Manish Goel: When I am performing, I don't want to be a producer

Actor Manish Goel was recently seen in a short film that he produced and acted in, alongside his wife, Poonam. Sharing his experience, he said, “Short film Azaan is produced by me and I have acted in it too along with Poonam.

And we've received around 12 to 13 laurels and applause so far, which is surprising. Poonam is not abetting back to acting. But yes, I literally forced her to act in the short film.”The story was first brought to him a few years ago. “This story I had liked somewhere around 2021. Akshit Sharma had come to me with this story and I liked it that time also. But I was not inclined towards a short film or the thought of producing was not even there.

But this time when he came I felt like doing it. And he wanted me to act from day one. And then obviously Poonam also got rolled in and I produced it.”The film has travelled widely on the festival circuit. “It's in 45 festivals right now, out of which around 20 got selected, out of which we were selected in 12 and won in 2-3,” he said.Goel also spoke about the learning curve of producing. “Believe me, we had a one and a half day shoot.

I woke up at 4.30 in the morning. From 6 to 8 o'clock, I did the producer part. I set up everything. I did the line production. 8 o'clock I got into my makeup. By 9 o'clock I was ready for my first shot. Then someone else looked into production work because when I am performing, I don't want to be a producer.”Beyond this project, the actor who was last seen in Anupama has also completed a feature film. “I played a gangster in that. And I had put on around 11 kgs for the character. It's completed and we are having a screening hopefully by end of this month.”