Says Chandan Roy Sanyal, who will be seen in Raja Krishna Menon’s Chef, releasing on October 6, and he explains why
I get limited role offers and I am choosing from whatever I am being offered,” says Chandan Roy Sanyal, while promoting his next film Chef. The actor, known for films like Mirza Juuliet, Bangistan, Prague and others, has mostly played character roles even though his villainous act in Jazbaa was much appreciated. “I do realise that I am only getting character roles but I can’t do much about it. It seems I do films which either do not release or no one sees them. When I am offered films with big stars like Shah Rukh Khan (Jab Harry Met Sejal) or Aishwarya Rai Bachchan (Jazbaa), everyone watches the film on screen,” says Chandan.
He is hopeful that in the future he will get to play lead roles or is offered big projects.
Chandan is playing an important role in Chef, which releases on October 6. The film also stars Saif Ali Khan, Padmapriya Janakiraman, Svar Kamble and others. “I play the role of a chef, who is Saif’s friend. I treat him like my guru. After he leaves his job in America and shifts back to India, I follow him here too. Together we start a food truck,” says Chandan.
Chef is an Indian adaptation of the Hollywood film by the same name, written and directed by Jon Favreau. Chandan, who has also watched the original film, says that their director Raja Krishna Menon has Indianised the story well. “A lot has been changed from the original. Ritesh Shah (writer) and Raja have changed the set up of the story. They have Indianised the taste, style of making food, serving and everything else. Because the story is set in Kerala, we have captured the Malayalee culture in Hindi cinema like never before. The audience will see the food and culture of that region,” says the actor who will also be seen in Nandita Das directorial — Manto.
Ask him about his experience of being a part of the film and he replies, “It was fun. Saif is a nice person. He used to share his food with us and also invited us to his house. Raja Sahab is an equally nice person.”
Not many know but Chandan is a brilliant cook himself. “I not only love eating but enjoy cooking too. I love Bengali, Chinese and Tibetan cuisine. I make delicious Aloo Dum, Aloo Posto, Mangsho Kosha, Matar Dal. In fact, I have cooked breakfast, lunch and dinner for all my girlfriends. They would not only love me but my cooking also. I am a perfect house husband because I am expert at cooking, cleaning the house and utensils. I love doing household chores,” says the actor.
He further says, “When I was doing theatre, I used to cook for 20-25 people with whom I worked. During my days of struggle, there were days when I did not have money to eat. It was at that time that I had decided: when I start earning, I will feed people. That’s why now my house is open for all and I always cook extra food so that whoever comes to my house can eat. So, when I got the chance to play a chef, I enjoyed it.”