Rati Agnihotri's son Tanuj spills his pain: Says – Being a star kid, his attitude was good, but industry behavior changed after flop films

Actor Tanuj Virwani, who is the son of actress Rati Agnihotri, did not have an easy journey in Bollywood. In the beginning he had to struggle a lot. According to Tanuj, after consecutive flop films in the early days, he stopped getting calls from the industry. He was recently seen in the web series 'Murshid'. While talking to Dainik Bhaskar, he opened up about 'Murshid', his struggles and his parents' relationship. Read key excerpts from the conversation: Initially, people considered me a star kid, but when my films flopped, attitudes started to change 'When I entered the industry, I thought things would be easy. My mom (Rati Agnihotri) is a successful actress, so I also felt it would be a little easier to approach people. Initially, people used to call me star kid. However, when the first film flopped, the calls gradually stopped coming. After the second film, the calls also dwindled and when the third film (with Sunny Leone) flopped, the calls stopped altogether. At that time, I was mostly being offered secondary roles, but my dream was always to play the lead role. I was very nervous. At that time I was home for about 6-7 months. My courage was weak. I couldn't understand why this was happening.' When I went to the theatre, there were only 10-12 people in the cinema hall. The movie 'One Night Stand', which came with a lot of hype at the box office, unfortunately flopped. At that time Sunny Leone was in the prime of her career. He recently gave hits like 'Leela' and 'Ragini MMS'. His songs were also becoming very popular. The songs of 'One Night Stand' were huge hits. We felt that the film had potential and could change something, but unfortunately the film did not work.' 'I still remember, this happened on 5th May 2016. I went to the theater and saw that there were only 10-12 people. I was thinking – this is the third time this has happened, I can't believe it.' Many new avenues opened up for me after the web series started.​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​ After that project I never looked back. It gave a new direction to my career and started to appreciate my work. After starting the web series, many new avenues opened up for me. 2020-2021 was the most special year of my career. My 6 projects were released in 2021 'The whole world was stopped during Kovid, but that time was very special to me. I had 6 projects released in 2021, it was the first time in my career that so many projects were released in one year. The OTT platform has given me a lot and the love I have received from the audience has increased my responsibility. It made me more energetic and focused at the time.' Learned a lot from working with veteran actors like KK Menon and Zakir Hussain. So I was very excited when he called. He said, sir, I want you to play the role of a police inspector in this show. I asked, sir, did you sign anyone else or just me? He said it also features KK Menon Bhaiya and Zakir Hussain. I am more than happy to hear this. I didn't need narration.​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​ I knew I would learn a lot from working with these people' My parents are not separated or divorced 'My parents are not separated or divorced. Yes, there were some problems in 2015-16 that everyone knows about. I am alone, I have no siblings, so I tried to make friends with my parents. Gradually we mended our relationship and now we live together.​​​​​​​​ Earlier I used to get angry and sad too, but now I have stopped paying attention to these things. I only care about the opinions of people who are important to me. There is a lot of negativity and toxicity in the world, especially on social media, but now I just do my job and ignore everything else.' The last 12 months have been very special for me 'The last 12 months have been very special for me. I got married in December and I feel that my wife has brought a lot of positivity and luck into my life. We are now expecting our first child, and the focus of life is much clearer. My focus now is completely on my work and family.' 'Rana Naidu' has completed his work for season 2 After 'Murshid' now my next project is 'DAU', a crime based show. In this I am playing the character of ACP. Apart from this there is also a film 'Johnny Jumper' in which I play a cable guy, an undercover operative in Bhopal. Along with this, I have also completed my work for 'Rana Naidu' season 2, I am very excited about it.

Image Credit: (Divya-Bhaskar): Images/graphics belong to (Divya-Bhaskar).