‘People Think A Famous Mom Is A Gold Card’

‘When
you
are
someone’s
kid,
you
get
easier
access
to
the
industry.’
‘People
will
meet
you,
maybe
even
give
you
a
first
opportunity
out
of
goodwill.’
‘But
at
the
end
of
the
day,
it’s
business.’

OTT
actor

Tanuj
Virwani,
last
seen
in

Rana
Naidu,
lives
in
a
sprawling
penthouse
in
Worli.

Son
of
yesteryear
actor
Rati
Agnihotri,
Tanuj
remains
grounded
and
friendly,
giving


Rediff‘s

Patcy
N
and

Hitesh
Harisinghani
a
tour
of
his
home,
and
discussing
his
life
and
career.

“I
have
never
used
my
mom’s
name.
Since
a
young
age,
I’ve
tried
to
be
financially
independent.
Now,
at
38,
I
want
to
contribute
towards
the
home,”
he
says.

Since
when
have
you
been
living
in
this
beautiful
home?

The
land
this
building
stands
on
has
a
deep
significance
to
our
family.
My
dadaji
was
in
the
real
estate
business.
He
was
in
the
midst
of
constructing
a
building
which
looked
similar
to
the
Nehru
Planetarium
but
it
was
demolished.

My
father
took
over
and
built
it
in
its
current
form.

I
have
been
living
here
since
2007;
I
convinced
my
parents
to
let
me
stay
here
alone.

I
was
giving
my
college
exams
then,
and
I
barely
scraped
through
because
we
were
just
partying.

Whenever
I
have
a
release,
I
have
a
screening
here
with
the
cast
and
crew.

But
now,
I’m
married
with
a
child,
so
not
many
parties.

My
mom
would
say
this
used
to
be
a
frat
house
and
after
the
birth
of
my
daughter
Navya,
it’s
turned
into
a
home.

Watch:
A
tour
of
Tanuj
Viwani’s
home.
Don’t
miss
his
sneaker
collection!

What
is
your
favourite
corner
in
the
house?

There
are
quite
a
few,
actually.
There’s
one
on
the
terrace.

I
don’t
have
a
manager;
I
usually
crack
my
own
deals,
be
it
for
film,
for
shows
or
anything.

There
is
this
one
spot,
whatever
I
sign
or
close
a
deal,
it
usually
goes
well.
I
call
that
my
lucky
spot.

Inside
Edge,
Code
M,
Splitvilla
happened
there.
I
got
the
news
of
me
doing
my
first
Dharma
film,

Yodha,
there.

I
also
spent
a
lot
of
time
there
during
the
lockdown.

Which
is
your
mother’s
favourite
area
of
the
house?

She
prays
a
lot.

My
aunt
lives
in
Poland,
so
there’s
a
lot
of
Christian
influence,
a
lot
of
Jesus
and
Mother
Mary
statues.

We
are
Sai
Baba

bhakts
so
there
is
a
life-size
Sai
Baba.

It’s
a
place
of
Zen.

When
I
enter
her
living
quarters,
I
have
to
remove
my
footwear.

During
the
pandemic,
my
mom
was
stuck
in
Poland
because
my
aunt
was
making
some
changes
in
her
restaurant.

My
mom
could
not
return
because
her
dog
was
not
allowed
to
fly
back.

I
was
not
married
then.

It
was
like
a
bachelor’s
pad
then,
just
my
father
and
me.
Even
the
staff
were
all
men.

Now,
there’s
an
overwhelming
female
presence
—
my
mom,
my
wife
Tanya,
my
daughter,
her
nanny…

Did
you
ever
get
any
career
privileges
because
your
mother
was
an
actress?

No,
I
got
bullied
because
of
that.

In
school,
the
kids
were
very
mean.

I
was
an
introvert
and
had
confidence
issues.

My
mom
was
not
actively
working
at
that
time.
She
made
her
comeback
when
I
was
16,
in
Standard
10.

There
was
no
social
media
back
then.

I
knew
my
mom
was
something
big
and
would
feel
it
more
when
we
would
travel
abroad,
where
people
would
come
for
autographs.

I’d
seen
very
few
films
of
hers,
only
when
they
would
come
on
cable
TV.

They
didn’t
allow
me
to
watch
films
like

Ek
Duje
Ke
Liye
because
she
dies
at
the
end,
and
that
would
really
upset
me.

When
she
made
a
comeback,
I
would
be
allowed
to
go
on
the
sets
sometimes.

When
she
would
promote
them,
she
would
be
on
news
channels.
That’s
when
I
would
be
like,
‘Oh
my
God,
she’s
big.’

