Pranay Manchanda who is best known for web series like Voot's ‘Baked’ franchise, Dice Media's ‘Firsts’, MX Player's web series ‘Official CEOgiri’, ‘Official Bhootiyagiri’, Zee 5's ‘Comedy Couple’, Amazon Prime's ‘Made In Heaven’ and many more, now will be seen in a pivotal role in the film ‘Tara Vs Bilal’ which released today in cinemas.
Giving insight about his role he says, "I play Bilal’s childhood friend Jiggy in the film. Jiggy is a Gujju doctor living in London, who is unabashedly in love with Rits, a drag queen working at a gay bar. Jiggy is honest, loyal, extremely sincere, and unfazed in his every conquest. Through the film, we see the simplicity and undaunted nature of Jiggy’s desire for another man juxtaposed to the complexities of Tara and Bilal’s relationship. As a friend to Bilal, Jiggy is the rock. Jiggy is the solid support that Bilal seeks as he navigates the rocky roads of his other relationships."
Sharing about how he prepped for the role he tells, "I knew from the very beginning that it would be hard work! And I think Samar (the director) knew that too. He even said that to me in our first call (haha)! Coming from a Punjabi family living in Delhi, I was far removed from a Gujarati doctor living with his parents in London. So I had to really search hard to find a neutral common point to start from. And it finally came in the form of the core value of loyalty. Loyalty is at the heart of where Jiggy began to take shape for me. That commonality with him helped me engage my empathy and find the character from there. With guidance from Samar, I worked on developing a physicality, a voice, an accent, and did a lot of research in order to empathise and engage with Jiggy’s circumstances, thoughts, behaviours and actions."
Sharing his working experience with Harshvardhan Rane, Sonia Rathee and others he says, "Working with Harsh, Sonia, Raheem, and the entire cast was fantastic. They’re all such great and giving actors, it’s very enjoyable to work with them. Harsh particularly is a very thoughtful actor and we had some wonderful conversations about our characters and about acting in general through the shooting period. Since we were shooting in London during Covid times, the cast and crew was tiny and became quite a close knit group. I remember that I got Covid in the middle of shooting and was quite unwell and locked up in my hotel room for two weeks. The amount of support, well wishes and love that I received from the whole cast and crew - including the lovely producers - is something I will never forget."
Lastly, talking about the film he concludes, "‘Tara Vs Bilal’ is a romantic film about love finding its way into the most unconventional set ups. It’s the triumph of love over all the hiccups, hurdles and obstacles that one encounters. Tara Vs Bilal is a coming-of-age film about the journey of two opposing souls finding peace and togetherness within themselves and among themselves."
The film featuring Sonia Rathee as Tara and Harshvardhan Rane as Bilal and is backed by John Abraham and has been directed by Samar Iqbal.
