Pointing out that the show is extremely close to his heart, Tanuj adds, “We’ve been working on this for the last two years. It’s a really massive project, very well mounted, huge in scale, and with amazing actors on it. This crime syndicate family of Mumbai have their hands in every aspect whether it’s politics, land, property, water, Bollywood, cricket–you name it, they control it. I play Major Bhau aka Arjun Mhatre, who is a very important part of this criminal family, and it has been an amazing experience. It’s a really long show with 14 forty-minute episodes. We shot over 132 days, with over 138 actors from television, web series, films as well as theatres. Ekta (Kapoor) ma’am has left no stone unturned to make sure that she has given her all and given us the best facilities”.
The actor, who has some interesting projects lined up, gushes, ”I consider myself extremely fortunate and grateful that irrespective of what is going on in the world and our country–because of the pandemic–work has been steady. More importantly, good quality work; it’s the best feeling in the world when you are on a set that makes you happy, gives you creative satisfaction, and you know that you’re creating something unique and hopefully resonate with it. And what I’ve learned from all of this is that we often take many things and people around us for granted. I just think the lockdown that has lasted one-and-a-half years has helped put a lot of things in perspective: value people, things, moments; it’s not always about the big picture, sometimes it’s the little things that matter the most”.
‘Cartel’ is streaming on MX Player.
