Actors Maanvi Gagroo and Amol Parashar from TVF’s Tripling spoke to Guardian 20 about being part of the highly successful web series’ second season. As we caught up with them a few days before the release of the show, we asked them how their characters, Chanchal Sharma [played by Maanvi] and Chitvan Sharma [Amol], have evolved in the much-anticipated Season Two, and about their upcoming projects.
Q. Tripling’s first season was a big hit in 2016. Now that its second season is out, do you feel any pressure or are you nervous?
Maanvi: In terms of the performance, I was very nervous before beginning the shoot. This is also the first time I had done a season two of any show and after a gap of almost two years. I was very scared of not being able to find Chanchal again. This was my worry. I didn’t want her to look like a different character. But the minute we started shooting, this concern faded. The pressure of Season One being such a big show hit me when we released the poster of Season Two. My phone had crashed during that time because of the mentions I was getting over social media. I realised it then that memories of the show are still fresh in the minds of the audience and they are attached to the show even now. They will expect something better than the previous season this time. So we have to meet the benchmark of the last season at least, if not more. This is the baseline and anything below this will be disappointing the audience.
Amol: I had complete faith in the people who were making Tripling’s second season. I was more relaxed than the writers Akarsh [Khurana] and Sumeet [Vyas] because it is their responsibility to come out with the content, which is better than the first season. The writers also had to ensure that the storyline is not very different from the first season, which is also why the second season took a lot of time. I only had to come in the last minute and act. So there wasn’t much pressure. An actor’s contribution is limited in the pre-production stage and when you are on sets you do as your director tells you… Though I don’t feel much pressure, as the release date is approaching [the show released on 5 April, a few days before this interview], I am feeling slightly nervous. But the response that I am getting from the audience who are waiting for the second season seems positive as of now… I feel satisfied as an actor because I have done justice to my character and have been committed to the show for the three months it was
being shot.
Q. So you had complete trust in the makers…
Amol: I had complete trust in the writers and director. And anyway, writing is not my space. I can’t contribute much to it. So when I was approached by Sameer [Saxena, the show’s developer] to hear the narration of the first couple of episodes, I told them him that I have complete trust in you guys.
Q. How have your characters evolved in Season Two of the series?
Amol: My character, Chitvan, is unpredictable. But he is not unpredictable for the sake of it. He would do whatever he feels like. He is this kind of character and he would remain like that. Maybe now it would feel that he has become mature. But that’s because he is slightly older than he was in the first season. And it is obvious that a person changes with age. You can be the same person from inside but your gestures change, your body language changes and so on. This was my approach to portraying Chitvan this time. And you can’t repeat the same things in all the seasons, so your character has to evolve and change in some ways. Maybe to others the changes aren’t noticeable but at least for the sake of the story I had approached my character like this.
Maanvi: The primary things are the same and she is still the same person. Her issues with respect to her personality are the same. She still finds herself in situations she can’t find her way out of. With time, however, all three [Chandan, Chitvan and Chanchal] have grown but are still the same at heart.
Q. Was your character more relatable this time?
Maanvi: I don’t see many similarities in Chanchal and Maanvi. In Season Two, I thought, she has gone further away from me in terms of the situations she is in and how she reacts to them. But what was difficult for me this time was the fact that I need to play the same Chanchal as I was in the first season. My effort was to make sure that the core of this character is the same.
Q. Amol, you have been a part of all major mediums, from theatre and short films to full-length feature films. Does your approach to acting vary according to the medium?
Amol: The difference is between the stage and the camera. There are different techniques that you need to adopt when you are addressing a live audience. They are sitting on your right, left and centre and you have to give equal importance to them. You have to reach out to all of them and they should be able to feel your character equally. The tools are different for different mediums… The camera, on the other hand, is very personal. Sometimes it is right in your face. Camera is able to catch even the smallest details, so you can play around more with it and can communicate more even with your smallest gestures. But your craft as an actor cannot change with mediums. That remains the same. Only the techniques and tools change.
Q. What’s in the pipeline now?
Amol: I have finished a film with Balaji titled Dolly Kitty Aur Woh Chamakte Sitare. It is directed by Alankrita Shrivastava. Her last film was Lipstick Under My Burkha. My part in the film is opposite Konkona’s [Sen Sharma] character. I was shooting for it parallelly with Tripling 2. This year we will be releasing it. An official announcement on this will come soon. I have recently signed a travel show, too, with a travel portal. This will be a road trip. I am going for this real-life road trip in seven different countries. You will get to see some really exotic places there.
Maanvi: I also did a film called 377 Abnormal. That is getting good response and I have to do a little bit of promotion for that. Then there is a short film. We might even go in for Four More Shots Please Season 2. My 2019 has been fantastic. I have been very busy. Now I am hoping to take a break and travel somewhere and then resume work.