Agastya Nanda’s first role model was his dad, but there are things he doesn’t like about him: ‘Adjusted my personality accordingly’

After making a massive debut in Zoya Akhtar’s teen musical comedy The Archies, Agastya Nanda is now gearing up to work with Hindi cinema auteur Sriram Raghavan in the war film Ikkis, based on the life of the youngest Param Vir Chakra recipient Arun Khetarpal. Hailing from the esteemed Bachchan family of B-Town, Agastya recently made an appearance on his elder sister Navya Naveli Nanda’s podcast, What The Hell Navya, along with his mother Shweta Bachchan Nanda and grandmother, veteran actor Jaya Bachchan, where they discussed macho myths and modern men.

Mentioning that being a man is an individualistic experience, he urged everybody not to follow a particular template. “Each person has a different way of showing who they are from inside. So it’s like finding yourself. I don’t think you should try to be someone else because then you are starting the cycle again and trying to play the image. Find yourself and let whatever feels natural and organic come out,” he said.

When Navya asked him about his male role models, Agastya said that he looks up to the men around him, especially his father, industrialist Nikhil Nanda. “I see how they express themselves and behave. Mostly it’s your father because that’s the first comparison you make to how you should be as a man.”

Story continues below this ad

ICYMI | Agastya Nanda opens up about embracing religion after going through ‘bad phase of anxiety’ during Archies: ‘You laugh at me, but…’

Expanding on this, Agastya said that while his father is a role model to him, there are things he dislikes in his old man’s personality too. “There are things I really like about him and things that I don’t like and feel differently about. So I have adjusted my personality accordingly.”

Navya also asked him if young men face pressure to conform to specific physical standards, with abs and bulked-up bodies, to be considered masculine or manly. “As an actor, I can say there is pressure, but as a 22-year-old, no, there isn’t pressure.”