The OG Chocolate Boy Of B-Town, Chandrachur Singh Gets Candid On Comparisons With SRK & Shashi Tharoor

Remember those magical eyes and contagious smile that floored everyone in Maachis, particularly in the cult song Chappa Chappa Charkha Chale? Chandrachur Singh, who left us all in awe through his earnest performances in the 90s, is back in the circuit again. Since the time the trailer of Aarya has been released, people are going gaga over his comeback.

¡°I have been receiving a lot of messages from family, friends and fans. I hope everyone enjoys the show¡±.

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Interestingly, on the day we spoke to him was the day when his film Josh -- the film that made him an instant hit with female fans -- completed 20 years of its release. When he was crushing over Aishwarya Rai in the song Mere Khayalon Ki Mallika, we all were crushing over him. When he sang Haye Mera Dil, our hearts melted into a puddle of mush. In the film, he starred alongside superstar Shah Rukh Khan, whose career at that point in time was on the rise, but he still managed to steal the show. So much so, that people thought he could be the next SRK of Bollywood.

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¡°At that time, we (Shah Rukh Khan and I) were pitted against each other for some strange reason. Ek Hawa jaisi fail gayi thi media aur industry mein (there was a wave of comparison in media and industry), but you can¡¯t really take that seriously, neither success not failure. These were people¡¯s perceptions. I mean, Shah Rukh is Shah Rukh. He has a great body of work. I take that as a compliment.¡±

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Years later, now he is making a comeback with Neerja fame Ram Madhvani¡¯s crime thriller show Aarya, people are strangely comparing him to Shashi Tharoor. They think he looks a lot like him. So much so, that they want him to essay his role if a biopic on him is ever made.

¡°This is not new for me. There were comparisons earlier as well. It is strange, but when so many people point this out to you, you also feel it might be true; there could be some resemblance.¡±

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Some people have also compared his looks to Arnab Goswami. On that, he surprisingly exclaimed, ¡°Oh my god¡±, and laughed as he added, ¡°what do I say to that¡±.

Close Call?
Arnab / Chandrachur Singh pic.twitter.com/8YeSOpzFFz

¡ª Yousuf Fidaali (@YFAspeaks) September 1, 2016

Not many people know that Chandrachur Singh¡¯s journey in Bollywood began as an assistant director in a Mahesh Bhatt movie.

¡°I was supposed to do an film back then, and to get into the skin of the character, I worked with Bhatt Sahab as an assistant director.¡±

¡°Somehow that project didn¡¯t work out. Another project that I started working on got shelved. I struggled for six to eight years before I got Tere Mere Sapne and Maachis.¡±

If reports are to be believed, Jab Pyar Kiya To Darna Kya was supposed to be his debut film, but it was put on the back-burner after 60 per cent of the movie was shot.

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Maachis was the film that made Chandrachur Singh an overnight star. ¡°Debut films are always special,¡± he says.

About the song that is the heart, soul and essential part of every party, get-together and road trip, Chappa Chappa, Singh says, just like most of the people, the song is close to his heart as well.

¡°I feel fortunate to have done work that endured the test of time. The song Chappa Chappa is close to my heart too.¡±

After films like Maachis, Kya Kehna and Josh among others, it felt like nothing could go wrong for Chandrachur Singh. But luck wasn¡¯t on his side, it seems. If grapevine is to be believed, Dariya, a film in which he was supposed to star alongside Tabu, was called off. In Deepa Mehta's Earth, he was reportedly replaced by Rahul Khanna. The ups and downs were many, but Singh took them all in his stride. ¡°You¡¯ve got to take good with the bad in life.¡±

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When asked what he was up to all these years, he laughs off saying, ¡°I was busy being a father. I was busy fulfilling my personal responsibilities," and adds that he wasn¡¯t happy with the kind of roles he was getting.

¡°I wanted to do something of substance. I was not getting the kind of work I wanted to participate in. When Aarya came to me, I was very excited.¡± What struck a chord with him? ¡°The character that I am playing is a multi-dimensional character that has a lot of shades and a variety of emotions to express.¡±

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Director Ram Madhvani approached Chandrachur Singh when he was in Dehradun. Singh was ecstatic when heard about Aarya. To get back in action was a thrilling experience for him, says Chandrachur.

¡°I did acting workshops and it was thrilling to meet old colleagues and friends and get back in touch with the people who I had first met 25 years ago in the industry. It was such a great experience to get back on the sets.¡±

But things were a little different this time.

"There was no conventional format of action and cut. This was interesting. We were told to start the scene and end it on our own. That was so creatively different and at the same time very inspiring.¡±

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In the past two decades, cinema has changed a lot, he says.

¡°The great thing about the industry now is that actors don¡¯t get typecast anymore. One can experiment in different genres.¡±

¡°Cinema now is character driven. This is a very exciting time to be working. Even for aspiring actors, it is a great time to flourish.¡±

Will Aarya bring back the charm of Chandrachur Singh in the industry? Well, he is hopeful.

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¡°I look forward to playing all sorts of roles -- from negative to positive to comic.¡±

Chandrachur Singh hopes people will enjoy his show, which is releasing on June 19. For the unversed, Aarya is a Hindi adaptation of Dutch crime drama Penoza. The plot revolves around the life of a happily married woman (played by Sushmita Sen) who is forced to take up her husband's (played by Chandrachur Singh) illegal business after his brutal murder. Also starring Namit Das, Sikander Kher and Manish Chaudhary in pivotal roles, Aarya will be streaming on Disney+ Hotstar VIP.