Actor Sandesh Kulkarni, who is seen essaying the role of ACP Tawde in the web series Mumbai Diaries 26/11, revealed that he was battling clinical depression while shooting for the role. Talking about it, Sandesh shared, “My challenge at that time was that I was going through clinical depression. I also had vertigo. Pulling off an angry hotheaded Tawde when your internal world is depressed was really a challenge.”
“I remember it was my first day of the shoot and I was frozen like a deer in front of the headlights. It was the entry scene where ACP Tawde comes running down the stairs and stops to talk to Dr Subramanium over phone. When you are in depression all your faculties are not sharp. Especially if there is rush. Also, the sudden running down the stairs accentuated my vertigo. I just got blank and forgot my lines as I stood frozen on the stairs,” the actor recalled.
“I really had to take deep breaths and use all my mental energy to get the lines right. Finally I managed to complete it, thankfully for the police who were exhausted running up and down the stairs for each take,” he added.
Talking about his character, Sandesh quoted “ACP Tawde represents the spirit of Mumbai Police. His one line ‘Ye mera sheher hai’ says it all. He loves his city and stands tall to protect it. He has no means that the terrorists have – like machine guns and grenades but he has an unbreakable spirit! As he says he and his team is ‘kadak’!”
Directed by Nikkhil Advani and Nikhil Gonsalves, the show also features Konkona Sen Sharma, Mohit Raina, Shreya Dhanwanthary, Natasha Bharadwaj, Mrunmayee Deshpande, Satyajeet Dubey, Prakash Belawadi and Tina Desai in pivotal roles.
