Meiyang Chang takes us through his debut in Bengali content with Taarkata
After winning hearts with powerful roles in films and series like Asur, Modern Love Mumbai, Ulajh, besides his melodious voice, singer-actor Meiyang Chang is now set to debut in the Bengali industry with Taarkata by Samik Roy Choudhury. Chang plays the role of an old-school villain with an unforgettable charm – Dodo. We catch up with him to decode his experience and stepping in the shoes of Dodo.
Excerpts:
What made you say yes to Taarkata, since it’s your first Bengali project?
I think the first thing that stood out was it’s a Bengali project. I always wanted to do something in Bengali. I have watched a lot of movies by Satyajit Ray; Ritwik Ghatak is still on my list; and even recent ones. This made me think that I wanted to do something in Bengali. When the offer came up, it was exciting. I have childhood memories here – family, friends, love story, my career. Apart from these, the greed of playing an out and out evil person was exciting. There is no grey to his character. He has God complex and is a total villain. I wanted to do this for once because Dodo is one of those sauve but old-school villains. There’s a particular aura around them and that attracted me.
What makes Taarkata stand out in an oversaturated crime-thriller space?
It’s not your typical crime thriller. There is dark humour, suspense, twists, and more to it. I do agree that there is an over saturation but I also know that no matter how much people complain, these kind of stories do work. We always like to see something which is out of our daily life. I’m sure people don’t meet people like the characters of the series. They don’t meet high end gangsters like Dodo all the time. That becomes intriguing. At one time we used to say the same about rom-coms – that there are only that many permutation and combinations – but the important part is how you treat it. Treatment makes the content special and the audience will like it. They will be able to tell the difference between everything else and Taarkata.
What kind of preparation did you take to become Dodo?
I let go of the moral judgment of the character. Tried my best to get the dialect and pronunciations right. I didn’t want to speak Bengali dialogues like I would speak Hindi dialogues. I had completely surrendered to the character and didn’t want to question any of his actions.
What was your most memorable scene?
From the very beginning you know that Dodo is the don of the area. I liked playing the character where the audience takes a look at him and figures out that he is a villain. He has a certain charming aura to himself. But with a lot of things that he says, there will be confusion in the viewer’s mind which makes them think two ways about Dodo’s personality. That constant googly thrown at the audience with a charisma and soft corner is what I liked.
Which co-star played the biggest pranks on you or vice versa?
I was too busy learning my lines so I did not prank anyone. I’ll say my co-stars are very nice and supportive. But Abhinav our co-producer has played a lot of pranks, and has all the inappropriate jokes.
Since this is your stepping stone in Bengali content, what would you like to explore next?
I would definitely like to do some music out here. I think one of the specialties of Bengali content is how you can take a simple story and make so much out of it. Of late I have done a lot of crime and political dramas but im also missing the simplicity of certain stories, so I want to do those.
Taarkata is streaming on BANGLA ZEE5
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