Chunky Pandey made his digital debut with the recently-released second season of Abhay on Zee5. After working in the industry for over three decades, the actor says he is happy with where he is now. Here, he talks about playing a villain in the series, what it was like to be without projects in the 1990s and daughter Ananya Panday being trolled.
Q\ How would you describe your character, Harsh, in Abhay 2?
A\ This is not a person you would want to meet anytime soon. He is a three-dimensional character, [seemingly] a soft-spoken and humble person, always nice to people. But when he changes, the change is drastic. I really enjoyed playing this character. He seems to have come straight out of Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde.
Q\ You have spoken about not getting work after the release of Aankhen (1993). How do you look back at that phase?
A\ After Aankhen, the only film I did was Teesra Kaun (1994) with Mithun Chakraborty. Then, I went off to Bangladesh. I just was not getting any work. That was the phase when films were shifting [their focus] from multi-starrers to solo heroes. When I came back in 2000 upon the insistence of my wife, I realised that after staying away for so long, a whole generation had forgotten me.
Q\ Many actors from your generation, like Govinda, have spoken about not being able to find work today. Has it been easy for you?
A\ Govinda is a superstar. People would be happy to cast him. But is he ready to do the work that he is being offered? As for me, I decided to go after character roles. Somewhere in my heart, I knew there was no space for me as a second hero. My career started with people like Shakti Kapoor, Gulshan Grover and Kader Khan. These people would do great comedies as well as strong negative roles. They have always inspired me and now I am getting a chance to do what they did.
Q\ Your daughter Ananya is often trolled when the question of nepotism comes up.
A\ I know her name keeps coming up. But as a parent I keep telling her, ‘You know how you got the film. As far as you know what you have done, these things should not affect you’. When she was young, I thought that she would become a doctor as both my parents were doctors, but she chose to be an actor. I am happy that she has been accepted.