Aashram 3: Actor Chandan Roy Sanyal garners praise for portrayal of Bhopa Swami

Ek Badnaam Aashram season 3 has broken records in viewership. The web series has garnered 100 million views in 32 hours since June 3. Also, the first two seasons of the show have received 160 million unique user views.

The show follows the journey of a corrupt and megalomaniac Baba Nirala (Bobby Deol) who exploits women in his Aashram, indulges in drugs business and also gets people murdered if he senses that they are going to reveal the truth about him.

But there is a character that has got a lot of appreciation from the viewers. That character is Bhopa Swami (Chandan Roy Sanyal), the other half of Baba Nirala.

He is the one who is calling the shots in the Aashram. It is the brain that is behind all the notorious events in and out of the Aashram. 

The character of Bhopa Swami is dark. And Chandan Roy Sanyal perfectly portrays the character perfectly.

But who is Chandan Roy Sanyal?.

A THEATRE ARTIST 

Sanyal is a theatre artist who works in Hindi and Bengali movies. He made his acting debut with minor role in Rang de Basanti (2006). He then starred in action movie Kaminey (2009) for which he received a lot of critical acclaim.

Sanyal then achieved recognition for his performance in the 2012 Bengali drama film Aparajita Tumi. In 2013, he starred in a romantic drama Prague as an insomniac artist.

Sanyal is a great admirer of director Rakesh Om Prakash Mehra. It was the Rang De Basanti director who spotted Chandan's talent and recommended him for a role in Kaminey. 
 
THE U-TURN IN LIFE

Very few know that Chandan never wanted to be an actor. The Math graduate wanted to get into the IITs was disappointed when he couldn’t make it.  The life changing moment for him came, when he joined theatre director Habib Tanveer’s workshop.

He acted in a play called Mudara Rakshasa and after that he worked with Alyque Padamsee. He later acted in A Midsummer Night Dream. And then Kaminey happened. This is how Sanyal got into the world of acting.

Besides this, he is a great fan of actor Late Sanjeev Kumar, Leonardio De Caprio and Philip Seymour Hoffman.

HIS CHARACTER IN AASHRAM 3

On his role in Aashram 3, Chandan Roy in an interview to ABP News said that it wasn’t that tough for him to get the role. He said his experience from the British School of Acting helped him a lot.

“I thought I was a cobra while playing the role. Just like a cobra that moves royally and then stands. I thought I am a snake,” Chandan said.

The next season of Aashram will be released in 2023.