Anup Soni is a name synonymous with uprightness and justice in the audiences’ minds, so it is only natural that the popular television actor’s new venture would have to do something with uplifting people and giving a platform to their stories. After a successful stint in television, films and theatres, Soni is hosting a series of stories on Audible of ordinary people doing extraordinary work in various fields of life. In a free-wheeling chat with News18.com, the Balika Vadhu actor told us how these stories impact him as a person.
He also talked about the popular show he used to host, Crime Patrol, and how it changed his image. Excerpts from the interview:
The Unsung Heroes being your first podcast, how was your experience?
It was my first experience but being an actor, you know the audio medium and its requirements. Eventually, it is all about connection with the audience. So you have to engage them in the story with your voice, with your emotion and with your storytelling. When I started doing it initially, it used to take almost one-and-a-half to two hours to record one story, but then slowly over time, I did a lot of preparations. I read the stories a couple of times before recording, do the markings, and understand the emotions. And then when I record it, it takes lesser time. I think the prep helps in any project.
The kind of stories that you share with your listeners, do they also affect you in a positive way?
Absolutely, absolutely. The whole purpose of the story is that people should become positive. And people should think that there is good around us and you just need to choose what you want to do. The stories will also tell people that you don’t need to go out of the way to help the other person. It’s important that if you are in a certain privileged situation, and if you can help somebody to become a better human being and or to have a better life, then you must do it because you are fortunate enough to be in that good position. That’s the whole purpose.
You did a course on criminal investigation. Did your TV shows like Crime Patrol or CID inspire you to take that up?
I think it’s just a coincidence. Before I became an actor I was doing my LLB and wanted to be a criminal lawyer, but obviously acting was there. I went to the National School of Drama and couldn’t complete my LLB. And imagine, then some show like Crime Patrol happens in my life. So obviously, the interest was always there but this Crime Scene Investigation course because, during the second wave, there was too much depression around the world. It was quite taxing on everybody’s mind and health. So I think that was the time I wanted to keep myself busy with something. And coincidentally, I came across this course, online. There was no agenda, or there was no purpose or planning to do this course.
Do you feel that people see you more as an anchor following Crime Patrol and less as an actor?
Yes, that happens. When one of your projects gets too much popular, it somewhat becomes your recalling point. But I have always maintained that I am an actor first. You don’t get trained for being an anchor but for acting, you do. I’ve always considered myself an actor. That’s the reason I took a break from Crime Patrol. Because I wanted to focus on my acting assignments. I want people to also know that I’m an actor. But yes, anything which becomes popular takes an upper seat.
Are you planning to go back to Crime Patrol?
I didn’t think about that. Crime patrol is already on and has a format that doesn’t require an anchor. As of now, my first focus is on my acting assignments.
Be it CID, Crime Patrol or Balika Vadhu, your popular roles show you as a righteous person, advocating for people’s rights and/or justice. Was it a conscious choice of picking these roles?
Absolutely not. I was definitely not working towards a good image by choosing these kinds of roles. They just happened. I’m an actor and I’m on for all kinds of roles. My upcoming web series will see me in extremely different kinds of characters and those will definitely change your thinking process.
Even if that was not a conscious choice, the audience associates you with someone who is very righteous. How does it feel?
If you do a negative role, people associate you with that image so if audiences, in reality, think that I am a righteous person, then that’s a good image to carry. But as an actor, I keep experimenting with my roles.
During this pandemic period, a lot of old shows got revived, including Balika Vadhu but the second season failed to create a similar impact. Why?
This is not a new thing, you know, when you want to recreate something which is already very successful. The same goes for films also. When you make a film, it’s not about making a sequel, there are times when it is just using the popularity of the title of the show. So I think they wanted to create a story with the same content, I won’t say with the same backdrop, but with the same kind of content, where they talk about child marriage and they raised this issue, but maybe, people had seen the story so did not connect with it. Maybe because they had liked Balika Vadhu so much and might have also rewatched the old one during the pandemic. It depends on the liking of the audience completely, it’s in their hand.
Would you love to go back to TV or concentrate more on films and web series?
Right now I am completely focused on films and on web series. I have just finished three web series. One of them is called Lalla, which is a very rugged story and I have a very different role. Then there is an inter-relationship drama called Saas Bahu aur Aachar, which is a complex series despite having a light name. I have another series called Bihar Diaries, which is around cops and criminals.
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