Actor Tanuj Virwani, who was recently seen in Alt Balaji’s ‘Cartel’ recently opened up about his break-up with Akshara Haasan. He said, “Akshara and I dated for about 4 years. I met her in 2013 when I was doing Purani Jeans and her mom, Sarika Ma’am was a part of that film. Akshara had come to Manali to accompany her mom and we really hit it off. We dated for a while and even when we broke up, there was no bad blood. We continued being friends after that. Then this saga of leaked pictures happened and things got really awkward after that. It was around that time when I decided that I am not gonna speak about my personal life anymore, because I feel, the risk you run of being too open about your personal life means that everything is out there and everyone forms an opinion about you. It also shifts their focus from your work to your personal life. And I always want to be known by the kind of movies and shows I am doing, because I work really hard to bring these stories to the screen.”
When asked if he chooses to be discreet about his personal life, he said, “Yes, I have chosen to be very low-key about certain aspects about my life. It’s not that I don’t have a personal life now, I just have become smarter.”
“I am somewhere in the middle of a saint and a sinner,” he laughed.
Tanuj started his Bollywood career in 2013, with the film titled ‘Luv U Soniyo’. He then also starred in ‘Purani Jeans’ and ‘One Night Stand’. He has done several intimate scenes on-screen and also had a tainted image of being the guy who ‘sleeps around’. Addressing this, he said, “Yes, I had a particular image both on-screen and off-screen, but I didn’t do that out of a choice. I didn’t choose that I wish to be perceived in that manner but it was the character’s demand and people begin to believe that you are just an extension of the characters that you play.”
When asked, if he feels embarrassed to watch his intimate scenes with mother Rati Agnihotri, the actor said, “No, I don’t think it is embarrassing. And I am more than fine watching it with my parents. Firstly, because it is acting. Secondly, because I made those decisions about my profession as an adult. I understand that my mom is from a different generation and her thought process is different. She was rattled while watching the opening scene of Inside Edge. But I told her that it’s the story’s demand and that’s how the world functions. I said, ‘You either evolve with the changing times or you are out. It is as simple as that. You cannot afford to become a dinosaur’.”
Watch More: Exclusive Interview: Tanuj Virwani On Mom Rati Agnihotri & Parents’ Separation