‘I was a podgy boy with bad skin’

Says Rati Agnihotri’s son Tanuj Virwani, who’s making his acting debut in Luv U Soniyo.

Actor Rati Agnihotri’s son Tanuj Virwani is making his film debut in Luv U Soniyo, directed by debutant Joe Rajan. “I had met (director) Madhur Bhandarkar a few months back. He recommended my name to Joe, who is a very dear friend of his. That’s what set the ball rolling,” says Tanuj.

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The 24-year-old has learnt the ropes of acting at the Kishore Namit Kapoor Acting Institute in Andheri. “I have already acted in five short films and tried my hand at directing and writing scripts. This has helped me understand the intricacies of the medium better,” explains Tanuj, adding that he’s also assisted on two films, Chance Pe Dance (2010) with Shahid Kapoor and Aao Wish Karein (2009) with Aftab Shivdas-ani. “Both movies were part of a learning curve for me. Apart from that, I watch a lot of movies and try to imbibe whatever I can from them,” he reveals.

Luv U Soniyo is a romantic comedy between a Catholic girl and a Punjabi boy, played by Tanuj. So how much of an influence has Agnihotri been in getting her son into films? “I don’t think my mother did, for the simple reason that she quit films after getting married and made a comeback when I was already 16 years old.