Jay Thakkar Reunites with Shreyas Talpade in Kapkapiii: 'We've Come So Far'
'Looking back to our first project together, I was a young protagonist in an episode of Savdhaan India: Maharashtra Fight Back Now, and Shreyas was the host,' Jay recalls. 'That episode aired on June 20, 2015. Fast-forward 10 years, and here we are sharing the screen as co-actors in Kapkapiii. It felt like destiny aligning with years of hard work.'
In Kapkapiii, Jay stars alongside Shreyas Talpade in what he describes as a creatively fulfilling experience. 'Working with Shreyas again, this time as co-actors, was one of the most joyful and creatively rewarding periods of my career,' says Jay. 'It was effortless. Natural. Like picking up a conversation we started years ago.'
Reflecting on what he admires most about his co-star, Jay says, 'Shreyas has a rare combination of impeccable comic timing and genuine kindness. He can elevate a scene with just a look or a shift in tone.' But it's a deeply personal gesture that stands out most for Jay. 'On my birthday, he danced, cheered, and even helped me record audition tapes. That day felt more like a celebration of brotherhood than just another shoot.'
Jay credits Shreyas with playing a quiet but powerful role in his recent success. 'He recorded my audition tape for Gullak Season 4 on set and gently coached me to refine my performance. I got selected for the role of Suryanarayan, and it's all thanks to him. That act reminded me that true mentorship isn't always loud. It shows up in silent acts of belief and support. His humility, despite his stature, continues to inspire me.'
With both Bhool Chuk Maaf and Kapkapiii releasing on the same day, Jay says the experience was surreal and sacred.
'To have two theatrical films come out on the same day and be able to celebrate both felt like the culmination of 20 years of silent hustle, auditions, rejections, character-building, heartbreak, and hope. That night, I was deeply emotional. It was more than just a professional win. It was a personal triumph.'
From a child actor in episodic TV to playing nuanced roles in back-to-back theatrical releases, Jay Thakkar's journey is one of resilience, evolution, and brotherhood, with a little help from stars like Shreyas Talpade along the way.
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
India Today
9 hours ago
- India Today
Andhera review: Priya Bapat, Karanvir Malhotra shine in this dim series
We have all grown up listening to horror stories about sinister forces and how good conquers evil. Prime Video's latest offering, 'Andhera', starring Karanvir Malhotra, Prakajta Koli, and Priya Bapat, walks on the same Mumbai's skyline, as the city is busy grappling with its mundane life, lies a supernatural force preying on the living. A fearless cop and a haunted medical student unite to confront the encroaching darkness before it engulfs the city in the heart of Mumbai, the eight-episode series begins with a chilling hook: Bani Baruah (Jahnvi Rawat), desperate to reach Dr Prithvi Sheth (Pranay Pachauri), suddenly disappears under mysterious circumstances. Inspector Kalpana Kadam (Priya Bapat) takes on the case, tracing clues that lead her to Prithvi, now lying in a coma, and his younger brother Jay (Karanvir Malhotra), a troubled medical student tormented by disturbing nightmares involving Bani and other shadowy figures. The darkness, both literal and metaphorical, seems determined to consume him. As the story progresses, Kalpana Kadam speeds up her investigation to find missing Bani and uncovers various truths about the dark world that eventually go beyond the realm of the trailer here: Jay turns to Rumi (Prajakta Koli), the host of the popular podcast 'Into The Darkness', hoping she can help him understand the unsettling visions of Bani that haunt him. With Rumi by his side, he begins to piece together fragments of a disturbing episode three, every clue only thickens the mystery, blurring the boundaries between reality and nightmare for Kalpana, Jay, and Rumi. While the story might feel redundant given Indian filmmakers' love for the horror genre, the acting of the cast stands out in each viewers might try to understand the plotline, they will be introduced to Kalpana Kadam's dark secret about her liking for Surveen Chawla (manager of a healing centre called Aatma).The Gaurav Desi-created series is undeniably ambitious in both concept and execution. The makers tried really hard to navigate the space between supernatural horror and science fiction. However, the core idea meant to anchor these ideas feels somewhat underdeveloped, particularly the portrayal of the mysterious 'andhera' itself, and the question whether it can truly open a gateway into another realm of the human creative liberty to explain the 'andhera'(darkness) in each character's life somewhat loses its essence in between, and instead, it focusses on other topics that might hinder your these ideas to truly land, the series needed a sharper, more uncompromising script, one that pushed its characters to their breaking points so that Jay's fear and emotional detachment, in particular, felt genuinely visceral. The series wrestles not just with internal dread but also with external threats, yet it struggles to clearly define the boundary between the elements in the show will leave you intrigued and hooked onto it; however, that won't be much for long, as you will start searching for some light in this dark series (pun intended).We can say that while 'Andhera' does trigger thought-provoking questions about greed and misinformation, don't lose your patience and stay calm, as the ending of the series might leave you surprised.- Ends2.5 out of 5 stars to Andhera.
