Foreign Agent

Incidentally,Tiwari is not the only Indian actor in the film,directed by the makers of the Bourne series and Mr and Mrs Smith . Tamil actor Nasser too plays the role of a Sri Lankan arms dealer. “It was amazing interacting with Naomi. She is open to improvisations for a shot and I was given a free hand to enact my role. And to be honest I never felt the weight of performing with a seasoned actor like her,” remarks the actor,better-known for playing a bully and eventually the best friend of the protagonist in Vikramaditya Motwane’s acclaimed coming-of-age film,Udaan this year. While he never got to meet Penn during the six day shoot in Kuala Lumpur,Tiwari and Watts have about five scenes together.

Tiwari says his selection for the role was a co-incidence. “The casting agent in India contacted me for the role of a Sri Lankan mafia and I was given two scenes to enact. The only thing I knew while auditioning was that it was some sort of an international project,” grins the actor,who has done bit roles in productions like The President is Coming (2009),Slumdog Millionnaire (2009) and Kites (2010).

Born and brought up in Mumbai,Tiwari shot into public consciousness with the Jago Re… campaign,encouraging people to vote. But even before that he had been involved in theatre,having formed the company Work in Progress with Etienne Coutinho. His next Bollywood project is Nasseruddin Shah’s Coffin Maker,which also features Shah and his wife Ratna Pathak. It will release next year. In the meanwhile,he will be touring the country with the play One on One,a series of 10 interwoven short stories starring Shernaz Patel.