|
Actor,
producer
and
writer
of
“Kalamanch”
Kanan
&
Neeraj
had
the
same
thought!
From
struggling
in
audition
lines
and
hearing
“Not
Fit”
at
the
door
and
working
odd
jobs
for
6
years
to
creating
their
own
web
show
–
Kalamanch
which
will
soon
be
on
an
OTT
platform.
Actor,
Producer
and
writer
duo
Kanan
Srivastava
and
Neeraj
Ganvir
came
up
with
their
new
web-series
titled
Kalamanch
adapted
from
the
book
Kalamanch
authored
by
them.
The
show
stars
actors
like
Priya
Chauhan,
Sahil
Arora,
Rose
Sardana,
Siffat
Gandhi,
Sonal
Shankar
Sagore,
Amit
Poddar
along
Kanan
Srivastava
and
Neeraj
Ganvir.
The
trailer
of
the
series
has
been
launched
in
Mumbai.
The
duo
Kanan
and
Neeraj
gets
candid
about
the
arduous
and
bumpy
yet
amusing
process
of
the
curation
of
their
upcoming
series.
Sharing
about
the
process
of
transfiguring
the
book
into
web
series
Kanan
says,
“Initially,
we
wrote
this
concept
as
a
book
with
rigorous
discussions
on
each
and
every
character
and
the
story
line.
The
characters
were
popping
in
front
of
us
to
bring
them
to
life.
Thus,
it
gave
us
impetus
to
develop
screenplay
and
shape
this
idea
from
book
to
a
web
series.
Once
this
was
done
we
started
creating
our
characters
by
giving
them
layering
and
creating
a
whole
life
for
them
in
real.
This
whole
process
almost
took
us
a
year.”
Narrating
his
character
and
what
prompted
him
to
pen
the
book
Kanan
states,
“Well,
it
was
an
exciting
experience
for
me
to
personate
the
role
of
Anant.
My
personality
is
poles
apart
from
his.
He
is
a
shy,
self
conscious
guy
from
Shahjahanpur
(Uttar
Pradesh)
having
a
respectful
attitude
towards
everyone
which
stands
him
out.
This
character
is
very
unique
which
required
a
lot
of
work,
I
have
to
keep
my
posture
hunched
back,
movements
really
closed
,small
and
work
on
a
specific
dialect
from
Uttar
Pradesh.
Talking
about
the
inspiration
behind
writing
this
book
he
shares,
“This
book
is
to
motivate
and
inspire
actor’s
to
trust
in
their
craft
without
the
fear
of
failure
and
uncertain
future.
Acting
or
any
other
creative
art
is
often
looked
at
as
a
hobby
rather
than
a
profession.
The
unfortunate
truth
is
that
too
many
new
actors
and
artists
lose
the
inner
battle.
They
allow
their
thoughts
of
doubt
to
stifle
their
art
and
their
development
of
skill.
Over
time,
they
simply
give
up.
But
if
we
know
that
struggling
is
part
of
creating
art,
we
can
cope
with
it
when
it
comes.
And
instead
of
giving
up,
we
face
the
battle
and
may
even
find
enjoyment
in
it.
We
both
had
this
inner
urge
to
do
something
for
the
community
of
actors
and
to
make
an
impact
in
our
society
and
we
wanted
to
manifest
it
through
the
medium
of
art.”
Neeraj
Ganvir
talks
about
the
challenges
of
making
the
series.
He
says,
“To
bring
this
to
fruition
was
not
less
than
climbing
a
mountain.
We
did
not
have
any
backing
and
connections
from
the
film
industry
so
we
were
starting
from
the
scratch.
We
had
to
talk
with
numerous
people
of
different
departments
of
filmmaking
like
Directors,
DOP’s,
Executive
Producers,
Line
Producers
etc.
We
spent
a
lot
of
time
hosting
meetings
with
them.
Kanan
used
to
personally
meet
them
since
he
was
here
in
India
and
then
we
used
to
meet
on
zoom
since
I
was
in
New
York.
We
had
to
find
people
who
matched
our
frequency.
Once
we
got
everyone
on
board
we
indulged
in
the
process
and
rest
started
falling
into
place.
It
was
difficult
yet
a
wonderful
experience
for
both
of
us.”
Talking
about
playing
a
homosexual
character
Neeraj
reveals,”I
am
glad
that
I
got
to
play
Azim
because
it
was
something
I
have
never
attempted
to
do
before.
Playing
a
role
of
a
member
of
LGBTQ
community
was
a
privilege.
There
is
always
a
thin
line
for
playing
such
roles.
I
did
not
want
to
play
stereotypical
homosexual
personality
that
people
usually
see
on
screen.
I
wanted
to
layer
the
character
with
some
substance
and
ground
work.
I
wanted
to
make
him
a
mystery.
I
spent
time
with
many
of
my
friends
who
belong
to
LGBTQ
community
to
get
a
good
understanding
and
came
up
with
my
background
for
Azim.
Had
some
behavioral
traits
incorporated
for
his
physicality.
Overall
it
was
an
amazing
experience
bringing
the
character
to
life.”
He
lastly
adds
about
the
message
the
film
conveys
stating,
“People
are
going
to
understand
the
inner
battles
being
fought
by
them
and
would
connect
and
empathize
with
their
emotions.
They
would
understand
that
education
is
imperative
for
an
actor
or
any
artist.”
Story first published: Monday, May 30, 2022, 13:52 [IST]
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