There is a subtle warmth and charm to Karan Tacker which you do not find in his contemporaries. He is undoubtedly one of the most handsome men to lit up the small screen. Known for playing charming romantic leads on such shows as Love Ne Mila Di Jodi (2009-10), Rang Badalti Odhani (2010-11) and Ek Hazaaron Mein Meri Behna Hai (2011-13), the actor has not done any fiction show in the past couple of years.
However, he is now set to make his fiction digital debut with acclaimed filmmaker Neeraj Pandey’s sprawling action spy thriller Special OPS, which is up for its premiere on 17th March on Hotstar Specials.
Recently, Eastern Eye sat down with Karan Tacker for a freewheeling conversation on his webseries Special OPS. A hardworking actor for many years, Tacker opened up about the various preparations that he had to do to slide into the skin of his character, what led him to be a part of Special OPS, the reason behind staying away from television for such a long time, and much more.
How did you bag Special OPS?
This is the first spy thriller of India (on web). In terms of scaling, I think it is safe to say that it is one of the most well-scaled shows. There is no show like this. I don’t think that there is really a slick spy thriller like Special OPS.
There is a constant chatter on social media that people are not able to see you more on the screen.
We were waiting for this.
That is a very safe answer. Isn’t it?
It is not the safe answer, it is the fact. If you ask actors and expect that there will be some kind of spice in the answers, but then if you ask them to keep their hands on their hearts, the actor will say that he wants to work with a good maker with all his heart. I want to play a character where I will be able to showcase my talent. Farooq Ali is one such character. You will see the graph of 19 years and how my character develops itself in those years. Here, I get a chance to display my acting abilities. In this show, there is an innocence to my character and there is a journey where he transforms into a man from a boy, and the journey of 19 years of finding that man and how he completes it. I think actors are constantly in search of such characters. Actors are a bit greedy and it is wee bit of a selfish character.
But don’t you think that it is risky for an actor if he is not seen frequently on the screen?
I think somebody who is not confidant about their craft feel so, but I have never felt that it is risky to be not seen. It is not that I am sitting at my home when I am not acting. I have hosted a lot of shows and, in fact, the last show that I hosted, The Remix, was nominated for the 2019 International Emmy Awards. There were only three shows around the world that got nominated. It was an Indian show and it was mine. So, these are proud moments.
Are you going to host the next season of The Remix as well?
I hope so. Let’s see.
What is it that has kept you away from television?
I have been very lucky when it comes to TV as I have played a wide range of different characters. Whatever work I have done today, have been coming-of-age. They all have been in a very “today’s space” and after that I felt that I cannot explore much on TV. So, I did a lot of reality shows, I hosted a lot and that is something I really enjoyed.
As an actor, I was always looking out for doing something on a big scale. You know, when you are not from the film fraternity or a film background, as an actor to find that big break is also challenging. And I was offered a lot of films in this period of looking for the right kind of project, but those were not the films that I wanted to do. I was very specific about how I wanted to see myself and see my career graph.
How has your graph been so far in terms of your career?
It has been fantastic, honestly. When you are acting, you are just an actor. After people see your work, they start admiring and loving you. If I see my career in that aspect, frankly speaking, people’s love for me has only increased. Even today when I scroll over social media, the way people see me is great. When I put out the trailer and the way people were excited, I was just so happy about it. When you look at all these things, you feel just very good. When I look back, I feel God has been kind, people have been kind and loving. I hope they give the same love to Special OPS.
Is there any director you would say yes to immediately?
There are a lot of directors. Shriram Raghavan is one of them. I always wanted to work with Karan Johar, I always wanted to work with Imtiaz Ali.
As a friend, has Karan Johar told you anything about how the industry perceives an actor?
Most definitely. You know, it helps to have a friend like that in the industry to kind of always get an opinion about what your decisions are. So, yes, he is.
Has television become a complete no-no for you?
It is nothing like that. It is not that I have made an effort that I will say no to TV and then I will work on web or if I work on web then I will say no to TV. I just want to do good work and if that comes from television or web or films or theatre. Wherever I feel I can grow as an actor and better my craft, that is what I hope for.
What kind of preparations you had to do to perfect your part in Special OPS as it is a fast-paced spy action thriller?
Holding a gun is something any guy knows it. I am telling this because these guns had come on the very first day of my shoot. They are actual guns. These are real army guns and we had an army person on the shoot all the time. And the moment you hold a gun in your hand, you feel like you are the hero. The start of the shoot was heroic. But the training is to de-glam yourself because there was a real image that I had as an actor before and people looked at me like a romantic and a very chocolate boy. But when you do an action thriller, to get into the skin of the character is the challenge but the best part of the show is that the general perception of a RAW agent is very tough with a body and a macho looking guy. This character is exactly the opposite of it.
A RAW agent is supposed to be somebody who blends into the crowd. He could be anybody sitting here and you could not know that this guy is an international spy. To be able to blend in like that was the real challenge because my character, over the time, goes through different identities and to be constantly playing those identities convincingly where I am playing a flamboyant character, I am a very local person, was tough. To constantly do that was the real challenge. I really relied on the script and my director for that matter.
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