EXCLUSIVE! Samir Soni On Working In Chhupa Rustom Billionaire, Exploring Vertical Format: When TV Became Big

Samir Soni Chhupa Rustom Billionaire: Samir Soni loves challenges, and he doesn't shy away from experimenting with his roles. Be it Jassi Jaissi Koi Nahin, Parichay or Bewafaa Sii Wafaa, the talented actor is known for his hatke work, where he has always gained brownie points from the audience. His love of Kunal Chopra stays close to my heart, as I continue to re-watch the Colors TV drama on JioHotstar.

As he experimented with a new storytelling format, the former Bigg Boss star opened up about working in a vertical format and retaining the audience's attention in today's time. In an exclusive conversation with Filmibeat Chief Copy Editor Abhishek Ranjit, Samir Soni spilled the beans on accepting the role in Story TV's Chhupa Rustam Billionaire, returning to television.

Here are excerpts from the interview-

1- Chhupa Rustam Billionaire- what an intriguing title and storyline! Were you immediately convinced, or did you take your own sweet time in accepting the role?

Oh no, I think the title itself is so catchy, and as an actor, you know, it kind of shows the two drastic differences of, you know, the same personality, which is very intriguing. So yeah, it got me on the word go, really.

2- Having done phenomenally well in films, TV and OTT, what's your thought process while selecting the roles? Are you excited to explore a new storytelling format?

Yeah, I mean, my process of selecting roles has always been pretty consistent. I like to do the roles that excite me as an actor, a role in which I can do something with it and bring some value to it through the process. It's the number one thing for me, and then the kind of people you work with, you know, will I have a nice time creatively working with these people? And in this case, the answer was yes.

For the last six months, I've been getting calls for various shows from the platform, but somehow it did not work. I probably wasn't too sure, but this is because, you know, Chhupa Rustam Billionaire, that kind of title, it immediately gets you, you know, like, okay, I want to know more about this.

So yeah, some of the characteristics are the same. When films were big, and people used to look down on TV, and then TV became big with all, you know, Shah Rukh, Salman, and Amitabh Bachchan, everybody jumped on the TV bandwagon. Now the vertical thing is the way to go. And as it is, the stamina we have, or you know, in terms
of the content we digest. The attention span, right? The attention span has become reduced, and vertical formats offer crispy storytelling while retaining the attention of the audience.

3- Parichay remains one of your most cherished and loved works. Ufff, Kunal as a character always steals the limelight. Will you be game for season 2 and return to TV, if offered?

Oh, absolutely. I would definitely come to TV, because, quite honestly, TV has been very nice to me, in terms of the audience it's given me. And on top of that, if you're saying season two of Parichay, oh my God. That's like, literally my dream role.

I've brought in so much of my own personality in that. And even the writers who were writing had me in mind. It was great. It was great fun. Yeah, answers both the questions. TV, yes.

Parichay 2, even more, yes. But you know, the portrayal of the protagonist itself was so attractive. Then, even now, to be honest. So, I think, even we as viewers and fans want season two. Somehow, someone has to convince Ekta.

4- What's the USP of your character? What are the things you keep in mind while exploring series and different projects?

I mean, when you say USP, it sounds like I'm trying to sell the character. Right. Because the USP stands for unique selling point. To me, it's not really much of, you know, it doesn't matter if I've done a character like this before or not. The point is, will you enjoy doing it? Right, right. It's like saying, if Virat Kohli loves hitting a tower drive, does that mean he gets bored with hitting a tower drive? Correct. If he hits it, he loves it, he enjoys it. Right.

So, like that, this is, it has, the character has his own team conflict, has an identity he's hiding, which makes it so that there is going to be more layers to the character. Right. Yeah, so I don't know if the actual audience is concerned.

Hopefully, they enjoy watching me do something like this, you know. It's not the run-of-the-mill love story or run-of-the-mill, you know, other kind of shows. So, I've normally done things which excite me and I think whatever little fan following I have is because they share that interest with me.

And, so, being, you know, being such a, it's a very different character if you look at it. A gangster pretending to be a driver, not, you know, a literal chuparastam.

So, what are, you know, what was that key thing or that one, you know, element that you kept in mind? Yeah, sir. Well, it's just, look, I mean, just the thought of it. I mean, it is like, just imagine, you know, if you have this big gangster.

And imagine the next day that he's your driver or vice versa. Imagine your driver, who you fire at him, scream and shout at him every time he's late or he takes a wrong turn.

And imagine that guy can buy you out, has more money, he can get you killed if he wanted to. So, and you see it from a driver's point of view. Like, when you're trying to explain to the driver, you know, this is how it's done.

And he's probably thinking, you know, bacha, you have no idea who you're dealing with. And there's actually a scene like that that happens in which he's, you know, spotting a girl and someone's misbehaving with the girl. At first, he's controlling himself, saying, look, I don't want people to know who I am.

He's your basic escort driver, you know, for a rally. But then when he can't hold his cool, he can't; he's trapped on the other side. And then he tells him, You have no idea who you're dealing with. And I love saying that. Such a hero, hero line, man, dude. You have no idea who you're dealing with.

I think, I think people will be much more polite in general after watching the serial show, you know. I'm telling you. But see, when they're watching serials, they're marrying species half the time.