Tahir Raj Bhasin opens up about the ability to play protagonist and antagonist with equal ease

Time of India

28-07-2025

Tahir Raj Bhasin is making his mark in Indian entertainment with diverse roles. He reflects on his experiences in 'Mardaani', 'Chhichhore', and 'Special Ops'. Bhasin shares insights on working with Neeraj Pandey and never meeting Kay Kay Menon until promotions. He appreciates the success of 'Chhichhore' and newcomers in the industry.
In the ever-evolving landscape of Indian entertainment,
Tahir Raj Bhasin
has carved out a unique space for himself—effortlessly moving between intense thrillers, emotional dramas, and sharply etched grey characters. Whether it's his breakout role in
Mardaani
, the brooding rebel in
Chhichhore
, or his latest turn in the mytho-tech thriller
Special Ops
, Bhasin's trajectory reflects a sharp eye for narrative and a hunger for layered characters.
In Neeraj Pandey's Special Ops Season 2 he played the role of Sudheer who wants to unsettle the financial stability of India. Though the show has big names like Kay Kay Menon and
Prakash Raj
part of the show, Tahir's character hardly has any scenes with them which was part of his character's aura. Talking about his role he says , ' My character is a bit of a puppet master, so he is in isolation. ' Turns out that Neeraj Pandey was his closest co-star.
Talking about him Tahir says , ' He's a great co-star just because he's so well-prepared… There's so much precision because he writes himself as well. So, he's very particular.
If the pauses are here, then this is how you should do it.He's a man of very few words, which can be intimidating to begin with. But in a few days, you realize that you learn to sort of read between the lines.And when I spoke to other actors who'd done season one with him, ( said that if he's not saying anything means he likes what you're doing. So, I was a lot more confident working with him then. '
Interestingly, Bhasin never met co-star Kay Kay Menon on set.
by Taboola
by Taboola
Sponsored Links
Sponsored Links
Promoted Links
Promoted Links
You May Like
This Japanese AI invention allows you to speak 68 languages instantly. The idea? Genius.
Enence 2.0
Undo
'It was an intentional choice not to meet KK Menon before the show started. I thought it would be more interesting to shoot without having met him because that goes more with the collector. He's never met him.' Their first meeting happened only during promotions. 'Meeting him was like meeting a college senior… someone who's just seen all the things that you're going to experience already.
'
One of the major successes of Tahir's career has been Chhichhore, where he played the role of college senior Derek. THe film also starred
Sushant Singh Rajput
and
Shraddha Kapoor
in the lead.
Talking about the film he said , ' Derek was cool, and he was a stud at the same time, sporty… everything an actor could ask for. Also there are rare examples of a film that gets box office success, critical acclaim and a national award and Chhichhore got all of it.
Sayaara which has become the flavour of the country recently zoomed past Chhichhore's numbers at the box office. Talking about the success by newcomers like Ahaan Panday and Aneet Padda, he said , ' 'It's been a while since small romantic film, hit the box office… and to have newcomers who are from outside of the industry sort of navigating this wave is just simply amazing.'
But what about the recurring perception of him playing roles that echo
Mardaani
? 'It's actually been 10 years between Mardani and Special ops 2. And what I've had is the benefit of working with a lot of great directors like
Kabir Khan
in 83 to Nitesh Tiwari in Chhichore to Nandita Das in Manto. So the idea has always been to like create a mold and then break it. But one thing that always sticks with anyone in the creative pursuits is what you debut with and when you do it well.I'm very proud of Mardaani and now the thor part of film is being made, I never thought a film that I started off with would turn into a franchise.
Iit takes a certain skill to play protagonist and antagonist , what my takeaway from the industry has been the ability to do a a romantic drama and an all-out thriller with the same amount of ease.
(10:28) What I haven't done yet is an all-out comedy, which would be great.
Up next, he steps into the world of mystery with a Netflix series starring
Parineeti Chopra
, directed by Rensil D'Silva. 'It's a show… and again, that's a genre that I haven't been a part of.'He also has the third season of Yeh Kaali Kaali Aankhein in the pipeline.
Disruptive, deliberate, and deeply self-aware—Tahir Raj Bhasin continues to walk his path, one carefully chosen part at a time.