By Ahana Bhattacharya

Mumbai, Jul 22 (IANS): Actor Tanuj Virwani has revealed how performing his character in the upcoming crime thriller series "Tandoor" had affected him emotionally.

"I play a character called Sahil Sharma in Tandoor. He is a young politician in Delhi. He is egoistic and feels he has a sense of ownership over those that are close to him. It's not about camaraderie, it's not about love, it's about ownership and that's what even happens in his equation with his wife Palak," Tanuj told IANS.

Opening up on how the role impacted him, the actor said: "It is a very intense role, amplified by the fact that it is a real-life incident. I will be lying if I said that it did not impact me emotionally. I am an actor and I have to try and compartmentalise different parts of my life. I felt really bad after shooting a traumatic scene on the set. Even though I am just a vessel playing another personality, but still, just to see how low people can stoop, that was pretty upsetting. It did take me some time to recover and reboot my mind once I was done shooting for Tandoor."

The web series features Tanuj alongside television actress Rashami Desai. Sharing his experience of working with the "Bigg Boss 13" fame actress, Tanuj said: "Rashami has been an absolute dream to work with. We did not know each other before starting shoot, but once she was on the set she really transformed and became Palak. It was a privilege to work with her. She is very secure as an actor, comes well prepared and is a thorough professional. She is a curious mix of being a method actor as well as someone who is extremely present in that moment."

For his role in the series, Tanuj had to gain about 10 kilos and says losing that extra weight was quite a task!

"I was about 81 kg when I signed the project and I was 90 or 90.5 by the time we started shooting. Firstly, I completely stopped going to the gym. I ate a lot of carbs, (carbohydrates), a lot of sweets, chocolates, a can of Milkmaid every day, a lot of aerated drinks because I wanted him to gain weight disproportionately," he said.

"It was quite a task losing the ten kilos which I had put on. I know there are a lot of fat burning products available in the market and they will give you results very quickly but they have a lot of side effects in the long run and I'm not someone who likes to take the easy way," warned Tanuj sharing that he shed the extra kilos in a healthy way just by following dietary restrictions and working out regularly.

Directed by Nivedita Basu, "Tandoor" is slated to stream on Ullu app from July 23.