‘Munjya’, the newest addition in Maddock’s supernatural universe, has struck a chord with the audience! After an opening number of Rs 4 crore, the film is expected to cross Rs 15 crore at the end of its opening weekend. Abhay Varma, who plays the lead role in ‘Munjya’, has been winning praise for his performance. In an exclusive chat with ETimes, the actor opened up about manifesting ‘Munjya’, the challenges of CGI shoot and a spooky tale from the sets.Excerpts:
How did you land ‘Munjya’ ?
It seldom happens that an audition makes you feel that this role is going to be something interesting and I really want to be a part of it. As far as I know, hundreds of people auditioned for ‘Munjya’, for a good seven to eight months. Usually casting gets locked in a couple of months maximum. But for this, the team auditioned for six to eight months. And when I was called for the audition, it just felt like an opportunity where I wanted to explore more than just the audition. So yeah, manifestation power really came into play. Also, I believe 90% of an actor’s life is a ‘no’ and 10% is a ‘yes’. And the only way you can not focus on the no is not to take it to your heart.
A lot of CGI was involved in ‘Munjya’, how would you describe the shoot experience?
The process was completely different! And a lot of it has to do with an actor’s imagination power and observation power. ‘Munjya’ is one of a kind film where not only CGI is done by creating the background, we are building a character from scratch with its help. It was challenging in a way that we used to shoot three takes for every scene. One for the VFX, one for my performance and one for the color palette, the light and other details. In the end, it was a thrilling ride.
Shed some light on your rapport with co-stars, Sharvari Wagh and Mona Singh
Sharvari and I were the pranksters on set. We actually had a lot of fun shooting with each other because our energy synced well. And Mona ma’am… despite being a senior actor, she is a kid at heart. So it was a completely maddening, thrilling and fun journey. These two beautiful angels, Sharvari and Mona ma’am, really shaped my character and also shaped me. Because I feel a man can only become a gentleman when he has ladies around himself.
Any spooky incidents that you experienced while shooting for this horror comedy?
So something really weird happened on the last night of our stay at a hotel in Konkan. I woke up at 3 am, just all of a sudden, randomly, and after 5 or 10 minutes I went back to sleep. Next day at the breakfast table, when someone asked me, how did you sleep? Well, I said, I just woke up at 3am for just 5 or 10 minutes and then I slept again. And instantly Sharvari also collaborated in that, saying she also woke up at the same time. Since we have a tendency to check the phone whenever we wake up these days, she also must have checked the time. And then Mona ma’am came in. She too said she woke up at 3am. Then a couple of other members from the crew, including the director, discussed the same thing and suddenly we wondered how come all of us woke up at 3am? No one knows the reason but we call it a 3am story. Now that we are out of it, it sounds funny but I am a big fatto and we were all damn scared at that time. It was indeed very spooky.
How did you land ‘Munjya’ ?
It seldom happens that an audition makes you feel that this role is going to be something interesting and I really want to be a part of it. As far as I know, hundreds of people auditioned for ‘Munjya’, for a good seven to eight months. Usually casting gets locked in a couple of months maximum. But for this, the team auditioned for six to eight months. And when I was called for the audition, it just felt like an opportunity where I wanted to explore more than just the audition. So yeah, manifestation power really came into play. Also, I believe 90% of an actor’s life is a ‘no’ and 10% is a ‘yes’. And the only way you can not focus on the no is not to take it to your heart.
A lot of CGI was involved in ‘Munjya’, how would you describe the shoot experience?
The process was completely different! And a lot of it has to do with an actor’s imagination power and observation power. ‘Munjya’ is one of a kind film where not only CGI is done by creating the background, we are building a character from scratch with its help. It was challenging in a way that we used to shoot three takes for every scene. One for the VFX, one for my performance and one for the color palette, the light and other details. In the end, it was a thrilling ride.
Shed some light on your rapport with co-stars, Sharvari Wagh and Mona Singh
Sharvari and I were the pranksters on set. We actually had a lot of fun shooting with each other because our energy synced well. And Mona ma’am… despite being a senior actor, she is a kid at heart. So it was a completely maddening, thrilling and fun journey. These two beautiful angels, Sharvari and Mona ma’am, really shaped my character and also shaped me. Because I feel a man can only become a gentleman when he has ladies around himself.
Any spooky incidents that you experienced while shooting for this horror comedy?
So something really weird happened on the last night of our stay at a hotel in Konkan. I woke up at 3 am, just all of a sudden, randomly, and after 5 or 10 minutes I went back to sleep. Next day at the breakfast table, when someone asked me, how did you sleep? Well, I said, I just woke up at 3am for just 5 or 10 minutes and then I slept again. And instantly Sharvari also collaborated in that, saying she also woke up at the same time. Since we have a tendency to check the phone whenever we wake up these days, she also must have checked the time. And then Mona ma’am came in. She too said she woke up at 3am. Then a couple of other members from the crew, including the director, discussed the same thing and suddenly we wondered how come all of us woke up at 3am? No one knows the reason but we call it a 3am story. Now that we are out of it, it sounds funny but I am a big fatto and we were all damn scared at that time. It was indeed very spooky.
Munjya | Song – Tainu Khabar Nahi