Exclusive! Tanaav actor Sumit Kaul : I’m not a separatist sympathizer, but I do understand the other side of the story

Actor Sumit Kaul will be seen playing the lead character in the upcoming web series, Tanaav. The actor shares how, being a Kashmiri, with time, his perspective has changed for every human being, including a separatist; and adds that though he is not a sympathizer, he surely understands the humane side of every individual.

In the show Tanaav, Sumit essays the character of Umar Riyaz, a separatist who is on a mission to free Kashmir from the Indian government and takes the path of violence.

Sumit told OTTplay, "When I play a character, I do not look at them as an actor; I try and understand the mind-space of the individual. In this one, I was trying to understand where Umra is getting the motivation from, and what is his drive, to choose the action that he is taking, without judging if it is right or wrong. Understanding the intention behind the action is very important for such a character to play it with a certain amount of authenticity.

"Since the script was also very well-written, it was interesting for an actor to explore it with ease," added the actor.

Tanaav is an Indian adaptation of the Israeli TV series titled Fauda and his character is based on the character of Taufiq Hammed from the original series, played by Arab Israeli actor Hisham Sulliman.

In the show, while the character Umar Riyaz is seen doing some unforgivable actions that include putting the life of her own little daughter in danger, it is quite fascinating how Sumit delivered some of the nuanced performances in those intriguing moments as part of the story.

Asked if there was an emotional shift that happened after finishing the show, Sumit shared something quite personal.

Sumit said, " As a child, coming from a Kashmiri pandit family, I had prejudice, in fact, I have grown up believing that aise logon se naftar hi hona chahiye. I have changed. That doesn't mean that in today’s time I sympathize with one who follows terrorism and the path of violence; all I am explaining is how from my childhood I had a very strong bias or prejudice against them and then came a phase where I started seeing not only a terrorist but also every human as a human who has their inner conflicts.

"So, when I finally got an opportunity to play this character, I got a newer and a wider perspective of life, world and Kashmir from the perspective of the character which I used to hate all my life," Sumit explained.

The show is directed by Sudhir Mishra and according to the actor, working with the National Award-winning filmmaker was a great opportunity of learning for him.

"I am just very glad that I got an opportunity to work with Sudhir sir, am a great fan of Sudhir Sir’s work since the beginning. I am happy to be able to contribute my talent to a project like Tanaav which means a lot to all of us. It is great learning for the whole team," he said.  

Written by Ishan Trivedi and Sudhir Mishra, and produced by Sameer Nair under the banner Applause Entertainment, Tanaav also features Manav Vij, Rajat Kapoor, Arbaaz Khan, Shashank Arora, Danish Husain among others . The series will be released on November 11 on Sony LIV.