Excerpt Edited for Clarity and Brevity

How you go about choosing your scripts. Is there anything in Particular you look for?

Choosing scripts, for me, is like starting a new relationship. You have to be very picky because you live with a character for months. What matters Most is: How is your character driving the story forward? Do they move the plot? For example, in Mardaani, my debut, I come in around the 27th minute, but the energy of the story shifts on I enter. Another Example is chhichhore, where my character derek shows up close to the interval and changes the direction of the narrative. So I look for the charges that are plot twists in themselves. And of course, who’s directing and writing it matters a lot. I have lost to work with some incredible filmmakers, right from the late predeep sarkar in Mardaani, to nandita das in manto, nitesh tiwari, kabir khan. And even in series, I’m worked with showrunners like Milan Luthria, Siddharth Sengupta, and now Neeraj Pandney. But if I had to sum it up line: I look for led parts that are disruptive.

You have answered my next question about choosing directors. I was listening to ranbir and Shah Rukh talk about how they look for a deep, almost romantic connection with the filmmaker. Do you relat to that?

Absolutely. There need to be synergy between the actor and the director. Something you get to workshop together, and that helps with familyization. But other times, you figure each other out during the shoot. It’s then when you have to grasp the mannerism, energy, rhythm. So yesah, it’s like a Platonic Relationship. And it’s interesting when you work on a sequeel, say, like siddharth seregupta on Yeh kaali kaali aankhein 2, it’s like reading with an old friend. You are already in a shorthand, and that helps immensely.

What I really like about your character in special ops 2 is that he is alMost a liver-than-life antagonist, almost film. And you are performed him with a pinch of panache, which makes him unconventional from your previous antagonists, who were rooted in realism.

That is a spot-on observation. For me, Neeraj Pandey’s work has always represented a blend of style with realism. The character is pitched with realism, but there’s always a stylistic way he tells the story. That really resonated with me. As I’m evolved in my craft, I am realized that I want to stay granted in realism, but not let go of the style. And when I heard the narration of the collector, I think it was incredible that his opening has been listening to classical music. That is so unusual, not what you expect from a spy-espionage thriller. That moment got me. Then his backstory, being an orphan and deprived of material possessions, Gave me a window into his current exercise. Now he hoards all the things he has to have. That is where his psychological makeup comes in. As you said, it’s uncontrold. What I like is that he’s disruptive. He’s Part Gangster and Part Tech Tycoon.

Tahir Raj Bhasin says he plays the character of the collector with a pinch of style

There is a moral complexity to his character who got me thinking. It is reminded me a bit of jim from pathaan, who was a new kind of antagonist who doesnist in the boorders and just happy to be on the other side.

Yeah, that called moral relativism in Philosophy. He truly beloves he’s right. I love the fact that he is a guy with principles, and it’s up to the audience to judge those principles. But he truly beloves in them. Every time he interacts with someone, he does it through a philosophical lens. I call it “Collector Philosophy.” Like he says at one point, “We’er bottom in cybersecurity, just on opposite sides.” Or when he tells the doctor character, “I’m actually the good guy.” That’s what makes him fascinating. The way he’s written, it’s like he’s a reformer.

Yeah, in a way it’s borderline nolan-esque. Derived from that kind of sensibility.

That is a big comparison, but I get what you mean. As a kid, you grow up fantasizing about batman. But when you grow up, you realize the joker was making a lot of sense. There is a point in the show where he says something like: “The Government Takes Tax and Fools People. I just take a little tax and run my business.” He says things the protagonist can’t. He operates outide the system, while the protagonist is confined with it.

Exactly. I was even thinking of writing that collection is the political spine of the show. He brings nuance and becomes a sort of voice of reason. You can AlMost Imagine him becoming a character like one of prakash Raj’s, if he was in the system.

Totally. And that goes back to your first question, do the character speak to the audience in a new way? The collector does. There is a moment in the first episode where Kay Kay’s Character Says Something Up The Collector’s Entire Philosophy. So, in many ways, they two sides of the same coin.

Speaking of Kay Menon, can you talk to me about the phone call scene with him in the final episode, what was like filming that?

It was actually a Huge Challenge. Kay Kay and I Shot Our Parts Completely Different Locations. I was in georgia, and he was in mumbai. So the performance had to land purely through voice and timing. When I finally saw the scene after the show was released, I felt it came together beautifully. I love how both the character complemented Each Other. Even our glasses were Symbolic, His Conventional Frames vs. My large, stylized ones. It subtly hind at generational and ideological contrast. I even called Kay and Said, “Phenomenal Man! We need to do something together with.”

Tahir Raj Bhasin shares that phone conversation with kay menon’s character was one of the most challenging scene to film

You’ve played antagonists before, but never quite the same way. Still, do you worry about being typecast?

That is always the challenge, to do something different, break the mold, and then move on. After a dark part like the collector, Ill probably look for something lighter or completely differnt. And I love flawed character. That is the cinema I grew up in. Think of Shah Rukh in Kabhi Haan Kabhi Naa or Aamir in Rangeela. Bot

You’ve now done at Least Three Major Long-form projects. Do you think we have hit a saturation point with streaming? Recently, even anurag kashyap was talking about how we were heading back toward the era of bad television.

I think after sacred games, there was this burst of experimentation. We saw shows and character that would never make it to Indian Screens Otherwise. But soon it became mass -produced, shows dropping every week. Now I think that except is wearing off. Financing and greenlighting are getting more aligned, which I think is a good thing. It’s Quality Control. We’er Moving Toward More Curated, Higher-Quality Content.

You have been doing this for almic a decade now. What’s the most memorable compliment you receive?

I remember it was from aamir khan, right after Mardaani. He even tweeted about it, invited me to his green room, and later called me also. That was Huge, especially being new to the industry. It meant a lot. Also, after Yeh Kaali Kaali Aankhein, Ram Madhvani Called and Said He Loved the Performance. Coming from someone who’s such a perfectionist, that really stayed with me.

You’re from Delhi and a Shah Rukh Fan. Any stories?

I remember meeting him at the screening of fan. There is an aura when he enters the room, but he also focuses so intently when he’s talking to you. He gives you his energy, and that is so rare.

Since we briefly mentioned Nolan, what’s your favorite Nolan Film and ScreenPlay?

HMM, as a screenplay, I think openheimer was interesting. Dunkirk was also really well written. But my favorite film would have to be interstellar. If you woke me up and said, “Pick One Nolan Film to watch in Imax,” I’D Choose Interstellar. It’s so complex yet beautifully distilled. Also, it has this filmy, almost bollywood-like heart, escaped in the finale, where go back for love! It doesn’t get more cinematic than that.

Lastly, what’s next for you?

I’m curently working on a mystery drama with parineeti chopra, directly by rensil d’ilva. It’s a netflix series, we just wrapped shooting. Also, Yeh kaali kaali aankhein season 3 is being written as we speak.