Sanaya Irani: Not enough is spoken on cyber crimes

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Among all the stories tackled on Cyber Vaar, which one surprised you?
Our stories have been taken from real incidents, and [dramatised] with different characters. While shooting, I discovered that identity thefts, sextortion, and revenge rapes have happened to people. That came as a shock.

A few years ago, Channel V’s Gumrah had a season dedicated to online scams. So, how does Cyber Vaar stand out?
Gumrah was ages ago. I wanted to take up Cyber Vaar because not enough people have spoken about it. We have a lot of crime thrillers, but hardly any cyber-crime thrillers. We have not tried to make the show swanky; instead, we’ve kept it real. The police station is understated. I liked the realistic [treatment]. I love that our villain doesn’t have a face — that’s exactly how cyber crime is.

People are used to binge-watching. Will dropping two episodes at a time deter audiences from watching the show?
This is not the kind of series that can be binge-watched. Every two episodes tell a different story. When I used to watch Friends, I would wait for each episode. So, I believe if you like something, you will wait for it. Those who like to binge-watch, can watch it after all the episodes are out.

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What made you take a step back from television?
On TV, if your show becomes a hit, the makers follow the same story that they had [offered] you. But if the show doesn’t do well, they start changing the storyline. When that happened to me on a show, I realised they were going to [change my character]. That was what made me step back. I don’t want to do anything based on pressure. Being an actor, I can choose to not be a part of a show when I see the writing go haywire. That said, I am happy that I have been a part of Indian television. Whatever I am today, the full credit goes to television.

When you quit TV, did you worry about out of sight being out of mind?
I don’t take these pressures. If I have made a decision, I stick by it. I’m not flustered by what the world is thinking about it. I want to do a lot of good work on OTT, which I haven’t seemed to find so far. I hope this series leads to more opportunities for me.
 
Do you feel more liberated as an actor, on the web?
I had done a film that probably nobody watched. But the film gave me an important learning. I learnt about a different acting style, and I have adopted that approach in Cyber Vaar too. [The idea] is to keep it natural, and not go over-the-top. Television has its own beauty. Having done it for 13 years, I have moved on to do something which is more real and up-to-date. As an actor, I want to explore more.  

Do you feel people still typecast you?
As a TV actor, you are very much typecast, but I am not here to fight that battle.