00:00The first thing you want to know is how you can summarize your journey?
00:08I think if I can summarize my journey in one line, I would say it has been slow but very steady and always upwards.
00:19So, I don't want to go around but at least wherever I am going, I am always moving forward.
00:27How was your experience with Kajol? How did you handle the pressure and excitement with Kajol?
00:35The day I signed the film, I did not even tell myself that I am working with Kajol.
00:44It has been slow and slow.
00:46And of course, once the shoot day comes, the nervousness, the nerves really go away.
00:52But I think when I was reading, we did our rehearsal.
00:57And once you're on the set, she comes as the character.
01:03And there is where I think the superstar stops being the superstar and the actor takes over.
01:09And that's where the comfort factor for us other actors I think comes forward.
01:13So, yes, I mean, I was very excited, very nervous.
01:16But thanks to her, it was a joyful experience.
01:20How did you get to learn something with Kajol as an experienced actor in the set?
01:27I think the one thing, which I have learned from her, while she is great, intense in her film, and she is so pitch perfect.
01:39But at the same time, she knows how to have fun on the set.
01:42It doesn't mean that there are some actors in the character and others don't talk about it.
01:47She is still very jovial, she is still full of energy, she is still cracking jokes.
01:51And as soon as the camera goes on, she is a different person.
01:55She is that character.
01:56So, I think that's one thing you'll have to learn.
01:58I think that might come across from experience, from craft.
02:02But you don't seek that, how do you do that?
02:07You need to have fun while you are working.
02:09Otherwise, I think it will be very serious for us.
02:12The most pivotal moment of your career is the most pivotal moment of your career?
02:21You know, it is a pivotal moment of your career.
02:26I think things change.
02:28My career has been largely made up of a lot of Fridays,
02:31where things have changed slowly and steadily.
02:35The pivotal point for me, I would say, is the decision to become an actor.
02:39When I quit my banking job and I started acting at the age of 15.
02:43It was pretty actually late to start pursuing this profession.
02:47But that was a big moment.
02:49But otherwise, I would say that my journey has been quite, it has been consistent.
02:54And I have seen small, small pivots through the way.
02:58And hopefully, they will take me, they will take me far into the ultimate destination.
03:04Do you think that there is groupism in the industry?
03:06If yes, how did you learn from it?
03:09Industry in the groupism?
03:11Look, I always feel that people, it is a very high-risk business.
03:18People always want to work with people they know.
03:21It is definitely easier to trust people from film families.
03:27Because, if you have 50 crores in a film, they know who they can call and who they can fall back on.
03:38Maybe it is difficult to trust somebody coming from outside.
03:45Not to mention that, you know, the business is so risky that you need to trust people and you need to know them from before to really give them such a big responsibility.
03:56So, if you call it groupism, if you call it working with friends and if you call it working with people you know, it happens there.
04:05But, I would like to think that it is more out of a comfort and convenience factor than anything else.
04:12Film industry mein aap kitni struggle phase ki hai hai, aap ki liye journey mein taptay tough cheez kya te?
04:20The whole journey, I mean, look, I just feel one thing, agar aapko kuch, if you want to achieve your dreams, especially if you are moving away against the current.
04:34Dekhi, hume kuhi, as if, I think it's true for all actors, kuhi family se do bolta nahi hai ki jaate akkar noo.
04:41While that support is very important and I am very fortunate in that regard.
04:52But, kuhi bhi family mein, especially middle class family mein he gotta ki hai, nobody would push us and become and say that please go ahead and become an actor.
05:01So, the journey is hard and it's not hard just for me, it's hard for everyone and every respect.
05:07Whether it's living in Bombay and looking for work is concerned, whether because it is such an uncertain business, the various things that happen.
05:18Whether it's, you know, the lack of opportunities or whether it's to do with what all you encounter while you are looking for these opportunities.
05:27So, journey is hard of course but I also feel that if you really love something and your love for that thing is bigger than any problem that you encounter.
05:36You can surpass anything.
05:39And of course, yeh see field hai, jhaan pe hai mein sab kuh chahi ho ta.
05:43You know, you're looking for fame, you're looking for money, you're looking for success.
05:47You actually are asking for everything.
05:49Sorry.
05:51So, if you are wanting everything, I think you'll have to give everything also.
05:57If it's full of money, it's fine so that you have to give everything.
06:04in the industry, you need a strong identity or you need to do a job with a job?
06:11It is a job with a job.
06:14If you do not have a job with a job, then you don't have a job.
06:21If you do not have a job with a job, then you will have a job with a job.
06:29As an actor, you are a brand, people see you.
06:36It is important that you create an identity and you also keep on reinventing and you also
06:43keep on changing that identity over the years so that you last longer.
06:48I think all the actors that we name and we look up to are so successful.
06:53They have been successful because they have always worked on their identity
06:58and they kept on reinventing themselves.
