Actor Tanuj Virwani has opened up about the making of 'Naash', a thriller he wrote, directed, and produced — shot entirely on an iPhone, largely at his personal farmhouse in Lonavala. The project marks a significant creative departure for the actor, who has primarily been associated with long-format OTT storytelling.

An Unconventional Filmmaking Experiment

Virwani described the process as both exhilarating and demanding, particularly given the constraints of shooting a thriller genre at night with minimal resources. 'Naash is a thriller, and the whole experience of making it has been extremely exciting and challenging for me. I wanted to experiment with the medium and see how far we could push ourselves creatively by shooting on an iPhone,' he said.

The actor noted that filming at his Lonavala farmhouse alongside friends lent the project a distinctly personal quality. 'A lot of it was shot at my farmhouse in Lonavala, and I also shot with my friends, which made the experience very personal. But shooting a thriller on a phone at night was genuinely very scary! When you're working in the dark, trying to create the right atmosphere and capture the tension with limited resources, the entire experience becomes incredibly immersive,' he added.

From OTT Long-Format to Finite Episodic Storytelling

Having built his reputation through long-format OTT productions, Virwani said he was keen to explore something more contained yet episodic. 'Having worked largely in the long-format storytelling space on OTT, I also wanted to test the waters with something more finite yet episodic in nature. The idea was to create a story that has a defined narrative but still leaves viewers wanting to come back for every new episode,' he explained.

He further elaborated on the creative appeal of this hybrid format: 'I find that format exciting because it allows you to experiment with storytelling while keeping the audience invested in what happens next. With Naash, I wanted to explore that space, challenge myself creatively and see how an unconventional approach to filmmaking could serve the story.'

Cast and Creative Vision

Tanuj Virwani stars in the film alongside Madhurima Roy, Nibedita Pal, Sunny Rajani, and others. His triple role — as writer, producer, and director — reflects a clear intent to exercise complete creative control and push the boundaries of accessible, device-driven filmmaking.

As smartphone filmmaking continues to gain traction globally, 'Naash' positions itself as an early Indian example of genre storytelling produced outside the traditional studio pipeline.