My recovery still in progress: Shreyas Talpade on resuming work after heart attack

Mumbai: Actor Shreyas Talpade, who underwent an angioplasty after suffering a heart attack last year, says he will wait to take up films with action and high-intensity drama sequences till he recovers fully.

The "Iqbal" star was rushed to a Mumbai hospital after he collapsed at his residence on December 14, 2023. He was discharged after a week.

Talpade said he is taking things slow for the time being and awaiting the release of his latest film "Kartam Bhugtam".

"There are certain limitations right now because my recovery is still in progress. My doctors have said 'Another six months and you should be as good as new'. So, I will wait.

"But till that time, there are some films that I am working on which probably do not have those kind of action sequences or high-intensity drama sequences which I might not be able to do immediately," Talpade told PTI in an interview here.

"Kartam Bhugtam", directed by Soham P Shah, is a psychological thriller movie set to be released in theatres on May 17.

The actor will also be seen in Kangana Ranaut's "Emergency" in which he plays the role of former Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee, comedy film "Welcome to the Jungle", and will reprise the voice role of Allu Arjun's iconic character Pushpa Raj in the Hindi dubbed version of "Pushpa 2: The Rule".

"The kind of work that I'm doing right now and the line-up that I have in the next few months is very interesting. It's a nice mixed bag... I'm just keeping my fingers crossed and praying," he added.

According to the 48-year-old actor, films are supposed to be a big-screen experience.

"Films should be released in theatres and then whatever happens, you just leave it up to the audience. I think they are the best judges. Once they are spending money and coming into theatres, they want their value for money.

"Every film has its destiny. After you have done your job, it's time for the audience to watch it and give their verdict... As an actor, if you think you have given them something new, interesting, original, they will lap it up. If not, you move on to the next film, next story." Talpade also said he wanted his film "Kaun Pravin Tambe?", a 2022 biopic on the Indian cricketer Pravin Tambe, to also release in theatres. Backed by Fox Star Studios along with Friday Filmworks and Bootroom Sports Production, the film got a direct-to-digital release on Disney+ Hotstar.

"I remember when the edit was locked, Neeraj Pandey (producer) gave me a call and said he loved both me and the film. He said the only regret he'll have is that we won't be able to release it in theatres because it's already commissioned for an OTT platform. We felt bad because it deserved a theatrical release. Nevertheless, it reached out to many people and that is what we eventually want," he said.

Talpade, who gained recognition with comedy roles in multi-starrer film franchises like "Golmaal" and "Houseful", said he is happy to be getting opportunities to showcase his different facets as an actor.

"You are in this profession to explore different roles, different characters. When you are typecast, you feel a little frustrated. But then again, there comes a time when people look at you differently.

"There are certain films which break that mould and give you an opportunity to showcase something else. That is the opportunity. If you don't really strike gold with that, I think it's your loss," he added.

Vijay Raaz, Madhoo and Aksha Pardasany also round out the cast of "Kartam Bhugtam". The film, which will be released in Hindi, Tamil, Telugu, Kannada and Malayalam, is produced by Gandhar Films & Studio Pvt. Ltd.