Sachin Pilgaonkar: Nagesh Kukunoor was the only reason I signed 'City of Dreams'

Veteran actor Sachin Pilgaonkar made his debut on the OTT platform much before anyone of his generation would have tried the new medium.

Jul 24, 2021, 1:15 pm ISTNewsIANS

Veteran actor Sachin Pilgaonkar made his debut on the OTT platform much before anyone of his generation would have tried the new medium.

"I have done web series even before many people even thought about making these shows. I had done a web series of six episodes, titled 'Sex chat with Pappu and Papa' made by Y Films, the sister concern of Yash Raj Films. It was a sex education series for children released in 2016," Sachin told IANS.

He added: "I was probably the first person from my generation to act in a web series. I don't think anybody had tried to act in a web series at that time."

After an interval of three years, in 2019, Sachin acted in his second web series titled 'City of Dreams' season 1.

The only reason that made Sachin sign the political drama web series was the director of the series, Nagesh Kukunoor.

He said: "Nagesh Kukunoor was the only reason I signed 'City of Dreams'. I am a fan of that man. We happen to be friends as well."

Reminiscing the process of signing the series, he said: "One day I get a call that 'Nagesh Kukunoor wants to meet you'. I said 'of course he is a friend'. The person on the call told me that it's about a web series he is directing and we don't know if you do web series or not because you have not done any web series yet. So, I corrected the person that this is not a fact that I haven't done any web series. It was news to the person and he was very happy to know about it."

"Once I met Nagesh he explained to me my role for the first season. I was very happy that it was an important character but was happier to work under the direction of Nagesh," said Sachin.

He said: "I was looking forward to working with Nagesh in the second season also. He knows his job. It's a boon to any actor when you get a good director. I am a director's actor right from the word go. I have been a child actor and have worked under many directors and have learned a lot."

'City of Dreams' Season 2 will have Sachin reprising his character as Chief Minister Jagdish Gourav. The other actors in the series are Atul Kulkarni, Priya Bapat, Sandeep Kulkarni, Uday Tikekar, Eijaz Khan among other Marathi and Hindi actors.

"There are a lot of Marathi actors in 'City of Dreams' because the background is from Maharashtra," he said.

'City of Dreams' is the story of the feud within the Gaikwad family, which erupts after an assassination attempt on a polarising political figure. Blurring the lines between moral and immoral, in a struggle for power forms the core of this transfixing narrative.

In season 2 the focus has shifted towards a standoff between the father-daughter duo played by actors Atul Kulkarni and Priya Bapat, as the two characters are not ready to budge as the family feuds for power and position.

"While working in the second season I got a feeling that the second season is coming out much better," signed off Sachin.

'City of Dreams' season 2 will release on July 30 on Disney+Hotstar.