Exclusive: Sidharth Malhotra opens up about movies, his leading ladies and contemporaries

First he portrayed the guy-next-door and now the angry young man, in just three movies Sidharth Malhotra has proved that he is no less than any star kid of B'Town.

Sidharth talks to Pinkvilla about his upcoming projects, his experience with Mohit Suri in 'Ek Villain', his co-stars and contemporaries.

The character that you play in ‘Ek Villain’, Guru, is a departure from your roles in ‘Student Of The Year’ (SOTY) and ‘Hasee to Phasee’. Is that the main reason for choosing this film?

I met Mohit Suri and Balaji after SOTY and right before ‘Hasee to Phasee’. I was aware that this role was a big contrast. Simply put, people didn’t associate me with this range of emotions, aggression, or action or anger. It was scary and nerve wracking, that would I be able to pull this off. But then there is this theory, that if you don’t take risks, you don’t gain.

It was exciting for I have never done anything like this in real life, and I have no reference! So something new comes up, something exciting comes up. If you do the same kind of roles, then you don’t excite the audience any more. It could go either way; you would either be loved, or be completely shunned.

For that reason, I took up this film. Besides, I was familiar with Mohit’s films, from ‘Awaarapan,’ so he knows his world. Even though he is very young, he has made 9 films, has tremendous experience and has a great body of work behind him. That was relaxing.

The script was apt and came with the correct director, a new genre without an experienced director, taking that up would be more risky. Even though, at that time ‘Aashiqui 2’ had not happened, the whole persona had not happened.

You started with a Karan Johar film, who is known to be very supportive and patient. But Mohit Suri is known to be temperamental, and his film set, is reportedly, tough. How do you cope with different directors? And how did you deal with Mohit Suri?

(Smiles) I realized that you can’t change production houses or people or directors that you work with. You have to mould yourself. That’s the learning that I have had. After Dharma, I worked with Phantom, a smaller banner, and a different kind of set. Then a Balaji set, and a senior director again!

Every creative person has quirks. But personally, I have not faced any difficulties with Mohit.

So he hasn’t yelled at you then?

No he hasn’t. I also had an advantage. After my first meeting, he asked me where do I stay, and if I stay alone. We both stay in the same neighbourhood. He was not married to Udita then, but was about to get married.

We hung out, had some boys’ nights out and bonded well. Our personalities matched, and off camera we remained friends. We are both dog lovers, and so our friendship is at different levels. Maybe I have been lucky, but I have not seen the villain in him.

How do you view your career from here on? You’ve signed ‘Warrior’, an action film to be directed by Karan Malhotra for Dharma. You also have ‘Bhavesh Joshi’. Do you hope to play varied characters, and make a mark as an actor and not a sweet faced hero? Or would you collect a few commercial hits, sign up plenty of endorsements, and take it easy?

I have no plans of type casting myself, and I want to do different stuff constantly. As a member of the audience, I used to say that this actor is doing the same thing over and over again, doesn’t try anything new.

As an actor, it’s not always easy to vary your work, but I wouldn’t want to be seen in similar roles. ‘Ek Villain’ is a start, it’s not how people usually perceive me.

Everyone seems to be in a hurry to typecast us here, ‘ki yeh romantic hain, yeh action hain, ye yahi karta hain’.

Interviewer Interrupts : Not any more, I suppose. You get type cast as romantic for you are also quite good looking.

(Pauses for a bit, surprised) The effort is to play characters. I think we make efforts to change our look, our hair, our body weight so that we can fit into different characters. I shouldn’t be type cast.

Hopefully, not sounding too pseudo-intellectual, but that’s how it should be. If I am doing the same thing every six months, I would not personally enjoy it and would get bored. Then I can’t entertain the audience. So this is also my effort to keep myself busy, so that I can deliver one new element in every new film that I do.

In Karan’s movie, I play an aggressive fighter, which I haven’t done so far. In ‘Bhavesh Joshi’, Vikramaditya’s film, I play a vigilante of sorts. So there’s an effort to try new stuff.

You’ve worked with the three new leading ladies of your generation, so to speak- Shraddha, Alia and Parineeti. Which one is your favorite, and who have you become friends with and would want to work with again and again?

Alia and I are great friends since we did our first film together. That’s a different bond, it’s like school and like graduating together.

Parineeti was a lot of fun.

It’s tough to pick…. I would happily do a film together with any of them if the script is right.

Parineeti and I worked together on a film that was a lot of fun to make. She is easy to get along with, she is loud, she is energetic, she is a Punjabi. We had a lot in common, being outsiders to films.

For Shraddha, I have a lot of respect as an actor. In terms of professional experience, it was the most fulfilling, because of the kind of film it was. We were always on the verge of crying, or had cried, or will cry (laughs). That’s how Mohit Suri is.

It is a very emotional film. I remember when we shot the first emotional scene in Goa, I had done my part and the camera was on her. Since we were taking a couple of takes, and I felt the scene required a certain amount of intensity, so I applied gliss and continued to act. She appreciated that, and mentioned this to me.

From that scene onwards, we as actors did such things for each other while shooting this film, even though it can get a bit tiring. In that sense, I had a great working relationship with her and this helped the film.

All I can say I wouldn’t mind doing a film with any of them. Alia is my first choice, because of the journey that we’ve had together. I think according to the film, each one makes for a great choice.

I think relationship on set also will change according to the vibe of the film as main leads. We start living our characters. It’s tough to do a romantic scene with someone you don’t like, I have been lucky so far.

I think it will be hard if you don’t like someone and you need to romance them, or embrace them, or deliver comedy. I think all of us as actors are aware of that, and know it’s important to be amicable.

Currently, along with you, a lot of new talent has entered acting in Bollywood. It’s almost like an entirely new generation, with greater acceptance. I will throw the gamut open for you – from Ranbir Kapoor, to Nawazuddin Siddiqui, to Rajkummar Rao. Is there a contemporary that you admire, and would want to work with?

I am working with some of them. While I am not at liberty to say who, my next film, the action flick to be directed by Karan Malhotra, features another big actor in a leading role. It requires a senior actor. As far as working with any one of them, we have heard scripts that are multi-starrers.

I really admire Ranbir’s work. He is very entertaining, and you have an easy vibe about him when you meet him in person.

Be it Nawaz or Ranbir, I would like to work with all of them for the right project. It could be anybody, I think the trend in future would be that more actors would come together for films.