Interview: CAT actor Danish Sood reveals how he used Glucon-D for drugs scenes in series

Actor Danish Sood plays the younger brother of Randeep Hooda in the new Netflix show CAT. He essays the role of a drug addict and was scared of not being prepared enough when doing scenes with Randeep. Prior to CAT, Danish has also featured in Madhuri Dixit’s The Fame Game. (Also read: CAT review: Randeep Hooda shines in thrill-a-minute ride from Punjabi heartland)

In his exclusive interview with Hindustan Times, Danish talks about the apprehensions of working with Randeep, playing a gay character in The Fame Game, and much more.

Did Randeep Hooda ever criticize your work on sets? If he did, how did you take it?

Randeep had already spent a year with the script when he came to sets so he had suggestions and inputs about all that was going around, he knew things way more than anyone else did. He is this great artist I have always followed. During A Suitable Boy (Mira Nair’s Netflix show), I was placed as his stand-in when he was slightly late one day. I was very happy to do it – I was dancing and blocking his space in the frame. It was interesting to actually share screen with him (for CAT) after that stint.

I was very eager for his criticism. On sets of CAT, he explained how I was taking too much time and how I could do it faster. Sometimes, as actors, we tend to internalise a lot. I did not want him to take multiple takes because I messed up. I also went to watch films with Randeep, celebrated his birthday with him.

Did you have any apprehensions around the sexuality of your gay character in The Fame Game, or was that just one of the many aspects of the character?

I had apprehensions and they will always be there. I will sound funny if I say I did not have apprehensions because it just seems like I do not know what I am talking about. I wanted my potrayal to be genuine and do justice to the community. As actors, we get fixated on stereotypes – how a certain industry functions or how a certain community is.

I want my characters to be empathetic, real but they cannot be a caricature of some character I met at a party. My apprehension was what if I am not doing it right? Love and feelings are the same, it is not different for gay people or anyone else.

Tell us about the tough parts of working on CAT.

I was stressed about this sequence where I had to take drugs on the street (Danish essays the role of a drug addict in the show). That is a long scene – it is just him on the street and he is crying and taking it. I had a lot of Glucon D (used the glucose powder for the scenes involving drug consumption). I want see if I did it well, I want to figure out if the Glucon D was good enough (laughs).