Our face-offs in Aarya were violent but Sushmita Sen was open and energetic, says actor Manish Chaudhari

It has been more than 10 years since the release of Rocket Singh: Salesman Of The Year (2009), but actor Manish Chaudhari continues to still be known for his character Sunil Puri in the film. The actor is recently making heads turn with his portrayal of the cigar-smoking gangster Shekhawat in the Hindi web-series Aarya, with Sushmita Sen in the title role.  

Shekhawat isn’t your usual don. He is of course ruthless, but at the same time appears calm. Speaking about this aspect of his character, Chaudhari said in an official statement, “I wanted to bring in the ruthlessness of real life mafia dons, but also keep a sense of being nonchalant in that ruthlessness. We also spent a lot of time on the styling of the character. His clothes, his facial look and his mannerisms and habits. For instance Shekhawat loves to smoke cigars.” 

Directed by Ram Madhvani, the series is about Aarya (Sen) who sets out to safeguard her family from dreaded gangsters as well as cops. 

Chaudhari had a lot of unusual confrontation scenes with Sen’s character. Speaking about it, he said, “Sushmita and I had some difficult scenes to do together which involved a level of physical violence. To make these scenes as natural as possible, Sushmita and I had to let down our guard and just go for it! She was a very willing and energetic partner in crime. I really enjoyed working with her.” 

Chaudhari said he got his first break in Sudhir Mishra’s television series 17 Shirley Road in 1996, but it was Rocket Singh: Salesman Of the Year that gave him recognition for his character Sunil Puri. “Since then, I have had the pleasure of doing a varied number of characters both in cinema and television. It makes me ecstatic that my journey of reinvention as an actor is being recognised and celebrated in the web series Aarya,” he said. 

Some of the other prominent films in which the actor has appeared include, Socha Na Tha (2005), Band Baaja Baaraat (2010), Jannat 2 (2012), Raaz 3 (2012), Bombay Velvet (2015), Mohenjo Daro (2016), Baazaar (2018), Uri: The Surgical Strike (2019) and Batla House (2019).