Priyanshu Painyuli, the actor who impressed audiences with Bhavesh Joshi, and then as Konkana Sen Shar ma’s love interest in the short film A Monsoon Date, now dons the role of an entrepreneur. The actor stars in Netflix’s film Upstarts that released earlier this week.
A story about three friends who start their own company in Bengaluru, Priyanshu says it’s a film that showcases the struggles and achievements of entrepreneurs. “Our director, Udai Singh Pawar, comes from an IT background, so he knows the startup world in-depth. When he wrote the story, he knew his characters and their world really well. In fact, when I read the script, I felt it was a little overdramatic, but then he got me to meet Bhavesh Agarwal, CEO of Ola, Rajiv Srivatsa, founder of Urban Ladder and others like them. That’s when I understood the script and what it is trying to convey,” says the actor.
To prepare for the role, Priyanshu says, Udai wanted all three of his lead actors to bond like friends. So unlike the usual reading workshops indoors, the director took his team sailing. “He took us on a sailboat from the Gateway of India. We spent three to four hours on the sea and read scenes that are not in the film but helped us open up as characters. We had to develop a bond with each other,” he explains. While Upstarts is picking up on Netflix, Priyanshu is busy prepping for the second season of a web series on Amazon Prime. He’s also looking forward to his upcoming Hollywood flick Dhaka that stars Chris Hemsworth, Manoj Bajpayee and Randeep Hooda in the lead roles.
Streaming on Netflix
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