A post-lunch interview to discuss a web series does not usually start with the interviewee asking what the interviewer had for lunch. But the very mention of Calcutta had left Ranvir Shorey yearning for his favourite Bengali dish. “Did you eat fish? I love Bengali machhli — ilish bhaja, the mustard oil on the rice...,” the voice at the other end of the line drifts off. The actor was in Bolpur last May to shoot an Indian adaptation of Sherlock. “Every day for over a month I ate ilish there,” he purrs in contentment.

Shorey is back to playing a nerdy inspector in the second season of Sunflower, the crime thriller that has started streaming on Zee5.

You had written in a December 31 post on Instagram that you were as scared to step into 2024 as you were excited. How has it been so far?

The year has only started. So give it some time. I am a little anxious and I am anticipating trouble. But it has not been so bad so far.

Coming to Sunflower, do you wear glasses in real life?

No. I have a minor power for distance viewing. But I don’t need reading glasses.

But your character, the inspector, uses very thick glasses.

Yes, soda glasses. They are a big challenge. I can’t see s**t in those glasses. I have to constantly rehearse every walk so that I don’t look stupid while walking. So I count the number of steps and remember at what step I have to move up or down. Everything has to be meticulously rehearsed just to look normal.

Was there no way to fake them?

We tried faking them. We spoke to the costume department to see if that effect could be achieved any other way. But if you want those big buggy eyes to be visible the only way is to wear soda glasses. I have had to wear spectacles for other roles but my vision has never been impaired this badly.

The no-nonsense inspector seems to be turning naughty in the second season.

(Laughs out loud) Very true. Blame that on Vikas Behl, our writer and director. Even I was a bit puzzled when I read the script of Season 2 because you have an image in your head about what the character can or cannot do. Vikas sir bent that and gave him so many layers. I had apprehensions but he patiently explained things. He has a way of getting you to trust him and pulling you out of your comfort zone. To an artist, it can be so much fun to colour outside the line. Credit is due to Vikas sir for creating an unpredictable progression for the character.

How has the character progressed from the first season to the second?

In Season 1, DG (the character he plays) is this compulsive crime-solving detective. You see hints of his messy personal life. In Season 2, you see more of his personal and professional lives colliding. You get to see a more human DG alongside the detective who is trying to solve a crime. He is surrounded by such oddball characters, be it the suspects in the case or his partner Tambe, that quirky and funny moments emerge out of their interactions.

Does the mystery get solved at the end of this season or are you keeping it hanging for Season 3?

Some questions are getting answered but new questions are getting raised. Whether there will be a Season 3 depends on the public reaction.

The main character, Sonu, makes the police wonder whether he is a fool or making a fool of them.

I don’t think this series is possible without Sunil Grover playing Sonu. No other actor could have pulled it off. Sunil manages this amazing blend of complexity and quirk. Sonu is the centrepiece of Sunflower. You could say he is the sunflower. The tentativeness and the uncertainty in him are at the heart of the series.

You posted on a milestone achieved by the series.

Yes, 100 million-plus viewing minutes in three days. It clearly indicates that there is an interest in Season 2. I had been facing questions on social media about when Sunflower Season 2 would come. And now that Season 2 is out, people are asking me about Season 3.

The web seems to have spoilt viewers. They want the next series as soon as they finish with one.

As an actor, I’d rather wait for a year extra and work on a good script rather than have a script within six months that is not good and make something that will be forgotten.

After the OTT boom, people do not consider language a barrier, do they?

No, they don’t. I firmly believe cinema has no language; cinema itself is a language. I don’t watch Hindi films or series much. I’d rather use the energy to watch recommended stuff in other languages. The audience is also getting into this habit because of streaming platforms.

Recently Gabbar, another project you were a part of, released in six languages. What is your take on subtitles versus dubbed versions?

I’d rather watch a performance in a different language in its purity and get the meaning of the dialogue from the subtitles than watch a dubbed platform. But tastes vary and it is up to the platform to decide on the feasibility. Some people might be finding it easier to follow the dubbed version. They might not be looking for the nuances that you and I are.

It’s been four years of Angrezi Medium, Irrfan Khan’s last film. In January, you posted a birthday wish for Sushant Singh Rajput.

I have great memories of both. I have worked with Irrfan in three films. His illness and demise were so sad and tragic. I got to spend some time with him during the making of Angrezi Medium. With Sushant, it was completely different as it was so unexpected. He also loved physics and we bonded over that.

He had a telescope at home.

Yes. We were shooting for Sonchiriya in Dholpur and there was this rare alignment of celestial bodies. If I remember, it was the moon, Jupiter and Saturn lining up. Sushant flew down his big telescope from Mumbai and organised a get-together for us with drinks and snacks to see that alignment at night. I will never forget that experience.

We have seen you excel in all kinds of comedy. Kadakh, for instance, was black comedy. What kind would you say Sunflower is?

If Kadakh was a black comedy, then Sunflower is at least a dark comedy. Things are getting twisted in Season 2 as far as the murder goes. But there is not any one genre that excites me. Rather I look for exciting scripts, exciting roles and good directors. Thankfully, I have managed a bit of other kinds with Sonchiriya, Titli and Death in a Gunj. But I am not going to avoid comedy. I have finished several projects which are somehow stuck. Please pray that those get released as a lot of hard work has gone into those and I want them to reach the audience.

You did a play at Prithvi Theatre, titled What’s Done is Done.

That play has been going on for a while. I like to have a play going on all the time. I find theatre very constructive for my growth as an actor. It’s an adaptation of Shakespeare’s play Macbeth by Rajat Kapoor which we do as clowns. It has travelled quite a bit — Delhi, Bengaluru, Calcutta and even Russia. We tell the story of Macbeth while making fun of it.

You have done covers of the electropop number Dance Monkey. What is your taste in music like?

Movies and music are the two pillars of my life. The third is my son. The fourth is my family and friends. My taste in music is quite eclectic. I listen to everything from Hindusthani classical, Hindi film music, qawali, Indie pop, jazz-rock and soul music to disco and alternative... I also like creating and playing music. That has been a hobby since I was very young.

Your Instagram bio mentions songwriter.

Yes (smiles). I have written a few songs, one of which has got published. It was a children’s song that was sung by Ankur Tiwari in a Sony Music album. So I am a published songwriter. I have done three other songs which are on YouTube. Please listen to them and comment.

You posted a picture on Instagram on January 1 of trying to get out of bed. Was that Haroon with you?

(Laughs) He is 12 now. What he wants to do changes every six months. Right now, he has moved from being a physicist to a chemist. I would like him to go back to physics as that was my favourite subject.

Let’s end by taking you back to the kitchen. Other than hilsa, what do you make?

I like cooking but only speciality items. I won’t do everyday cooking like dal bhaat, sabzi bhaji... I like to do customised cooking. So maybe I will do a mutton or a pork dish, or roasted chicken or an exotic salad. I don’t like to cook every day. I don’t think anybody does. (laughs)