Manik Anand aka Manik Singh Anand has been a part of entertainment industry since years now. From theatre to commercials to television shows to web series and short films, he has acted in various projects on-stage as well as on-screen. While his on-stage performances received standing ovations, his on-screen act has been critically acclaimed and appreciated. Some of his prominent TV shows include Khwaabon Ki Zamin Par, Shaktipeeth Ke Bhairav and Zindagi U-Turn.
Short films in which Manik acted are ‘The Second Home’ and ‘Brides By Evara’. After winning hearts of Indian audience, Manik moved to US to further polish his skills in method acting at Lee Strasberg Theatre and film institute in New York where he was awarded the prestigious Vincent D’Onofrio scholarship by the veteran himself. He recently completed a pre-Broadway musical – The Karate Kid, written by Robert Mark Kamen, the original writer of the 1984 blockbuster film which is bound to make it to Broadway in the near future.
Talking about his current profile, Manik says, “In America, I experienced so many cultures and learned about so many beliefs that now I have been picking up on several social causes that I believe need awareness. My recent short films are all inspired by true events. The first one is titled ‘Preet’ which talks about gender-based violence/marital rape victim. I play the main protagonist in it. The second one is ‘Chandra’ that talks about narcissistic personality disorder where again I am playing the lead role.”
Manik Anand has also played a Bangladeshi Muslim Drag in a short film named ‘Who Killed Taniya?’ which was funded by Okayama art summit in Japan. This film talks about gender/religious identity and queer relationships. Meanwhile, Manik was recently seen in web series ‘Udan Patolas’ on Amazon minTV.
Speaking about his role in ‘Udan Patolas’, Manik says, “This was one of the most fun projects I did where I played the character of Kaju and was given the freedom by the director and writer to tune things my own way. I played the brother of one of the four female friends (all hailing from Punjab) where I used farcical/slapstick comedy, embarrassing my sister and her friends at public gatherings and failing their attempts to act bougie in the society.”
Manik prefers to be known as a ‘dramatic performance artist’ as he says, “I believe that men can emote tears and still be men. I take pride in showing vulnerability on screen or on stage, picking up psychological projects that could be very taxing on the psyche.” With a strong theatre background, Manik Anand remembers performing at the prestigious Prithvi theatre in Mumbai. He adds, “It’s an honour for every artist to perform on the stage of Prithvi theatre. I have been lucky enough to play lead in two plays at Prithvi. These were Noor and Abhi Na Jao Chodkar for which I received a standing ovation.”
Besides acting, Manik is a trained classical singer as well and has learnt singing from Pandit Suresh Wadkar’s Ajivasan Music Academy. He is looking forward to release his single soon and adds, “There have been a lot of people who’ve been waiting for it but I’m just waiting for the right lyrics.”
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