Breaking out with Black White & Gray, Sanjay Kumar Sahu on how the acting bug took him from his Chhattisgarh village to FTII and showbiz
In the series, Sanjay Kumar Sahu’s character is accused of multiple murders. During the investigation, he maintains his innocence and offers an alternative narrative
Every now and then, showbiz gets a story of hope. Sanjay Kumar Sahu’s story is just that. Over the past few weeks, the actor has seen an outpouring of love for his performance in the acclaimed thriller, Black White & Gray — Love Kills. The recognition feels almost surreal to Sahu, who hails from a Chhattisgarh village.
“I am from Umapur, a village situated in the Surguja district in Chhattisgarh. It’s a tribal area. When I was in college, the first from my village to pursue higher studies, I juggled it with folk theatre. During this time, I met actors who suggested that I should enrol in National School of Drama [NSD] or FTII [Film & Television Institute of India]. I wasn’t able to get through NSD, and FTII was out of my league because of its high fees. Later, I heard that FTII was subsidising fees for the acting course. It felt almost as if it happened for me,” says the actor, who enrolled in the institute in 2012.
Sanjay Kumar Sahu
In the past nine years since Sahu graduated from FTII, it has been a journey of auditions, rejections, and small roles. But the actor didn’t let disappointment seep in. “My role in Batla House [2019] got edited out. As an actor, you worry that time is passing you by,” he admits.
When the SonyLIV show, directed by Pushkar Mahabal and offering an experimental take on the true crime genre, came his way, Sahu was surprised by his screen time. He shares, “I didn’t think it’d be such a big role. I liked the show’s experimental vein of storytelling.”
Sahu hopes that the series’ success will lead to more offers for him. He believes that his success makes a larger point about the industry. “It’s a myth that a talent from remote or tribal areas doesn’t make it here; we do. We just have to fight harder, longer, and louder.”
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