How Manav Kaul Played A Sex Worker

‘Puneet
did
his
research
and
gave
us
a
very
basic
idea
on
male
prostitution.
He
said
it
is
like
any
other
job.’

Manav
Kaul
had
no
reservations
about
playing
a
sex
worker
in
Netflix’s
new
series,

Tribhuvan
Mishra
CA
Topper.

“I
don’t
know
how
Director
Puneet
Krishna
thought
about
it,
how
he
came
up
with
such
an
idea,”
Manav
tells

Subhash
K
Jha.

“It
was
a
lot
of
fun
playing
this
character.
No
one
was
hesitant.
I
got
really
lucky
to
get
this
role.”

Kaul’s
Tribhuvan
Mishra
is
a
mid-level
government
employee,
who
becomes
a
male
sex
worker
by
chance,
and
that
supplements
his
income.

How
did
he
enter
this
complex
character’s
inner
world?

“Yes,
it
is
a
very
complex
character,”
he
admits.

“I
was
born
in
Kashmir
and
grew
up
in
Hoshangabad
(Madhya
Pradesh).
My
brother
works
in
Airtel,
and
has
a
family.
I
know
this
world.
I
know
the
middle
class,
their
struggles
and
problems.
In
that
sense,
I
was
able
to
understand
the
character.
But
it
was
made
easy
by
the
writing
too.
Puneet
has
written
so
brilliantly,
and
he
narrated
each
and
every
episode
to
me.
That
was
a
huge
help.
Puneet
and
his
co-director
Amrit
Raj
Gupta
have
been
working
on
this
material
for
so
long.

“Puneet
shared
his
experiences
too.
The
series
is
not
about
him
but
getting
in
and
out
of
those
weird
circumstances.

“Puneet
did
his
research
and
gave
us
a
very
basic
idea
on
male
prostitution.
He
said
it
is
like
any
other
job.
Whatever
questions
I
had,
Puneet
had
all
the
answers.”

Manav
feels
very
close
to
his
character,
Tribhuvan.

“I
am
very
idealistic
in
my
world
also.
I
feel
I
am
vulnerable
whenever
I
do
theatre
or
write
a
book.
It’s
not
about
judging
the
character,
it’s
about
picking
the
core
points
of
the
character.

“I
wanted
to
portray
the
real
side
of
Tribhuvan.
How
much
you
believe
in
the
character
and
honestly
tell
his
story,
so
that
people
think
that
yes,
this
is
Tribhuvan.
I
wanted
them
to
see
me
as
Tribhuvan.
When
you
are
doing
a
series
—
it
has
nine
episodes
—
you
get
to
play
every
shade
of
the
character.
All
the
preparation
was
done
beforehand.

“I
read
all
the
difficult
scenes
with
Puneet,
so
we
were
well
prepared
before
we
went
for
the
shoot.
So
judging
the
character
is
more
like
understanding
the
bits
and
pieces
of
Tribhuvan,
so
you
feel
like,
I
am
going
to
react
like
this.
You
are
shooting
continuously,
so
you
are
in
character.
You
feel
that
your
decision
is
actually
Tribhuvan’s
decision.”

Manav
admits
the
OTT
platform
has
changed
his
life.

“The
OTT
is
amazing.
You
see
actors
like
Vijay
Varma,
Jaideep
Ahlawat
and
Shefali
Shah,
actors
who
have
given
us
such
amazing
performances
in
recent
years.
I
have
been
watching
them
for
years.
What
OTT
has
done
is
given
more
options
to
the
audience.
And
so
we
are
doing
different
stuff.
We
can
push
the
envelope
further
now.

“Also,
OTT
needs
actors
to
pull
off
right
or
nine
episodes,
so
everyone
is
searching
for
good
actors.
Luckily,
we
have
a
lot
of
them.
I’ve
done
a
film
called

Baramulla
which
I’m
very
excited
about.
I’m
reading
scripts,
so
maybe
I’ll
say
yes
to
something.
I
going
to
shoot
something
this
year.
I
haven’t
shot
anything
for
the
past
one
and
a
half
years
now,
so
it’s
time
I
get
back
to
acting.

“People
keep
messaging
me,
why
don’t
you
act
more?
Because
I
love
life!
How
I
live
is
more
important
than
what
I
do,
so
I
give
a
lot
of
time
to
my
travels,
theatre,
writing…
I
have
to
give
time
to
everything,
I
can’t
do
just
one
thing
continuously.
I
take
longer
breaks
to
do
something
else.

“I
want
to
live
well.
I
don’t
want
to
be
a
person
who
dies
while
working.
I
want
to
die
while
living.
So
I
want
to
live
more
and
work
less.
That
is
my
motto
in
life.”