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Tiny roles, big impact: How these supporting actors stole the show
Three actors, who’ve been playing supporting roles that almost outshone the main story, explain how they won us over
It’s strange. Bit roles shone well enough on the big screen. But it’s really on the smaller screen, as we binge on entire seasons at home, that character actors have had their biggest moments. Hero-heroine stories have given way to ensemble casts in multiple plotlines. Minor roles showcase major acting chops. Soon-to-die characters deliver killer lines. See how these actors ended up stealing the show on some of our favourite series.
Tillotama Shome as Meera in Tooth Pari: When Love Bites (2023)
As Meera, an 18th century vampire who was a consultant to history’s bigwigs , Tillotama Shome is memorable enough to be immortal. Viewers are supposed to be rooting for the rebellious vampire Rumi (Tanya Maniktala), but they can’t help but cheer the funnier Meera on. Shome, 44, has been playing little roles here, there and everywhere since she landed the part of Alice, the house-help, in Monsoon Wedding in 2001. “It’s the shine that comes from sweating it out for years,” she jokes.
Being on the fringes of fame and building up a career bit by bit is tough, she says. Gigs are few and far between, so actors pour their lives into each role they get. For Shome, the size of the role has rarely mattered. “I wanted the most interesting part, the part that was most enigmatic, the one that leaves you wanting for more,” she says. “Of course, it would be great to play a really interesting and complex lead, but that comes along less often. I have waited long enough.”
For Tooth Pari, Shome worked on her Urdu vocabulary and pronunciation. She took kathak lessons. Over two decades of stellar sporadic acting has taught her that no insignificant – both in life and on screen. “If I don’t believe that, I will let others make me feel small or make the mistake of looking down on someone. It’s the same with a role. Sometimes a writer is lazy with the smaller parts and I’ve gone with pages of suggestions to flesh out my contribution to the scene. I value myself, even if they don’t.”
Sharib Hashmi as JK Talpade in The Family Man (2019-)
The title of the show is based on his character’s BFF, played by Manoj Bajpayee. Yet it’s Sharib Hashmi, playing JK Talpade, an intelligence agent and a loyal friend, who wears his heart on his sleeve, who charms his way into viewers’ hearts. So much so that when he got shot in Season 2, fans worriedly clutched their TV remotes, fearing he’d be missing from future seasons.
Hashmi, 47, first faced the camera in the early 2000s, with cameos on MTV Bakra. He dreamed of being a leading man – but at 5’4”, he just wasn’t tall enough. He pitched in as an assistant director, observing how Govinda, Urmila Matondkar, Dimple Kapadia, and Paresh Rawal delivered their scenes. He did some screenwriting, faced rejection, struggled financially, and worked his way out if it with minor roles in Filmistaan (2012), Jab Tak Hai Jaan (2012), Badmashiyaan (2015), and Vodka Diaries (2018)
Then, he signed up for The Family Man and it all started to make sense. Hashmi says he learnt to play parts with authenticity and ease from Bajpayee – a happy side effect of doing most of one’s scenes alongside the legendary actor. It’s taught him that it’s possible to stand out without a dramatic monologue, without being in the foreground and without stealing the show. “You need to understand the character’s world and the director’s vision,” he says. “It’s about contributing to the storytelling and delivering performances that connect with the audience, rather than being fixated on whether you’re the protagonist.” says Hashmi.
No matter how small the role, start preparing early, Hashmi advises. Join an acting school, be prepared to struggle. “Your limitations – I thought mine was my height – don’t define your aspirations. Life has its ups and downs. Consistency is key.”
Abhishek Banerjee in Paatal Lok (2020-)
On screen, bad gets tend to get what’s coming to them. Off screen, actors who play the villain rarely get the accolades they deserve. Abhishek Banerjee, however, made sure viewers took notice of the quiet, discreet, loyal and murderous dog-lover Hathoda Tyagi in Paatal Lok.
Banerjee, 38, has made a career of taking on supporting roles (his first gig was a five-second bit in Rang De Basanti in 2006). Fans loved him in as Pawan Jaffa, Rana and Tej’s younger brother, on Rana Naidu (2023-).
He’d been a bad guy before, as Compounder,who lays down his life for his friend, in 2018’s Mirzapur. “Both Compounder and Hathoda Tyagi were written well. My job was to live them,” he says.
But being on screen yet out of the spotlight does play with your head, admits the actor. There’s none of the frills that fame brings. It’s harder to be noticed, make money, play out your fantasies of success. It’s why streaming shows have been a blessing. They focus on multiple characters and their development. It gives actors ways to shine in parts that would have otherwise been glossed over. “I knew there’s come a time when acting would be given priority. The time is now.” Audiences today are quite unforgiving, pushing character actors to do better. So, Banerjee harks back on a lesson from this college theatre days: It doesn’t matter how much time you spend on stage, every time you get on stage, it IS your stage. And life can imitate art too. “I’ve learnt to be patient from Hathoda Tyagi. It comes handy in chaotic situations”.
