Acting is like yoga: Chandan Roy Sanyal
He mentions his portrayal of Bhopa Swami in ‘Aashram’ brought him unprecedented fame
Chandan Roy Sanyal, best known for his role as Bhopa Swami in ‘Aashram Season 3’, believes the byproduct of his character’s massive popularity is that audiences are now discovering his past work, including ‘Prague’. Sanyal, who plays the cunning right-hand man of Baba Nirala (Bobby Deol) in the hit series, informed that ‘Aashram’ has brought him a level of recognition he hadn’t experienced before.
“After ‘Kaminey’, in which I played Mikhail, I saw a lot of fame. But back then, social media wasn’t as powerful as it is today. I’ve done roles that are really close to my heart, but for various reasons, they didn’t click with audiences. Bhopa Swami changed that. The best part of this fame? People are now watching my older films. ‘Prague’ barely got noticed when it was released, but thanks to ‘Aashram’, it is finally getting attention,” he said.
Over the past 19 years, Sanyal has worked with some of the best directors in Indian cinema. The Delhi-born Bengali made his debut in Rakeysh Omprakash Mehra’s ‘Rang De Basanti’ (2006) and has since collaborated with Vishal Bhardwaj, Aniruddha Roy Choudhury (in several Bengali films), Imtiaz Ali, Nikhil Advani and Sanjay Gupta. He has always prioritised quality over quantity, effortlessly moving between Bollywood and Bengali cinema.
“For me, acting is like yoga - you only get better with time. I’ve been consistent and my quality has never dipped. I never took up projects just for the sake of it or overcommitted myself. Whatever I’ve done, I’ve done with sincerity,” said Sanyal, who recently portrayed Shri Ramakrishna in the Bengali film ‘Binodiini: Ekti Natir Upakhyan’.
Even as he enjoys the success of ‘Aashram’, he quietly hopes to reunite with directors like Mehra, Bhardwaj and Ali. “I want to work with them again and tell them. ‘I’ve grown, I’ve matured and I’m more prepared than ever,” said Sanyal.
His onscreen chemistry with Bobby Deol has been a major highlight of ‘Aashram’, but offscreen, their bond is equally strong.
“Bhopa Swami is nothing without Baba Nirala (played by Bobby). After Bobby saw this season, he called me early in the morning just to tell me how much he loved my performance. Who does that? It was such a heartfelt gesture,” he said.
Beyond acting, Sanyal has stepped into filmmaking. He directed Parno Mittra in her debut Hindi film ‘Suzie Q’, which was screened at the Kolkata International Film Festival in 2024. His latest directorial venture, ‘The Playback Singer’, starring Nidhi Singh, is a musical period romance set in Patna.
“Most of my directorial projects have a strong feminist angle. ‘The Playback Singer’ is set in Bihar in the 1990s and follows a small-town girl chasing her dream of becoming a playback singer in films,” he said.
Up next, Sanyal will be seen in ‘Dear Ma’, directed by Choudhury, alongside Bangladeshi actress Jaya Ahsan.
