EXCLUSIVE | Avinash Tiwary on 'Bambai Meri Jaan': 'Was slightly nervous working with Kay Kay Menon'

Avinash Tiwary, Aditya Rawal, and Shujaat Saudagar are really happy and moved that their show Bambai Meri Jaan, currently streaming on Amazon Prime Video, has found its audience and is a success story. Also starting Kay Kay Menon, Kritika Kamra, Saurabh Sachdeva in crucial roles, it’s a story that’s based on the rise of the Mumbai underworld and how one man refused to sell his honor for a quick rise to the riches. In an exclusive interview with Firstpost, Tiwary , Rawal, and Saudagar spoke about the responses that have come their way for the show, prepping for it, and much more. Shujaat, what are some of the responses that you have been getting for _Bambai Meri Jaan_ ever since it dropped on Prime Video? We are really overwhelmed with the love and attention the show is getting. We are really thrilled by the feedback that’s coming in. Avinash, there are so many shades to your personality in the show, it’s not just a one-note character that we usually see. While reading the part, did you also feel the same. There were certain nuances and traits about this character that we rarely see in a crime show like this because we are talking about a family here. And when we speak about the family, we have to discuss the individual dynamics, be it with the brother or the sister or the father or the mother. The core of this story is the father-son relationship, how a man stands against a man who’s his own and have these ideological differences. I had great fun in trying to explore them. Aditya, you are making very interesting choices as an actor, be it Bamfaad, Faraaz, and now Bambai Meri Jaan. What attracts you in a script as an actor? It’s always the story, the people, the characters that are making it. Before you audition or even read a script, you get an idea whether you want to be a part of it or not, that sentiment is governed by whether this is something you want to watch. I had a smile on my face when I read my first scene for the character of Chota Babban that I play. It was more fun than I expected, thanks to the cast and crew that was wonderful. The process of shooting the show was like a smooth, well-oiled machine. We shot about 4-5 scenes at Dara’s (Avinash Tiwary’s character) house just few days before the set had to be torn down and it didn’t really feel like it. It was both fruitful and challenging. Shujaat, how was it like recreating the Bombay of the 1960s and expanding it as years in the show passed by. It was an arduous and extensive task since Mumbai today is highly developed and has progressed so much. It was difficult to shoot on real locations so we had to create this mammoth set that had to be erased and we had to start from scratch. Thankfully, there’s a lot of material that’s available so we referenced a lot of photographers, Hindi films of that time and period set in Bombay. My production designer Nitin Gaikwad did a phenomenal job. We had great support from the VFX team that also played a major part. The set had to be progressively altered to go through three decades in the first season itself. It was physically and mentally exhausting but also exciting. Bombay actually plays a central part in the narrative, we wanted to bring the city alive of that era. Avinash, how was your experience of working with Kay Kay Menon . It was fantastic. Throughout the show, there’s hardly any conversation that happens between the two men; the men in the family hardly talk to each other. Since it’s mostly a patriarchal setup, it’s the father his son idolizes or despises the most. To culminate all of this into our one-on-one scenes was a major challenge, and to stand in the same frame with Kay Kay Menon elevates you as a performer. I was slightly nervous before I jumped into it, but with so much support from him and the director, the process became fun. I was telling Shujaat the other day how well Kay Kay Menon knows the medium and how to communicate to the audience. That’s the learning I want to take away from it. Aditya, how did you prepare for your role of Chota Babban. We had our readings and own ideas about the character. I had this person with me called Kalpak who’s very versed with the dialect so he helped me a lot. Our line producer is also from the same region where we saw the character of Chota Babban, he too helped me with certain nuances of the speech. And then there are things you’ve experienced and imbibed over the years, things you want to steal from films and shows you’ve seen. When I reached the set, the process of invention never stopped. It felt like a swimming pool where I was flapping away to glory and I knew my director was there as a lifeguard.

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