07:013.1 Mishra CA Topper was a very bold and unpredictable show.
07:05Do you think people will receive it like this or the criticism has been surprised?
07:11I think most importantly, I was very surprised that it was very controversial regarding
07:18because we called it CA Topper.
07:20But I think it was just like judging a book before you read it.
07:25After showing it, I think everybody liked it.
07:28Everybody enjoyed it a lot.
07:29People really appreciated it for the dialogues, the performances and it did very well.
07:35So, as much as I know it's a risky thing, but if done well, anything risky I think is also accepted.
07:43Ultimately, the audience wants to enjoy a story and be entertained by it.
07:48So, I think that's what Tilpon did and very proud of it.
07:52In the industry, many times it's said that looks matter more than talent.
07:57So, how much easier it is to make your own place?
08:01Look, our work is visual medium.
08:04So, looks are definitely an integral aspect of what I do.
08:09But to each his own.
08:11I have also heard that looks are more important.
08:15So, a lot of people feel that looks on the basis of the looks.
08:21I have also faced the other side of it where sometimes because I look a certain way,
08:27I don't get called for roles which are very character oriented or very depth oriented.
08:32It is just assumed that you have worked so much in your looks that you might think about it.
08:40Maybe you might think about it.
08:41Maybe you don't think about it.
08:43Maybe perception is that if you are in gym, your brains are in your biceps.
08:47You might not have the depth to understand characters and layering of a character.
08:53So, in all perception, people keep on perceiving you.
09:01People keep on saying things.
09:03The day you prove yourself in your craft is the day they will start calling you for good work.
09:11So, I think the point is to concentrate on good work and not really worry about what people think about the works.
09:18Bombay is a crime drama or girls will be girls like emotional complex films.
09:24What do you think?
09:25Indian audience is a safe content.
09:27Which content is a safe content?
09:28I think it is always important not to generalize our audience.
09:29Our audience is very intelligent and I think ahead of us.
09:30Very ahead of us over the world.
09:31They are watching some things that we have to see and then we know that we are going to go ahead and say that.
09:38The idea is not what the audience wants.
09:40The idea is sometimes that as creators, as artists, we have to be head of the audience saying that they might want to be the head of the audience.
09:46They might want this and then do it with conviction.
10:03Many a times our audience is not ready for something.
10:07and then turn things with conviction, with passion and in the correct way.
10:11Audience always laps it up.
10:13They always have good work.
10:14So, it is not that they are safe, but they are always ready for good and new stuff.
10:23So, if they are a good actor, you will be good on stage, quality, you will be good on any media, you will be good on television, you will be good on virtual.
10:47So, I don't think so, craft wise or skill wise your perception is just that as an actor
10:54how do you handle that medium, how do you see that medium as, every medium has their
11:00benefits and I think you've got to just make the most of that.
11:04When you're talking about actor to boss in 2025, does this pressure create that every
11:10project is heartbreaking?
11:11Sorry, come again, sorry.
11:13After such a long journey, if people consider me as an actor to watch out for, people are
11:19looking forward to the next projects that I'm doing, I see that as a responsibility and
11:38I see that as a responsibility because it's very difficult to get a platform.
11:43And thankfully, this kind of a thing is happening to me after I've worked so much and you have
11:49gained the necessary experience.
11:51So, I don't see pressure on myself.
11:53I see that as a confidence that people have in me and in my craft.
11:57I see that as a responsibility that's given to me and I just want to be my best.
12:01Now, some actors also think about a genre in a genre.
12:05So, how do you ensure that you make a genre bending and storytelling?
12:10I don't want to think about it.
12:12I want to watch a genre.
12:13I want to watch a good story and instinctively, what does the story want to say?
12:19I think all the audience wants to have an emotional connect.
12:22Whether it's in a romantic genre, whether it's in a horror genre, whether it's in a gangster
12:27drama, whether it's in an action film.
12:30So, I think the genre is honestly irrespective.
12:33I want to enjoy it and work with people and an emotional connect for an audience.
12:40So, lastly, what are your future projects?
12:43And what do you want to message your fans?
12:46First of all, I want to thank everyone.
12:49The biggest support system that I have in this journey is the audience.
12:56The feedback that you get, the reviews that you get, that I got in for my performances
13:02in Mumbai, Marijaan, on my working activity, Hala, Tudwan, Maa, the messages that I get.
13:08I think I am just very thankful and please know that they matter to me a lot.
13:15Because we need support in this business, in this artwork's journey of ours.
13:21And that support really means a lot to me.
13:23So, thank you so much.
13:24And projects-wise, now I'm going to Telugu Filmmaker now.
13:28So, basically, if I can, for want of a better world, they are panicking your friends.
13:34So, one shoot has already started, one shoot in August.
13:37But I definitely love to share the details as and when I play it.
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