Siddhant Chaturvedi and Deepika Padukone's sizzling chemistry in Gehraiyaan has become a talking point. The film is bankrolled by Karan Johar and helmed by Shakun Batra. It also stars Ananya Panday and Dhairya Karwa and will release on a digital platform on February 11. In an exclusive conversation with Free Press Journal, the actor speaks about his character Zain, his take on the intimacy portrayed in the film, and more. Excerpts:
You did big films too early in your career. How has your journey been like?
My journey has been amazing. I did the Inside Edge franchise for Amazon Prime Video. Now I am back in the same OTT space with Gehraiyaan, and it is bigger and better. Good things happened to me that really motivated me. I am keeping my fingers crossed for 2022. It is like living my dream, to come from nowhere and have no clue what I was doing. Rejections helped me a lot, and I worked on my craft. There are such great actors around me, and I had to bring something new to the table. I would have switched to television since an artiste needs a stage, but I kept the approach as honest as possible.
Early success gets to people’s heads in the industry. Do you believe in it?
People around me started asking me and making me feel that it’s a big deal that I did a film with Ranveer Singh, then with Rani Mukerji, Saif Ali Khan and YRF and now with Deepika Padukone and Karan Johar. I know things get to your head, but I feel the noise is too much around it. I just want to be honest with whatever I do. The industry has welcomed me, considering I am an outsider.
How was the process of being Zain?
When I signed the film, I had a sense of judgement which Shakun wanted me to take out of my system. It was my first ever workshop with Deepika, and I was panicking. Our director Shakun put us in a room, and I was nervous. I got my guitar to impress Deepika. Later, Shakun explained to me that I had to take the lead in this film, and all credit goes to Deepika. She is so simple and submits herself. She made everyone comfortable. I feel the script demanded maturity, and Shakun’s idea of love is real, nuanced and very modern-day. Gehraiyaan is like a Bible for me.
You have an image of an ideal romantic person in real life, but Gehraiyaan is about greys in a man-woman relationship, your take?
Since I come from a functional family, hence I judged my character Zain when I first read the script. It took me some time to break the norms. It was more like a Marvel film where I was doing a chroma shoot. It’s like a fantasy, but this world does exist— a world of texts, mails and secret affairs. I didn’t have the maturity to understand earlier, and when I saw the film, I didn’t judge. I am not taking cheating and infidelity back from Gehraiyaan. I come back home to my parents, and this is the reality. I have detached myself from Gehraiyaan.
A still from Gehraiyaan |
Your intimate scenes with Deepika are the talk of the town. Were you nervous while shooting them?
I was nervous when I had to romance Sharvari in Bunty Aur Babli 2. I was very shy when I had to romance Deepika, but we had an intimacy director on the sets to choreograph intimacy like how we do dance and action. I am an old school, romantic person.
We heard you also write poetry. Have you used any of it on screen?
I never write poetry when I am in love, but I do when I am alone and isolated. I am not an ideal person; I am really messed up. (laughs).
Are you skeptical about the response of the audience?
I do care about audiences, and I feel everyone will have their own favourites. It is open-ended, and I hope to do justice with Zain. It is shot really well. Shakun’s storytelling never tells you. He always passes it to audiences. You decide whether I am the hero or villain of the film.
