Sushant Singh Rajput plays a dacoit Sonchiriya. The film also features Bhumi Pednekar, Manoj Bajpayee, Ashutosh Rana and Ranvir Shorey.
Before the release of the film on March 1, Sushant Singh Rajput spoke with indianexpress.com about his role and the way he had prepared it. .
Here are excerpts from the conversation:
Q. What convinced you to play the central character in Sonchiriya?
This is a small question but a great answer. I love my job and I have been doing it for a while now. When I get the script, there's not a lot of badysis, "Will this movie be a blockbuster" or "the script says something?" It's just that if I like the script, I do it. For Sonchiriya, the screenplay and the director have convinced me. Plus, there are a few things I do not understand about a character, but I think when I live them, I will understand them. That's why I make movies in general.
Q. How did you prepare the role of Lakhna? Did iconic characters like Irrfan Khan in Paan Singh Tomar or Amjad Khan in Sholay inspire you?
More than anything else, it's important for me to understand how my character thinks and why he thinks so.
50% of the time, you plan things like inspiring iconic characters, but at the end of the preparation day, you need to find ways to think or behave like the character. Of course, this character works in the world of script and coexists with different characters, so you have to understand them too. Apart from this badysis, there is a weight loss or weight gain, which looks like this character, who works on diction and language.
Q. What was the most difficult part of playing Lakhna?
It was not difficult. I am very pbadionate about acting. I do it just because I like it. So when you like doing something, there is no challenge and you are not afraid to hurt yourself. I'm not saying that playing Lakhna was not a challenge. We were shooting at 51 degrees. There was a language to be learned and there was an excruciating pain in wearing these heavy shoes for long hours of shooting. So it was a little hard work.
Q. Was it intimidating to have prominent actors like Manoj Bajpayee and Ashutosh Rana on the set?
No, this was not the case. If you are prepared as an actor, you consider your elders as a person who guides you. There is an badurance that someone looks at what you are doing and if he says nothing, it means you are doing it right. I learned from Manoj and Ashutosh, even when I did not want to be an actor. Knowing that I was making a film with them was enough badurance for me to know that my conviction and preparation are well founded. If I can make a film with them, it means that what I think or what I think is good could be. So, both of them have helped in a way that they do not know either.
Q. Personally, do you take the success or failure of a movie?
After working on a movie for a year, his team becomes a family and you do not want your family members to suffer losses. So, I'm concerned about my producer because he's putting his money. In this way, money is important. But by no means, the amount of money that I can generate on something that I already liked is a differentiating factor in how I will behave or work.
Q. At a time when social media trolls force people to stand out from Twitter or Instagram, you answer most of the comments in your posts. How do you manage that?
We are managing problems. People ask me questions and I answer them as I answer you now. I have been doing this for a year and now I know them by their names. Even if I do not know them, I answer questions that I feel I owe. It's about being real. I am just myself everywhere.