Tahir Raj Bhasin is playing a sports champion in Dangal director Nitesh Tiwari’s next Chhichhore. Little did he know that his character in the film, Derek, is actually inspired from Nitesh’s real life senior from his engineering college!
“Nitesh graduated from the Indian Institute of Technology Bombay (IIT-B) in 1996 with a Bachelor's degree in Metallurgy and Material Science engineering. The film is inspired from his life and times at the engineering college and it seems Derek had a big impact on Nitesh’s mind. The original Derek is an extremely driven and passionate sportsman who always wanted to excel in whichever sporting discipline he competed and he did his hostel and college proud. Nitesh wanted to have this character in his film because it seems they shared a great camaraderie!” informs a source close to the film.
When contacted, Tahir said that he had no clue about Derek till Nitesh took him to IIT-B. “The original Derek was a rebel and a sports champ who oozed charisma. To inspire me for the part, Nitesh sir took me for a walk around the campus at IIT Bombay, where Derek’s name is on the sports achievers boards in all the cafeterias and corridors.”
He further added that all the details Nitesh gave him about Derek’s personality, popularity and swag were his ammunition to prep for this role. “I have tried to do justice to my director’s vision for the film. Hopefully, the original Derek and his batchmates will be proud of how I have portrayed him on screen.”
Chhichhore also stars Sushant Singh Rajput and Shraddha Kapoor among others.