MUMBAI: Actor Priyanshu Painyuli plays a Bangladeshi crime lord in the Netflix film Extraction. Directed by Sam Hargrave, the film stars Chris Hemsworth in the lead role. Priyanshu in an interview with the media talked about his working experience with Russo Brothers, how he prepped for the film and what he has learnt from this experience. 

Here are excerpts from the interview. 

Netflix has been a good platform for you, first Upstarts and now Extraction. 

I really get excited when I get a Netflix project. Your films are releasing globally so you are always doing something new, which is exciting and challenging for us, the filmmakers, the actors, the writers, because you can’t be doing a story that has been done before. Even my previous project with Netflix, Upstarts, it was a very corporate story about a start-up company by three boys’ in Bangalore. I got a lot of views from people who are actually into that world of start-ups, they told me how they really felt for that character. 

Extraction has gone to another level, it is a dream level project. I couldn’t have thought of an international debut as such, with somebody like Russo Brothers. When I was locked for the film, I checked ten times if they were the same Russo brothers who made Avengers. Then when I found out the cast, it was like a top of the world thing for me, I have been a fan of all these actors, Chris Hemsworth, David Harbour, Pankaj Tripathi, Randeep Hooda, so I knew I had to up my game and really work on my craft, and put my best foot forward. I had to give my 110% and it was very exciting. Doing a debut like this, on a large scale production like this for Netflix, I couldn’t have asked for anything else right now. 

Run us through your memories of being on Extraction sets with all these big names. 

We were based in Ahmedabad and they replicated the streets of the city to make them look like Dhaka. When I went there for the first time, I was flabbergasted with the kind of prep they do. They had their action team, their cars and all of it ready and how. Again, I am such a huge fan of Sam Hargrave. It didn’t look like he was directing his first film, that too a film on such a huge scale. He was very cool, very composed, nothing like a first time director. We started this journey in Ahmedabad, a lot of sequences happened there and then we went to Thailand where most of the film was shot in studios and outdoor locations. 

How did you prep for your character. Did you not feel like sharing screen space with Chris Hemsworth? 

I am playing a Bangladeshi crime lord, a very young guy, a gangster, Aamir Asif. He is the guy who has kidnapped Pankaj Tripathi’s (who plays) an Indian crime lord) son. Both of us are rivals. My army is stopping Tyler, played by Chris Hemsworth, from rescuing this kid. I make sure that Dhaka has been shut down and that this guy doesn’t leave the city.

What was your takeaway from working on Extraction? 

One thing that really stood out while working on this film is the amount of prep they do, every single shot has been thought of and prepared for months in advance. It is such an action rich film, the tremendous safety measures they take for actors is great.

Even for me, I am speaking Bangla, and that’s not my language, I learnt it only for the film, but Sam, the director really made me feel so comfortable. He took me through this journey in a way that I feel like I have taken a lot back with me because he boosted my confidence and that’s how I could give it my best. They just do everything very peacefully, and on time. Everybody is focussed on giving their best on that day of shoot. Extraction has been one of my best work experiences, I will always cherish it, a lot to learn from these guys. 

SOURCE – THE INDIAN EXPRESS