Sumeet Vyas is no longer a struggling actor. After years of struggle, people have now started noticing him and he is now a YouTube sensation. Having recently famed with TVF web series Permanent Roommates, Vyas’s character, Mikesh, is now the talk of the town.
In a conversation with Guardian 20, he speaks about his survival in the industry and how a web series on YouTube made a superstar out of him.
Q. How long have you been in this industry?
A. I have been into acting since the year 2000. At the age of 17, I started doing theatre actively. I have done some TV shows on and off but mainly I was into theatre.
Q. You have been so long in this industry but you got your share of recognition now. Did it discourage you initially?
A. See, sometimes you feel that you are not getting your share of recognition but I was never after getting recognition. My objective was never to get famous. My prime concern was to do good and interesting roles than get famous along with it. It was never in my mind only to get famous. Getting recognition was always second on my list. I was pretty happy to do interesting roles which I was doing in theatre.
“I get creative satisfaction if I am working with interesting people. And when you are working on an interesting project, then you are creatively satisfied. During the making of English Vinglish, I enjoyed the work environment. Working with Gauri Shinde was really a good experience. She is a very good director plus a good human being. The environment was so good as everyone wanted to contribute something to the film. I enjoyed a lot there. Same happened with Permanent Roommates.”
Q. So, is surviving in this industry tough?
A. Yes, it is. Competition is really cut-throat. It is very tough to survive here but if you know what you want exactly from the industry, then it gets a bit easy. I always knew that I like doing certain kind of work and I like doing work with good people. Sometimes I also do roles which I find not very interesting but I do it because of money. But if the role is genuinely good, I will do it, even if the money is less. This is something you do to balance yourself.
Q. How did you land up with the role of Mikesh in Permanent Roomates?
A. I had watched some TVF videos and I knew Nidhi Bisht in TVF as we had done a play together earlier. So, I had texted her that I would like to work with them. By that time, they were only into making short videos. So, they called me up and said that they were going to do something different this time and planning on a web series. It would be a fiction content for YouTube viewers. It started like this.
Q. You are now a very popular face on the internet. How has it changed your career?
A. Definitely, it is a certain kind of recognition where people take you more seriously now. Earlier, people who did not like me entering into their offices are calling me for meetings. And relevant people in the industry are noticing my work.
Q. So, has this popularity helped you in gaining film offers?
A. Yes, 100 percent. See, I was doing films earlier also, but now the filmmakers are offering roles which are definitely a change.
Q. Tell us about your theatre days. How has theatre helped you?
A. When I started doing theatre, I was not actually doing very well in my life. I was not doing good in my studies and I had no work to do. I had never read a book or any literature, so for me theatre was more of a training as I was introduced to literature and performing arts through theatre. It was not just a profession to me. It was my life-coach. That is why I am more attached to theatre and have a continuous association with it. I like the environment here as everyone is only discussing about a kind of work through which they would like to tell a new story.
Q. So, when did you do your first theatre?
A. I did my first theatre back in 2002. It was a play written by Nadira Babbar called Suman Aur Sana where I acted for the first time. Earlier, I was a backstage actor where I used to do all kinds of work like putting chairs from one place to other and putting theatre properties into a box. You don’t get work easily anywhere.
Q. Do you think web series are now more popular than films?
A. I don’t think so it would be a fair comparison. I think films have its own popularity and have its own market and audience. And web series has its target audience. It has created its own market and has an urban audience. And eventually it is reaching out to rural areas too. The fight between films and web series is not fair as filmmakers put in huge amount of money and have years of experience. Web series is like a new born child who was born just 3-4 years ago. And I think, Permanent Roommates could be called the child’s first major venture.
Q. Also, in web series one can make out if it is getting popular by the number of likes and dislikes it gets which doesn’t happen with films. Does it keep you on toes as an artist?
A. The thing is with web series, you have the freedom to react on the content so openly. And that reaction is recorded forever. If the audience likes something, then it is very visible here and if they don’t like the content, then they do not hesitate to criticise it. So, this fear is good for an artist as it forces you to work harder. With films, it is different. One can have excuses that it got released at that time where it couldn’t garner audience or that marketing wasn’t that strong. But with the web series, you don’t have to see the number of hits even, the content is discussed everywhere. The thing is if the work is nice, people will discuss it.
Q. You also did Tripling after Permanent Roommates which is based on a road trip and you happen to be the script writer of Tripling. How did that happen?
A. Arunabh Kumar who is the founder of TVF also wanted to make a web series on a road trip. So, he asked me if I had any idea for this. We earlier thought that we could plan something on three or four friends who head for a road trip but then it was also a very common idea to present. So, one day I suggested, why we can’t present something where siblings go for a road trip. So, everyone liked the idea and the series was made.
Q. Where do you get your creative satisfaction from?
A. I get creative satisfaction if I am working with interesting people. And when you are working on an interesting project, then you are creatively satisfied. During the making of English Vinglish, I enjoyed the work environment. Working with Gauri Shinde was really a good experience. She is a very good director plus, a good human being. The environment was so good as everyone wanted to contribute something to the film. I enjoyed a lot there. Same happened with Permanent Roommates. I believe that when people have a good intention to bring some good content, then it is an interesting platform to work on.
Q. With directors like Gauri Shinde now throbbing the Bollywood scene, where do you think is indie feature heading to?
A. I think Indie films are very interesting and a lot of good work is done here. Indie films are not made to make 200 crore money, it is made because the filmmaker wants to convey some story. There are less resources and less money and a lot of difficulties, but the filmmaker is determined to say a good story. It has a different spirit altogether.
Q. Critics find you a very convincing actor. How do you manage to do it?
A. The idea is to portray my character in such a way where people get convinced that this character exists in real life. Then only it is interesting. The best way to play any character is to live the character fully, imbibe it till the time you are playing the role. Then only the viewer can be convinced that you are different each time you play any character. It is a very fulfilling experience for both the artist and the viewer.
Q. Your projects in the pipeline.
A. I am doing a film called Ribbon directed by Rakhee Sandilya. I am sharing space with Kalki Koechlin. I am doing another film with Swara Bhaskar which has Amol Parashar and Navin Kasturia. The name of the film has not been decided yet. I will not be doing any web series as of now as I will be busy shooting for these till January next year.