Actor Shiv Pandit heaves a huge sigh of relief. After the rave reviews for his role as Dushyant Sahu/Dash in the Hindi thriller ‘Shaitan’, directed by Bejoy Nambiar (assistant of Mani Ratnam) and produced by Anurag Kashyap, the actor is now eyeing for the sky with his feet firmly on the ground.
While ‘Shaitan’ marked the actor’s comeback to filmdom, with ‘Leelai’ he extends his presence to Tamil cinema too.
“‘Leelai’ was completely ready by 2009, or at least my part to be precise. But as I do not live here, I don’t know what exactly delayed the project. Initially, I felt stuck as my Tamil debut didn’t get over as scheduled and I was not able to take up other offers. But thankfully, now after ‘Shaitan’, I feel that it’s the perfect time for ‘Leelai’ to be released. The film, I am told, should release by end of this month or mid-August,” says Shiv Pandit.
A romantic flick, ‘Leelai’ has been directed by debutant Andrew Vasanth Louis and produced by V Ravichandran of Aascar Films. Manasi Parekh from Mumbai plays the female lead in the movie while Santhanam will be seen tickling funny bones.
So, how did his Tamil debut happen?
“In 2008, I received good feedback on my Airtel and Sprite commercials. Andrew Vasanth Louis (‘Leelai’s director) happened to watch the commercials with his aunt. Incidentally, his aunt was a fan of my ads and she never used to change channels whenever they appeared. I was told that she suggested my name as a hero for ‘Leelai’. The rest is history! I got through without any auditions or rigorous screen test. So, I am indeed grateful to that aunt,” he explains.
‘Leelai’, as the title suggests, is all about a flirt.
“A rascal, who flirts with a lot of women but ends up getting a taste of his own medicine when he actually falls in love with a girl but is not able to do anything about it.” Most of the shooting took place in Chennai and songs were shot in Puducherry, Auroville, Goa and Indore.
The 28-year-old actor adds that he didn’t have to go for any makeover for ‘Leelai’, although he had to build up his physique for ‘Shaitan’.
Like any other actor, getting the hang of Tamil language was a challenge for Shiv Pandit. “I worked hard on my Tamil for four months — five days a week, four hours a day — and I trained myself in spoken Tamil,” he adds.
After the legalities for the film were over, the entire script was given to him in English and Tamil versions so that “I could understand the language when I speak in Tamil. I watched a lot of contemporary Tamil movies like ‘Gilli’, ‘Virumaandi’ and the like, came to Chennai and acclimatized for a week before the film went on floors. But after this film, my Hindi became really accented, thanks to Andrew Vasanth Louis who helped me all through, keeping my Hindi also intact,” he says.
Before ‘Shaitan’, Shiv Pandit was seen in ‘Aagey Se Right’ (2009) and, much before that, in ‘Let’s Enjoy’.
After doing the serial ‘Bombay Talking’ on Zee Cafe, he was seen in a comedy serials called ‘FIR’ on Sab TV. Shiv has hosted the Indian Premiere League and also anchored one of the dance shows called ‘Jhalak Dikhla Ja’ on Sony Entertainment Television with actress Mona Singh.
But all of it, as he says, has been a process towards what he always wanted to become in life, an actor.
“According to me, my career as an actor commenced on June 10, 2011. I have no godfather in the industry and have to keep challenging myself with every project. I have a long way to go,” he says.