part of the industry for over 35 years has taught me.

Sometimes, during my career, I have forgotten what she has taught me so I constantly remind myself. And if I don’t, she definitely would!

The people you surround yourself with are very important because you will find a lot of yes-men in your life who probably just want to enjoy your success.

At the end of the day, you have to choose the people who truly matter in your life.

I always like asking certain people for feedback and criticism because I know they will speak the truth.

Because you do find people who will praise you even if your work is bad.

What genres do you particularly enjoy working in?

Of course, you’re going to have different experiences in projects, films, and web series.

I’ve had a lot of good experiences including shows like Inside Edge, Cartel, and Code M. 

These are some of the shows where I had a very good experience.

There are some shows that I watch in hindsight and think I would probably portray it differently because I have more life experience.

So I like to hark back to my previous work including films such as One Night Stand (2016) or Purani Jeans (2014).

I’d done them when I was relatively inexperienced. If I had the chance to do those roles today, I would definitely portray the characters differently.

No regrets, all learnings. I also feel you have to play certain roles at the right time in your life.

You look a certain way, you feel a certain way, and it gets very difficult to play that either too young or too old.

You’ve got to be at the right place at the right time. That’s the beauty of cinema.

What similarities and differences have you seen between films and web series?

I have fun in both because it’s all acting!

There are a lot of similarities in that if you are working with a good production house, good people, and a good budget where the cast and crew are of a certain calibre, you cannot even tell the difference.

The only difference is that there is a three-tier structure in films – you have a beginning, middle, and end.

It is a different story structure where you need to come to a final resolution.

At the end of the day, when the audience leaves the theatre, they need to be satisfied knowing that this is the story that was told.

Of course, you can set up a sequel or second part. But that’s usually how it is.

When you do a series, the duration is quite long. It’s a much longer form of storytelling.

There are so many shows I have done such as Cartel or Inside Edge where different actors and characters have a chance to shine in different episodes.

Nobody can say that they are only the lead – we are all co-leads of the show.

Due to that, I feel that you get a lot of screen time to build a character graph. That’s a lot of fun as well.

When you’re part of successful shows like Inside Edge, I’ve had the good fortune of playing three separate characters in my life.

It’s very interesting because you are somehow in a different place mentally.

So the joy, the pain, the pathos, and the emotion that you bring to that character depending on what you’re facing in real life is all different.

Perhaps, when you are performing those roles in the moment, you don’t fully understand.

But subconsciously, at a molecular and a very emotional level, your heart is making certain decisions about how you want to play that character.

You also start feeling a sense of belonging towards that character the longer you play something.

So I think there are both similarities and differences when it comes to portraying characters in web series as opposed to movies.

Can you tell us about working on MTV Splitsvilla 15 with Sunny Leone?

I’ve never done fiction on television. I’ve only hosted Splitsvilla 15 with Sunny recently. That was an incredible experience.

It was very different from what I am used to doing normally as an actor.

Sunny is very nice. I’ve known her for years. We did a film in 2016 called One Night Stand together.

We met again after a few years during Splitsvilla 15 and I was very happy because I feel that we are both at different points in our lives and careers today.

The symbolic nature of our equation has just changed and flourished over time.

It’s always a lot of fun working with her and I’m very happy that she’s found so much happiness in her personal life as well with her beautiful children and her husband.

Whenever I meet her, it’s always a very warm and pleasant time.

As the son of Rati Agnihotri, what are your views on nepotism and would you classify yourself as a product of it?

I think my fans and the audience would answer that better because you need to have been launched by a famous parent or by some contact within the fraternity to be in these nepotism debates.

Whoever has followed my career trajectory closely, will see that I have done whatever work I have on my merit.

I have not knocked on the doors of big production houses and used my mother’s star power or contacts to get to where I am today.

On a lighter note, my mother’s screen surname is ‘Agnihotri’ and I have adopted my father’s surname, ‘Virwani’.

Sometimes, people get confused and it takes them a while to even realise that we are related.

I’m very happy about that because I feel that in your life and career, your successes and failures should only belong to you.

I take full ownership of all my choices in life.

You must feel very proud that you’ve achieved so much on your merit.

I don’t feel proud as such and don’t feel that what we do is some life-altering thing as actors.

We bring joy to the lives of people and entertain the audience.

Hopefully, we enlighten them in certain ways and give them a good time. That’s about it.

Sometimes, I don’t understand when actors take themselves so seriously.

There are much bigger things than us going on in the world and there are some real-life heroes out there.

Those are the people who should be proud of themselves for the work that they are putting out.

That is my outlook on it. I feel nepotism is existent in every field.

