You are also working in a British co-production, Tilak
in which you’re playing Jinnah. How did you prepare for the
role?
(Laughs) I’m playing a very young Jinnah. A young dynamic
lawyer fighting Lokmanya Tilak’s case. This Jinnah is refreshingly
different from the person we’ve read about in history books. He was not
solely responsible for the partition. A lot of factors lead to the
India-Pakistan divide. The Jinnah I know was a liberal-minded person. My
whole perception of him changed after doing this play. I realised that no
character is one dimensional. That’s why when I played Bhagat Singh I did
a lot of research. I had the impression that he was a fire-brand
revolutionary , impulsive and emotional. But I discovered that this young
man, who died at the age of 23, used to write poetry and was very popular
with his contemporaries. His popularity matched Mahatma Gandhi’s.
Your first serial Raahein was opposite Shefali Chhaya,
a big name in television at the time. How did you land the
role?
Raman Kumar had seen my performance in The Legend Of Ram
and Saare Jahan Se Achcha. Ram was mature, stable, an absolutely positive
character. In contrast, Bhagat Singh was intense and volatile during the
jail and courtroom sequences. He saw my entire range and offered me the
role of Govind without even auditioning me. Both Shefali Chhaya and Achint
Kaur were big names at the time, especially Shefali after Haasratein. But
Raman Kumar had confidence in me.
More recently, you’re a big hit
in Jassi Jaisi Koi Nahi.
Aryan is the most high profile role of
my career. People are enjoying my performance. For an actor it is
important to be a part of the right project. After Raahein I wasn’t
getting challenging roles on TV so I continued with theatre and really
grew as an actor.
But Aryan has negative shades.
When Tony and
Deeya Singh told me the character had negative shades, my first condition
was that it shouldn’t be all black. It should be human and if he errs it
should be justified. There should be a reason for his actions. That’s how
it is with Aryan who may have wanted to destroy Gulmohur and now wants to
bring down Armaan, but at the same time he’s sensitive very protective
about his sister. He’s pro-active and dynamic and that’s what makes the
character so interesting. I have no problems playing a negative character.
It’s when it gets one-dimensional that it becomes boring.
You even played a negative role in the serial Dil Hai
Ke Manta Nahin.
In Dil Hai Ke Manta Nain, I started off playing
an advertising executive who is in love with his wife but is unable to
give her more time because of work pressure. As a result, the wife falls
for another guy and suddenly after that my character became very diabolic
and possessive. Then it was no longer interesting to play the character.
You have worked as an assistant director to Aziz Mirza
and late Anant Balani. How was the experience?
Though I worked
as an assistant director, I have also done production work. In Raju Ban
Gaya Gentleman, I saw the whole scripting process. Having seen how people
like Aziz Mirza, Kundan Shah, Saeed Mirza worked on their script, it has
helped me concentrate more on my body language and dialogue delivery.
Anant Balani was a super cool, super chilled man. He was a man of few
words and he knew exactly what he wanted. He was very patient, easy going
and at the same time he knew how to get his work done. It is very
unfortunate that he passed away at the peak of his career. If he would
have been alive today, he would have contributed much more to the world of
cinema. Aziz Mirza is totally different . He is a person who has seen so
much more of life one could see that he is so rich in experiences and when
he is developing characters he puts so much of his life into the script,
character and situation.