Scroll.in
11 hours ago
- Scroll.in
‘Andhera' review: Chills and thrills in a battle between the known and the unimaginable
A sinister dark presence is hanging over Mumbai. Literally so – this malevolent force that appears both as a gooey web of tentacles and faceless clones of its victims is creeping over Mumbai's Victorian-era facades and modern but already crumbling buildings. The black mass has already claimed Bani (Jahnvi Rawat). Who's next? Diligent police officer Kalpana (Priya Bapat) sets out to investigate, her quest leading her to a wellness retreat managed by Ayesha (Surveen Chawla). Kalpana has to swat away workplace sexism and only has the support of her loyal colleague Kanitkar (Anand Ingale). The Darkness – it's always capitalised, spoken of as a fact rather than a possibility – is also threatening to consume Jay (Karanvir Malhotra). Jay's elder brother Prithvi (Pranay Pachauri) has already been affected. Prithvi is lying in a coma, unable to reveal what he knows about the phenomenon and whether it has anything to do with his medical practice. Jay himself can't decide whether the darkness is a product of his clinical depression or a projection of his guilt over his previous actions. Jay teams up with paranormal investigator Rumi (Prajakta Koli) to find out the connections that seem to exist between Prithvi and Bani, reality and suggestion, the known and the unimaginable. The other characters include Darius (Vatsal Sheth), Uberai (Dilip Shankar), Sahay (Parvin Dabas) and Jude (Kavin Dave). Jude insists that a comic book has predicted whatever is happening. The past weighs heavily on the present for nearly everybody involved, with even Rumi's mother Saba (Priyanka Setia) seemingly playing a part. Andhera is an ambitious mesh of psychological horror, supernatural elements and rogue technology. The Prime Video series always has some new idea or the other to peddle when it appears that the twists are running out, the J-horror type moments are losing their shock value and the solutions are becoming too obvious. Andhera is the handiwork of creator Gaurav Desai and director Raaghav Dar. Desai has also co-written the Hindi series with Karan Anshuman and Chintan Sarda. The show resembles a tour down a rabbit hole with several detours. Big on psychobabble, heavy on jump scares and rich in atmospherics, Andhera is a fitfully frightening affair, its parts more intriguing than its sum. The plot takes some time kicking in, what with so many interwoven strands, flashbacks and parallel happenings. Andhera is only the latest web series to stick to the seemingly mandatory eight-episode stipulation when matters could have been wrapped up in fewer chapters. More than the mostly serviceable performances, Huentsang Mohapatra's camerawork, Ketan Sodha's background score, Vivek Sachindanand's sound design and Preetisheel Singh's make-up deliver the chills and thrills. With the exception of Priya Bapat and Surveen Chawla in some sequences and a consistent Prajakta Koli, Andhera doesn't have any outstanding turn that creates emotional investment in the proceedings. The focus on the foul-tempered, needlessly aggressive Jay and his dynamic with his sibling Prithvi steals the attention away from Kalpana's back story. While the revelation of the actual mastermind is hardly a surprise, there's yet another curveball in store for viewers who think they have solved the mystery. There's plenty of show and lots of hokum tell. As a show about a darkness that lives within and without its characters, Andhera delivers the goods, even if it takes far too long to get there and wastes too much time on repeating itself. Play
Hindustan Times
13 hours ago
- Hindustan Times
Andhera Season 1 review: Supernatural thriller flies high on ambition, low on chills