The son of a doctor becomes a doctor, a lawyer’s son becomes a lawyer, and so on.

Fewer fingers point over there because they are perhaps less glamorous professions.

I feel that it just gets magnified a lot more in our profession.

Simply, when the audience subscribes to an online platform or buys a film ticket, they don’t look at what your last name is.

They decide based on whether they enjoy watching that person or not.

Maybe, you’ll get one or two good opportunities at the beginning of your career but after that, you walk on your own steam.

There are a lot of star kids out there whose careers have not panned out despite being the sons and daughters of very famous people.

At the same time, some people continue to excel so I just feel that if you’re good at what you do and you have that special quality and that consistency, you will succeed.

Otherwise, you might just have to try harder or maybe it just was not meant to be.

Are there actors and filmmakers who have inspired you?

When it comes to actors, there are many.

It would be Ranbir Kapoor, Ranveer Singh, Shah Rukh Khan, and Amitabh Bachchan. These are among the few whose work I regard consistently.

Of course, there are others as well but in their cases, I regard their individual performances more than the entire body of work.

As for filmmakers and directors, I would say Sriram Raghavan, Anurag Kashyap, Anurag Basu, Rajkumar Hirani, Karan Johar, and Imtiaz Ali.

There is so much to learn from these directors. Being a student of cinema and someone who loves watching movies, I love studying their work to understand and hope that somehow that rubs off on me in my craft.

Can you tell us anything about your future projects?

I am very excited about my upcoming slate of projects. I have an upcoming release with Kay Kay Menon, a web series called Murshid.

That will stream on ZEE5. I also have a film named Johnny Jumper with Vijay Raaz.

It is a very interesting film where I play a cable guy who is also an inside man for the local police so the story is very interesting.

I have also got a show with Applause who recently made the Scam series. The project is named DAU Mumbai which is the Domestic Anti-Terrorism Group, Mumbai.

I’m currently shooting for the second season of a Netflix show called Rana Naidu with Venkatesh Daggubati, Rana Daggubati, Surveen Chawla, and a few amazing actors whom they will reveal very soon.

In the UK itself, I recently shot a film titled Puppy Love. It is a romantic comedy with Divya Agrawal and Nikki Tamboli.

What advice would you give to newcomers and budding actors?

Don’t strive to be the next Ranbir Kapoor, Shah Rukh Khan, Alia Bhatt, or Kareena Kapoor Khan.

You would fail in their comparison because they didn’t strive to be like someone else.

They strived to be the best version of themselves and that’s what you must do as well.

We all have a unique selling point and if we can find that, nurture that, and help it grow, I think that is what acting is all about.

Acting is about bearing yourself and your emotions. Immersing yourself in another character and using yourself as a vessel to communicate what the writer and the director want to communicate to the audience.

If you become too rigid and think that this is the right way, no. In acting, there are no right or wrong ways.

If you feel it and it makes your heart flutter and emotional, that means you’re doing something right.

You must trust your instincts and consistency is very important.

I’ve seen a lot of youngsters who rigorously work for a few days and then have fun for the rest.

It’s very important to have a routine, follow it, and understand that you will never move ahead in life without consistency.

I’m not just talking from the perspective of an actor but regarding every field.

How do you think fatherhood will change your outlook on life and your career?

I don’t think I’m yet equipped to answer that question because I am not yet a father.

I’m on the brink of becoming a father but I can tell you how marriage changes one’s life.

You have a lot more responsibilities on your shoulders and you don’t feel responsible just for yourself or your parents.

In my case, you feel responsible for your family and your wife as well.

When my child arrives, I’m sure I will feel an added sense of responsibility.

I think that you would automatically want to be a better person, give the best account of yourself, and work harder.

Because you know that directly and indirectly, their lives are also dependent on what you do.

You need to represent your family in the best way possible and lead by example.

These things are very important because there is no point in doing great in your professional life but things are lacking in your personal life.

I feel that you need to nurture both aspects of your life.

When you are in a stable relationship and your partner is understanding of the expectations of this line of work, I think things automatically become a lot easier.

In every field and every relationship, communication is essential regardless of whether it is personal or professional.

You need to have a very good sense of communication with your partner.

Tanuj Virwani is one of the best performers of his time with a dazzling array of work and a mature sense of living.

His life lessons will undoubtedly inspire many of his fans and people outside of his fanbase as well.

Tanuj Virwani’s future projects, his words of wisdom, and his approach to his career are testaments to his achievements and his success.

As he embarks on an exciting chapter of fatherhood, here’s wishing him all the luck in the world for his personal and professional endeavours.

What are you waiting for? If you haven’t done so already, go ahead and check out the inspiring star, Tanuj Virwani.