A
lot
of
people
think
that
a
famous
mom
is
a
gold
card
but
it’s
nothing
like
that.

Which
films
sets
did
you
visit?

I
have
been
on
the
sets
of

Yaadein.
They
were
shooting
in
Khandala.

I
remember
Subhash
Ghai
would
come
to
our
room
after
pack
up
and
he
wanted
to
understand
my
take.
He
wanted
to
know
what
the
youth
felt
because
he
was
in
tune
with
the
times.

In
the
film,
my
mom’s
character
is
dead
but
Jackie
Shroff’s
character
keeps
seeing
her.

Just
before
that,

Mohabatein
had
come
out
and
he
was
concerned
about
the
similarities.

I
told
him
that
it
was
the
same
role
as

Mohabatein.

Later,
when
we
went
for
the
film
screening,
my
mom’s
role
was
much
shorter
than
we
anticipated.

She
was
pretty
bummed
out
about
it.

How
much
did
you
have
to
struggle
in
your
career?

Everyone
struggles.

I
get
a
lot
of
inspiration
from
Shah
Rukh
Khan.
He
was
struggling
up
until
two
years
back.
He’s
probably
the
biggest
star
we
have
in
our
country
and
for
over
30
years.

When
you
are
someone’s
kid,
you
get
easier
access
to
the
industry.

People
will
meet
you,
maybe
even
give
you
a
first
opportunity
out
of
goodwill.

But
at
the
end
of
the
day,
it’s
business.

It’s
a
film
industry.

If
the
producers
and
directors
think
you
have
what
it
takes
and
the
audience
keeps
coming
back
for
more,
you’ll
get
work.

Otherwise,
you’ll
just
be
sitting
at
home.

I
don’t
let
it
get
me
down.

There
are
days
where
the
phone
is
not
ringing
and
others
when
it’s
ringing
excessively.

How
has
fatherhood
changed
you?

My
entire
day
revolves
around
what
time
Navya
wakes
up.

She
has
started
going
to
play
school.

The
way
you
start
viewing
the
world,
situations
and
people,
everything
changes.

I
always
tell
everyone
that
I
was
more
ready
to
be
a
dad
than
I
was
a
husband.

It’s
beautiful
watching
her
milestones.

Inside
Edge
was
the
most
popular
show
you
did.
But
somehow,
the
other
shows
have
not
been
as
popular.
Being
in
the
industry
for
almost
10
years
now,
does
it
make
you
insecure
that
things
are
not
working
out?

When
I
started
my
career,
I
only
wanted
to
be
a
film
actor.

But
as
time
went
by
and
I
saw
both
failure
and
success,
you
have
to
become
the
Jack
of
all
trades.

You
have
to
be
open
to
all
possibilities.
That’s
how
OTT
happened,
character
roles
in
movies
happened,
hosting
reality
television
like

Splitsvilla
happened.

Weirdly
for
me,
the
easiest
phase
of
my
career
was
during
the
pandemic.

I
was
bombarded
with
work
during
that
phase.

In
2021,
I
had
six
releases.

Some
actors
were
not
comfortable
working
in
those
times,
so
the
roles
came
to
me.

How
expensive
is
it
to
maintain
this
lifestyle?

A
lot
of
people
have
this
misconception
that
because
his
parents
are
well
off
—
his
mom
was
a
star
and
his
dad
is
in
real
estate
—
it’s
easy.

Yes,
the
family
has
wealth,
but
I
also
pride
myself
in
being
self-made.

I
have
never
used
my
mom’s
name.

I
don’t
use
her
surname.

Since
a
young
age,
I’ve
tried
to
be
financially
independent.
Now,
at
38,
I
want
to
contribute
towards
the
home.

When
I
joined
the
industry,
there
was
just
films
and
television.

Now,
you’ve
got
films,
television,
OTT,
reality
shows,
social
media,
events,
collaborations,
there
are
many
more
avenues.

At
the
same
time,
you
don’t
want
to
be
desperate
and
overexpose
yourself.

How
do
rumours
affect
you?

I
used
to
get
affected
at
the
start
of
my
career.

It’s
not
just
about
link-ups.
My
parents
were
going
through
some
issues
in
their
marriage
and
people
put
so
much

mirchi
in
it.
They
presented
it
in
a
bad
way
and
it
affects
you.

Your
films
are
not
doing
well,
people
are
writing
negative
stuff
about
your
family,
it’s
not
a
good
feeling.

But
I’m
happy
that
happened
early
on
because
it
gave
me
that
mental
muscle.

It
doesn’t
make
it
your
reality
unless
you
let
it.