Andhera review Cast: Priya Bapat, Karanvir Malhotra, Prajakta Koli, Surveen Chawla, Vatsal Sheth, Parvin Dabas, Pranay Pachauri Director: Raaghav Dar Star rating: ★★ No one, as far as I can imagine, wants to be left alone in this world. It is the fear of abandonment, yes, but also the fear of not being understood that drives us to be seen and heard. These are primary, urgent impulses that today's youth are concerned about. Andhera, the latest horror/sci-fi entry on Amazon Prime Video is concerned about the traumas and anxieties of the youth and their capacity to be understood in a world that is largely growing distant. It is the manifestation of these internal fears that this show is concerned about. Great on paper, but unfortunately, that does not translate on screen as Andhera walks within a timid, misguided circle of what is scary. Andhera review: Karanvir Malhotra leads the new horror show, now streaming on Amazon Prime Video. The premise Andhera, which translates to darkness, starts off with quite a promise. The seedy lanes and corridors of Mumbai at night trace back to the frantic cries of a distressed woman running away from something, and seeking help from a certain Dr. Prithvi, inside a hotel room. That is of no avail as a dark matter emerges from the walls, creeps up to her, and seemingly, engulfs her. This leads to an almost failed police investigation, but Inspector Kalpana Kadam (Priya Bapat) is reassigned to the case, and this leads her to the woman, named Bani Baruah, who was presumed to have fallen, mysteriously, from the hotel window. In a parallel track, we also track the recurring hallucinations that Jay Sheth (Karanvir Malhotra) keeps having about the same woman and a sinister force of darkness that comes alive. It will be revealed that his brother Prithvi (Pranay Pachauri) is in a coma- and that Jay's visions are, incidentally, linked to the disappearance of Bani. Jay gets in touch with Rumi (Prajakta Koli), a YouTuber with a show on paranormal presence in Mumbai- a track only the makers can make sense because I failed to do so. Together, they have their own search for what this 'andhera' means, and whether it is a bigger threat than what is imagined. What doesn't work Andhera is clearly ambitious in its concept and design. Created by Gaurav Desai, Andhera sprawls over a range of characters and is interested in exploring the space between supernatural horror and sci-fi. The catalyst for these ideas to land is, however, thinly imagined, where this central entity of this 'andhera' and whether this can be pulled into create another realm of human unconsciousness. To land these ideas, it needed a tighter, more ruthless script that could push these characters to their extremes so that Jay's fear and emotional disconnect, in particular, would feel palpably real. It is not just internal horror but even external forms of fear as well, and the show seems heavily disconnected in cracking where to draw the line between the two. Even as Ketan Sodha's brooding music is quite effective here, the show quickly crumbles under its own weight. Chances are taken, but is that all there is to Andhera? Final thoughts In a show where there is an element of suspense and intrigue, the viewer is already two steps ahead in calculating what might arrive next. In Andhera, Bani's disappearance is the focal point, and the viewer is not kept in secret about the fact that there are threads which will connect her case to Prithvi, and then to this healing centre called Aatma (herein comes Surveen Chawla as the manager, in a thankless role). The point is, by the time the show connects these dots and arrives at the conclusion, the plot is lost in overwrought thrills and thankless suspense. The subtext of mental health issues, which starts from Jay's anxieties and panic attacks, leads nowhere after a point. It goes from a missing person case to a missing context case. The looming dread of AI is somewhere in the close vicinity, mainly with the experiment that Andhera focuses on later on, but even that is not given any vitality. The horror fails to land. The ambition starts to feel misplaced. Fear is a very valid emotional response today, given the amount of misinformation, displacement, and violations that take place in the world around us. Is it not scary to see where the world is headed, driven by capitalism and greed? Of course it is. It appears that Andhera started off somewhere in these discussions and amalgamated into a stagnant mess, after which there were no answers. Andhera drags on, testing your patience.
