Tanuj Virwani on Abhay 3: It's great to be a part of an already established franchise

Tanuj Virwani is gearing up for the premiere of his new web series, Abhay, in which he plays a social media influencer who also happens to be a serial killer. The actor is one of the new villains in the Kunal Kemmu-starrer third season, which premieres this Friday on ZEE5. During a recent interaction with Hindustan Times, Virwani spoke at length about how it's different working on an already popular show, why social media is like acting, and how he almost died while filming the series.

The actor has been mostly involved in new projects since the first season. Inside Edge, Code M, and Poison are among them. Virwani claims that entering a show that is already well-known relieves him of any stress. He says being a part of a well-established franchise is fantastic. He has grown accustomed to entering these homes on the ground floor and erecting them brick by brick. It's great to be able to walk onto the set without feeling rushed. This is excellent news because this is Virwani's holiday project. They come in, perform their jobs, and show the producers why they hired them in the first place, but there's no pressure, which is quite liberating.

While filming Abhay, he endured a new type of pressure. Virwani recalls feeling near to death during a critical underwater moment, even as his co-star Divya Agarwal demanded more retakes. He narrates that Divya was gung-ho, whereas he was terrified. The actor revealed how Divya assured him and he also realised that sometimes one has to sink first to learn to swim.

However, in hindsight, the actor believes the experience was worthwhile. While dubbing, the Poison actor caught a peek at the scene and thought it looked fantastic.

While filming Abhay, Virwani discovered a new facet to his celebrity. Divya Agarwal, a reality star turned actor, is his co-star in the show. He discovered that while fans recognised her by name, they recognised him by his characters. Virwani recalled being in Lucknow with Divya and stepping out of the elevator when a fan approached us and said, "Oh my god, you are Divya," and for him, they exclaimed, "Oh my god, you are Vayu Raghavan" (his character in Inside Edge).

They identify with him more as a character, but they identify with Divya more as who she is in real life. It was a wonderful observation for Virwani.

Speaking about playing a social media influencer, the actor said that he understands the pressures of maintaining a positive social media presence no matter what is going on in one's personal life. He declares that, being prominent figures, there are naturally demands to depict things in a certain light. Everyone has had a particularly difficult time during the previous two and a half years, both collectively and individually. But social media is akin to acting in that one must go out and portray a specific thing, be in the zone, regardless of what is going on at home or with your girlfriend.