By Nitin Sharma

Betting, match fixing, murders, extortions, politics on and off the field, team rivalries, boundaries between personal and professional lives getting blurred, and of course parallels being driven between the real and reel lives of the characters on screen; there is all of this and more happening in Inside Edge 3 which is set to premiere on 3rd December. Amongst a core principle cast that has stayed on from the first to the third season of this Farhan Akhtar and Ritesh Sidhwani web series is Tanuj Virwani who has enacted the iconic part of Vaayu Raghavan.

So what is he up to this time around, now that he is donning the white and emerging as the captain of the Indian cricket team on screen?

“Well, I can’t reveal much as I have been asked to stay quiet by Amazon”, laughs Tanuj, “As it is they say that I have a big mouth so let me not give them a reason to complain. I can promise though that at the core it, this is very much Inside Edge as you know. At the same time the story moves ahead in unexpected directions and consequences.”

The film shows a test match series being played between India and Pakistan. So do we get to see inspiration from some real life characters and incidents?

“Well; the writers have used a lot of real life characters to set up fictional characters. They have of course been inspired by real life events. After all so many things are already out in public domain so it’s not just us but everyone out there who is privy to it. Still, what’s important is that we keep it fresh instead of just copying the stuff,” says Tanuj.

Elaborating on this, Tanuj adds, “See, what gives our show the edge, no pun intended, is that it’s a bit of tightrope that writers and director have walked while merging fact and fiction. Of course you would be able to draw parallels to real life happenings but then we are already 20 episodes through, so you have to set up different situations and characters in order to bring in more freshness. Guess we have managed to maintain a balance between fact and fiction after all.”

Well, just like the way the actor has been able to maintain a balance between different genres that he has been experimenting right through 2021. While The Tattoo Murders and Tandoor have been far more intimate crime dramas, Cartel has been the story of a family mafia. On the other hand Murder Meri Jaan was fun while Illegal 2 saw Tanuj gain quite some accolades in a breezy role. Now with Inside Edge 3, he is back in the sports arena and one waits to see how he gets his bat and performance to do the taking all over again.