Paramvir Singh Cheema on playing a cop in Tabbar: ‘People used to treat me as an actual police officer’

Recently, veteran actors Pavan Malhotra and Supriya Pathak appeared together on screen for Sony LIV’s family thriller Tabbar. The show has been receiving rave reviews and Paramvir Singh Cheema, who plays a cop, Lakhwinder Singh aka Lucky, in the show has been receiving unanimous praise for his stint from the critics and audiences alike.

Ask Paramvir if he found any inspiration from real life for his character and he shares, “I have watched a lot of cops in Punjab and when I was preparing for Lucky, I realised that there are only a very few cops like him in the police force who are so loyal and not corrupt. So, to play that was a challenge for me as there are some amazing cops out there who are so particular about things and so attached with their duties. I wanted to do justice to them and show a good side of cops. My dad has a friend, ACP Kahlon, and for my prep I went to the police station for two days with him to see how they work, speak, stand and react to situations. That’s how I built my character Lakhwinder Singh.”

Not only real life, but Paramvir found inspiration in reel life as well. “The cop that I follow in the industry is Ajay Devgn’s Singham. He is rightful, who never lets anything wrong happen. I love the energy he puts in a scene and the way he plays with his eyes. I always wanted to play a character like that as I used to get goosebumps whenever I saw Singham. So, when I got to know about my character Lucky, the first thing that came to my mind was Singham,” he iterates.

Paramvir reveals that donning the uniform would bring an automatic change within him on set. “When I used to get dressed for the character in the uniform with the stars on it, that would give a different feel. I used to tie a turban too and the emblem of Punjab police would go on it, and it would bring in an automatic switch in me and my body language would change. I am usually a lazy guy but the uniform would bring an automatic stiffness in me,” he asserts.

Remembering his first day on the set and in the uniform, Paramvir shares, “The first day when I wore the uniform, my AD came to my van to take me in the car but I told her that I wanted to walk to get a feel of it and the environment. So, when I was walking, Ajay sir saw me from a distance and said that I looked like a real cop. He was very impressed.”

The actor shares that he was so into his characters that even people around him would be unable to determine if he was a real or a reel cop. “Many times, when we were shooting in the police station, which was a real police station, people would treat me as an actual cop. Even actors would pull up their masks on seeing me and then make their case that they had their masks down as they were actors and then plead me not to write a challan for them. So, that is how authentic it used to look that people saw me as an actual police officer,” Paramvir chuckles.