Karan Johar Selects Avinash Tiwary For Dharma

If you’ve seen Netflix’s horror omnibus Ghost Stories  you can’t help but notice the young striking actor who plays  the  lead in the Karan  Johar-directed  segment.

Avinash Tiwary is no stranger to  acclaim. His debut in the film Tu Hai Mera Sunday  featured him  as a  very angry Muslim footballer.Avinash  was immeditaley noticed for his impassioned performance.  In  2018 he played the title  role in Sajid Ali’s experimental romance Laila Majnu Critics sat up  and took note  of  Avinash’s wild unpredictable  interpretation  of  the legendary lover’s passion.

The young hopeful actor who was born in Bihar but  brought up schooled and educated entirely  in  Mumbai,was bitterly disappointed when his performance was not  nominated in the best debutant’s category.He took to Twitter to protest.

“What else  could I do? My  protest was not just personal  but on behalf of all the young hopeful actors in Mumbai who are not privileged star kids.  I remember once Mrunal Thakur, my co-star in Ghost Stories had won the best debutant’s award in the critics’  category while Janhvi Patel won the  same award in the popular category. The minute Janhvi walked  in, the  media  simply turned away from Mrunal mid-sentence and surrounded Janhvi.How do you think that made her feel? Why we are outsiders always  made to feel small when  compared with  star kids?”

In another incident while  promoting  Ghost Stories Avinash felt ignored by the media. “They were only interested in  Janhvi and  Ishan Khatter.”

But  Ishaan is  not a part of Ghost Stories?! Aviniash   shrugs. “I’ve no  idea why he  was there.”

Not that  Avinash has anything against Janhvi.  “She is  part of  Ghost Stories  .And she had done very well in Zoya Akhtar’s story. My problem is not  with the  star children  who are talented and hardworking  . My problem is  with the media  which doesn’t acknowledge  the hard work and  good  performances  of an outsider like  me.”

Things have  suddenly taken a  turn for  the better with Karan Johar taking an interest in Avinash’s talent. “I was shooting for  the Hindi adaptation  of  Ribhi Dasgupta’s  The Girl In The Train in London when I received  and a message from Karan. In no  time at all I was  shooting in  Goa for Ghost stories. I loved my role  and  I love my segment of Ghost Stories.”

According to  reports  from Dharma Productions, Karan will soon announce another  major project with Avinash Tiwary.

Avinash is tightlipped about this development .

Says the actor, “Whatever  the  future holds for me I  won’t do  inconsequential roles. I started my career playing the antagonist in  the  serial Yudh. But the protagonist  was Mr Bachchan.In The  Girl On The Train , the main protagonist is  Parineeti Chopra. I play her husband and  if you’ve seen the original you’d know my character  moves  the story forward.”

2020 promises  to be  a turn-around  year for  Avinash. “The year has started with  Ghost Stories which I enjoyed. I  love how good  Karan Johar makes his characters look.”