Actor Siddhant Chaturvedi initially had bother understanding his character, Zain Siddiqui, in Gehraiyaan. The actor, who admits he’s old style in the case of romance, stated director Shakun Batra helped him unshackle himself from the stereotypical concept of love.
“I didn’t know how I was going to approach this character,” Siddhant advised indianexpress.com, including that to grasp his outlook on romance, Shakun requested him to checklist his favourite romantic movies. “I sat down whole night and created a list that consisted of films such as 500 days of Summer, Veer Zaara, Dilwale Dulhaniya Le Jayenge and so on. When I sent it to him, he said, ‘This is exactly what you don’t have to do.’ He wanted me to understand this world (referring to Gehraiyaan).”
In return, Siddhant stated that the filmmaker gave him a set of movies to look at that had been like a sneak-peek into Gehraiyaan’s world. “When I watched them, I was like ‘Yeh toh galat hai. Ye toh nahin hona chahiya.’ I was judging the situations and the characters. So, whatever conditioning I had because of Hindi cinemas, Shakun broke it because the idea was to see and show something new. So, while I didn’t have a method to approach this role, Shakun made me do method acting, for sure.”
Siddhant opened up on how Shakun’s concept of life is near actuality and towards the standard Shah Rukh Khan romances (which Siddhant hopes to be part of sometime). “This script demanded maturity of a special sort. Shakun is sort of philosophical and mature. His concept on life is nuanced and actual. He does not prefer to sort of play to the gallery, one thing that almost all of us have grown up watching and one thing I’m dying to do. On a facet be aware, anybody studying this, please signal me in a quintessential romantic film. I’m an enormous fan of Shah Rukh Khan and need to do one thing like him. But coming again to Gehraiyaan, when the movie got here to me, it was very completely different to what I had seen. Very completely different,” he admitted.
But for him, conversations along with his co-stars, particularly Deepika Padukone, helped him change into the character. “I believe to drag this (the function) off, conversations actually helped. Deepika is so mature. She has seen life. She has been within the trade for 15 years now. So, each time I sat down together with her and spoke about every thing — from life to relationships, I understood a whole lot of issues. She can also be married. So, in conversations together with her, I understood how issues change after getting married. Film acchi bani hai however I’m taking a whole lot of learnings from the expertise on this movie, which has change into like a Bible to me. I can vouch that I’ve personally grown as a human with Gehraiyaan.”
While Siddhant can not cease praising Deepika, he agrees that the preliminary days together with her had been troublesome. Recalling his first workshop with Deepika, Siddhant expressed he was “panicking.”
A nonetheless from Gehraiyaan. (Photo: Amazon Prime Video)
“I keep in mind the primary workshop with Deepika. I used to be panicking. I did not know what to say or what to do. They (Shakun and others) had put us in a room and began recording. They had been like, ‘Just speak.’ And I’m like — ‘Arre Deepika Padukone se major kya baat karunga?’ Samjh hello nahi aaya yaar. Because meri baatein (with Deepika) toh Ranveer Singh se shuru hoti thi aur Ranveer pe khatam. But how do I transfer forward of that as a result of I needed to romance her on this movie,” Siddhant laughed as he narrated the incident. He then recalled that he got a guitar and performed to woo her. “I was like ‘I will impress her by singing.’ I did that. But it didn’t work. Shakun told me, ‘Ye sab nahin chalega.’ He made me understand that this film is different. You can say that he held my hand and walked me into this new world of romance.”
He additionally credited Deepika for making him comfy. “She knew where I come from, how I would be. She is very self-aware. She is a star but around us, she never behaved like one. She was so simple and submissive to the character. She made all of us – me, Ananya and Dhairya – comfortable. We were in awe of her,” Siddhant expressed.
Siddhant credit Deepika Padukone for his understanding of Zain in Gehraiyaan. (Photo: Amazon Prime Video)
After such a deep dive, how did he detach himself from Zain?
“I can’t really detach myself from the roles I do. Even after Gully Boy, I don’t think I have left MC Sher behind. I learned a lot even during that film. Even in this film, I experienced life. But having said that, detach toh ho jaata hun because I come back home to my parents. I don’t think there is a bigger way than this to keep yourself grounded because asli zindagi toh yehi hai. I like to wake up, share a cup of tea with my parents, read and keep myself updated with the news. For me, that is the ultimate way to detach. Jab tak maa-baap hai, bhai hai, dost hai, it is going to be easy to detach because they show me where I came from, where I belong. Fortunate to have this mechanism,” Siddhant stated.
Gehraiyaan marks Siddhant’s first movie with Deepika. (Photo: Amazon Prime Video)
Looking again at his journey to date, Siddhant stated he’s “living a dream.” “I’m motivated with the journey I’ve had. People round me ask how did I come right here however truthfully, I do not know. I believe I did not compromise with my dream of being an actor in movies. Now, I simply hope that the noise round me does not take over my head as I rise (as an actor). I hope I can hold the 19-year-old me alive in me for the longest time. Also, I’m glad the trade has welcomed me with open arms. The movies I’m doing with A-listers and massive banners, the one after that is with Katrina Kaif, make me notice that possibly I’m heading in the right direction,” he concluded.
Gehraiyaan will launch on February 11 on Amazon Prime Video. He additionally has Phone Bhoot, Yudhra and Zoya Akhtar’s Kho Gaye Hum Kahan to his credit score.
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With inputs from TheIndianEXPRESS
