EXCLUSIVE: Karan Tacker on working with Neeraj Pandey – “He is known for bringing realism to cinema”

Actor Karan Tacker, known for his romantic roles on Television in the past, is moving away from his image to a more action-packed role with his venture into the webspace. The actor will star in filmmaker Neeraj Pandey’s web series titled Special Ops in which he is essaying the role of RAW agent Farooq Ali.

Speaking exclusively to Bollywood Hungama, Karan Tacker said that working with Neeraj Pandey, who has delivered films like Baby, Naam Shabana, Special 26, A Wednesday among others, was a memorable experience. “It was absolutely fantastic! For me, it is nice that it is on an OTT platform because you get to say the story for that many hours because it is a quantum of 7-8 hours of story. When you write such a story and get to showcase it, there’s so much you get to showcase as an actor, such a lovely arc and graph you get to play with. I am extremely happy and I couldn’t be more excited that it is directed by Neeraj sir, who is an exceptional filmmaker. He is known for bringing realism to the cinema. For being such a game-changer for the all the actors he has worked with, while he might not want to take the credit for it, but I really think that all the films he has done, he has kind of really showcased the actors in a light that they probably might not have seen themselves before.”

“This is including me. I have done all these romantic roles previously on Television but for him to see me as a RAW agent, I have to give him a lot of credit because it was something exactly I have wanted to do in my entire career. There’s action, there’s a thrill, there’s plotting, you are a part of a very large plot. It’s been a great experience,” Karan added.

While the role of a RAW agent is not something the actor has done before, one may consider that the actor is moving away from the mainstream roles. Speaking about it, Karan said “This role is mainstream in every way you can imagine. When you’ll watch the show, you’ll realize that this show has an arc of 19 years. From being recruited by Himmat (Kay Kay Menon) to finally becoming a RAW agent without disclosing anything about the plot, having been part of the entire thought process, searching for that one man they’ve been looking for 19 years – it is absolutely mainstream! Yes, of course, it is on the digital platform! But, having said that, the making, the way we’ve filmed the entire show, it’s massive. We’ve shot it in 12 countries internationally. I don’t think there’s a show like this that has been scaled at this level like Special Ops.”

In the past, Karan Tacker has been a heartthrob on Television! He made his debut with romance drama Love Ne Mila Di Jodi and since then, he has gone onto star in many shows as a lead actor. His fame skyrocketed post his lead role as Viren Singh Vadhera in the TV show, Ek Hazaron Mein Meri Behna Hai. But, he took a pause from the roles and participated in different kinds of TV shows. Seven years later, he is gearing up for an intriguing role. With his upcoming show, we will see the actor pushing the envelope by doing some intense action in the show. When asked whether he had any apprehensions on doing a project on OTT platforms since his fans were eagerly waiting for him to return to acting, he said, “ Be it Television, films or anything, I think people just want me to perform. There were no qualms in working on the OTT platform after seven years. I don’t look at the digital platform as bigger or smaller. I feel great content finds its audience. That is how it has been the last few years. The audience has gotten smarter, more intelligent, they are consuming content that is more relatable and something which they know is not fluff. I never had apprehensions of those kinds. I’ve always only wanted to work with great makers who are known for the kind of content they make. Like Neeraj sir, who has made films like Baby, Special 26 – he has marked his territory and is exceptional in what he does. So, when espionage that is directed by him, comes your way as an actor, the only thing you want to do is say yes.”

Keeping in mind that it is series, Karan says the team worked hard to keep the plot pretty interestingly. “It is completely the work of writers. Neeraj sir and the team of writers have made an interesting story and once you see it, it would be better to comment during that time. But, it totally depends on that kind of writing. I really enjoyed reading the show myself. From the beginning itself, I know that the audience will be hooked onto it. Having said that, when you write a story for a web show, it is when it works a lot because you’ve written it keeping the pre-points and cliffhangers in mind. Especially when you write cliffhangers and break it into 8-10 episodes and that is when the real challenge comes in,” says the actor.

Starring as the daunting officer Farooq Ali, the first look of the show left the audience wanting for more. Speaking about his role and how he hustled for his role, Karan says, “The trailer has been dropped very strategically. The whole intention is to mount the whole show first and not let out the plotline of the story. There’s a lot of skillsets that I actually had to go through and it involves a lot of hand-to-hand combat for which we had exceptional choreographer from France who has worked with Neeraj previously and worked on this show too.”

“Having said that, the most important and tough part for me was to getting into the skin of the character when you play a character of a RAW agent. Everybody’s mindset about a RAW agent is a very tough and muscular body kind of a person. From Neeraj sir, I realized it is in fact the other way around. My character Farooq, if he stands out as an agent, that is when it goes wrong. A Raw agent is something who should, in fact, blend into the crowd and have multiple identities. So to do that and deviate from my image and how people perceive me was the real challenge,” he concludes.

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