Actor Saswata Chatterjee attended the trailer-launch event of Disney+ Hotstar Specials The Night Manager on January 20. He will share screen space with Anil Kapoor for the first time in this spy thriller, which also features Aditya Roy Kapur, Sobhita Dhulipala, Ravi Behl, and Tillotama Shome.

Recalling his first interaction with Anil Kapoor, Saswata said, “I was having my lunch when his hands landed on my shoulder. And I hear his voice, ‘Hi Shashwat!’ I was surprised and went to touch his feet while eating. He joked, ‘Hey, don’t do this and make me feel old.’ The next day, he invited me for lunch at his house. Nobody does that.”

“It was only later that I realised why he invited me. He asked me to come at 10am. I wondered who invites someone for lunch so early in the morning! That’s when our script-reading sessions started. He said, ‘Bees pachhees baar kar lenge toh ho jayega.’ He was so energetic and enthusiastic. After achieving so much in life, how can a person be so greedy [for acting] even today?” wondered Saswata, who made his name in Bollywood after playing a hired assassin called Bob Biswas in Sujoy Ghosh’s 2012 film Kahaani.

While talking about his character in The Night Manager, Saswata admitted he was pleasantly surprised when the offer came to him. “But then nervousness took over as it dawned upon me that I’ll be working with Anil Kapoor. I never thought that I would be sitting beside Anil Kapoor one day.”

Though The Night Manager is the official Hindi adaptation of the original British series of the same name, Shashwata decided not to watch that show. “I chose not to watch the original British series. I was afraid that I’d get influenced by the actor playing my role in the original series. My challenge was to do the role and satisfy the director and co-actors,” he explained.

“My chemistry with Anil Sir was very important in this series. That’s why we read our scripts so many times. He’d say, “Chal ek baar aur padhte hain.’ Itna padhai toh main zindagi mein nahin kiya,” he said.

The Night Manager is directed by Aarya director Sandeep Modi and Priyanka Ghosh. The series will be streaming on Disney+ Hotstar from February 17 onwards.