Tanuj Virwani: We shot test matches in 40 degrees in Pune

He had as many as six releases this year including The Tattoo Murders Illegal 2 and Inside Edge 3 For Tanuj Virwani the biggest high was reprising his role of Vayu in the cricketbased series Connecting with midday from the Badlapur set of his next with Kay Kay Menon the actor discusses the gruelling prep that went behind the series and his Bollywood aspirationsEdited excerpts from the interviewYoursquove had six releases this year Are you happy with the outcomeIt would be unfair to say I am happy with the outcome of each series Certain projects turned out to be in sync with my expectations others not so much However as an actor therersquos only so much I can control This lineup was not by design The Tattoo Murders Cartel and Inside Edge 3 had been shot earlier but were released this yearYoursquore wellversed in cricket But playing Test cricket matches for Inside Edge 3 must have been a different experienceIn the first season we shot predominantly at night when the weather was cooler But to be authentic we shot the Test matches in about 40 degrees in Pune In Test matches you use the ball for a much longer period and as the ball gets older it becomes softer making it harder to hit I was scared the first few days while filming those sequences because Karan Anshuman and the direction team decided to ramp up the cricket scenes They got players from Ranji and Kanga league some of those bowlers were going at it like crazyVirwani with Akshay OberoiHow many hours of cricket did you play for the seriesIn the first season Vayu faces about 22 balls in season two I had about 45 balls and for the third I faced 10odd balls that were shown on camera For the latest season our DoP director of photography was particular that certain portions couldnrsquot be shot once we lost the sun So we would start in the morning break from 12 pm to 230 pm During that period we would shoot scenes in the stands or the dressing room Post that wersquod go back on the field But postlunch it used to become difficult to pick up the pace again I am 35 I am not exactly a spring chicken To pick up exactly where we left off was demandingThis season introduced Akshay Oberoi as your nemesis but off camera you two hit it offFirstly you have to give it to Akshay for his hard work I would not even imagine taking up this character if I couldnrsquot play cricket The first time I met him was during the cricket training camp It was love at first sight laughs The poor guy was so cute he couldnrsquot even hold the bat I loved his work in Pizza 2014 and Gurgaon 2017 but this was going to be brutal He barely got oneandahalf months to prepare We got along so well in real life that we were able to sell our rivalry on screen We have decided to do at least one show together every yearHave you been offered similar roles after Inside EdgeAfter the first season released in 2017 I only got bad boy roles At the time I knew we would have a second season I thought if I keep doing this I will become a onetrick pony So I had to be brave enough to say noNow that yoursquore on a strong footing in the OTT world do you feel this popularity will translate into more moviesI set out to be a film actor I would be lying if I said I am happy to stay in the OTT space I want to do both because you canrsquot recreate what happens on the silver screen on a laptop or TV There is something magical about going to the theatres I am working on a few films which will hopefully be theatrical releases