Actor Sumeet Vyas on the contribution digital platforms have made to his life, comeback on stage and future projects

‘OTT made a huge impact on my career’

Actor Sumeet Vyas on the contribution digital platforms have made to his life, comeback on stage and future projects

By Deepali Dhingra

 You recently made your comeback on stage as an actor with Aadyam’s play Saanp Seedhi. How was it to collaborate once again with Kumud Mishra and Shubhjrajyoti Barat?

Shubhra and I go back a long way and have known each other since 2000 when I joined the theatre company. We did a play with Manav Kaul called Park in 2007. Last year, I directed the play Puraane Chawal in which Shubhra and Kumud had acted. The effort now is the other way around - how do you not bring the familiarity into the working equation? You have to constantly remind yourself that you can’t take things for granted. The three of us have a lot of admiration for each other's work, which drives us to come back and work together.

How much has theatre contributed to your overall understanding of life beyond the stage?

If you join a theatre company at a very early age, you’re exposed to many things including poetry, history, drama, art, literature and music in a very wholesome way. My actual education happened in theatre. I don't have school or college friends that I’m in touch with but I have friends from theatre who I’ve been friends with for 20-25 years now. That’s where we really grew up and came together. It felt like a bunch of outcasts who found their place in this theatre company. In that sense, it has really helped me in the way I look at the world, in the way I look at drama and in the way I look at life in general.

You did television for a bit but what really made you a household name was Permanent Roommates and TVF Tripling. What do you think was the impact of OTT in your career?

A lot! Permanent Roommates came out in 2013 or 2014. Prior to that, I was kind of non-existent as an actor. I had done television but didn’t quite enjoy the experience. Nobody knew who I was until Permanent Roommates happened. I thought I understood a little bit of fame but this was completely different! Everywhere I went, whether it was colleges, schools, malls or on the streets or when I travelled to different countries such as Portugal, London, Budapest, Dubai - people knew me and it was an incredible feeling! This was the first web series, so to speak, to come out. TVF Tripling was the second or third web series that came out of India and nobody had spent that much money on a web series. It was very brave of TVF to back the idea and back the belief that there is an audience for this. I think it really turned things around for me. For an actor, the first thing is for the audience to know you and then they want to see more of you and that only happens once you gain a bit of recognition and popularity.

You wrote Tripling and you have also directed shows such as Raat Jawaan Hai. How enjoyable is that process for you?

The process is very interesting and gives you some perspective. As actors, we are very pampered and get away with all the adulation. It is only when you start writing or directing and work behind the camera, that you realise that the actor’s contribution is actually very less because the actor has very little control over how it’s going to pan out. I could give a fantastic performance as an actor, but if it's not edited well and put together well, it’ll never make sense. So, it was a very humbling experience when I started writing.

Raat Jawaan Hai received a lot of praise for its theme of parenting and the performances. Did it stem out of your experience as a parent?

The show’s writer Khyati Anand’s son and my son Ved play in the same park and she reached out to me with this script. I loved the material. The first thing you lose as parents, especially in metros, are your friendships and they are actually your biggest support system when you have kids. That was the core idea of the show and it really clicked.

What are you working on next?

There’s a small film I have acted in. Then there is a web series I have shot with filmmaker Raj Chakraborti. I’m shooting a Netflix show called Shaque directed by Renzil D’Silva. I’m also trying to write and develop a couple of shows and films. Theatre will continue.