Amit Sial on love for Raid 2, Kesari 2: ‘Instant reactions in theatres are a different high altogether’

Of course, it came as a pleasant surprise. It’s very kind of Rajkumar Gupta to etch me into the script. It was an amazing experience. The way it’s reached the audience’s hearts, it’s incredible! Nobody expected that. We always knew it’s an author-backed part, but itna mail kha jayega logon se, mazza hi aa gaya yar!

When you read the script, did you expect that the role would turn out to be even bigger and better than the first part?

I knew in my heart if Rajkumar Gupta wants me in the film, toh unhone bahut soch-samajh ke hi kuchh kia hoga. Because we had a lovely time working on the first part. We’re very fond of each other. I didn’t question him much. I knew I was in very safe hands. It was lovely to reconnect with the whole crew and Ajay bhai. It was a very smooth operation, I must say (laughs).

How did you crack Lallan Sudheer’s new shade of a beimaan imaandar income tax officer?

It was written so well! I just had to follow that by heart. That’s all what I did. Usko jitna nichod ke, mazze le ke kar sakta tha, bas wohi kia maine. The character is also like that. Dimag zyada nahi lagana chahiye. The more you enjoy, the more audience would enjoy it.

Have you watched it with the audience? How did they react to the twist in your character arc?

I have. See, you can’t watch the audience’s faces in dark halls. Par unke comments and laughter se hi kafi mann bhar aaya tha. I’ve mostly done all my work on OTT. You can’t gauge the audience’s reactions instantly there. After a long time, I’ve had two theatrical releases in Kesari 2 and Raid 2. The audience has loved my work in both, especially Raid 2. I witnessed that directly. It was very fulfilling to know that you completed the purpose you were cast for.

Amit Sial as Lallan Sudheer in Raid 2.

Speaking of Kesari 2, how did you get into the head of a relentless British sympathizer, who’s determined to defend the Jallianwala Bagh Massacre on their behalf?

I didn’t have to research independently because it was a very well-researched and written script. Karan Tyagi and I did discuss and insert this input, which you can see in the end, that he realises that the British are doing wrong. But if you’re working with the Crown in that era, then your loyalty rests with them. It was very well accepted that ye humare aaka hain. Theek hai, badhiya hai jo chal raha hai. Half of the Indian Army was working for the Crown. But obviously, the Jallianwala Bagh Massacre was unprecedented. That’s the changing point in the game.

Why do you feel Akshay Kumar’s character C Sankaran Nair has a change of heart, but your character doesn’t?

It’s a real story, so that happened to that person. But so many others continued to work for their masters, for the Crown for years after that. It was against our Indianism. In hindight, we see that it was wrong. But the freedom movement came much after that. Mahatama Gandhi also worked under the British for years. In fact, the whole world was theirs at that time. So a lot of us had just surrendered to that idea we’ve been held captive, so let’s just make the best of it. But when leaders started going against the British, they were educated under their system only, and they used that against the British.

Amit Sial in Kesari 2.

You once stopped accepting supporting roles because you wanted to be the lead actor. After the praise for Kesari 2 and Raid 2, is that still an ambition?

Of course it is. Who doesn’t dream of becoming a lead actor? I want people to give me the opportunity of carrying a movie on my shoulders. I tried too, but the two films I did as a lead — Tikdam and Jo Tera Hai Woh Mera Hai (2024) — they weren’t put on the same pedestal as these two films were. Let’s see, maybe this will open more doors for me.

Did you venture into more family-friendly films because you wanted to play a conventional lead?

It became necessary to cut away and disconnect myself from intensity. I was feeling burnt out. If I give in to stereotyping, the audience would also get bored. Where is my involvement as an actor? I know I can pull off anything. So why not show my versatality to them? It becomes a personal responsibility to make the audience realise that you’re not limited to one kind of a role, but can do a range of parts. I’ll continue to do it all my life. If I feel burn out, I have to stay true to myself, either take a break or switch to some other piece of work that challenges you.

Don’t you feel you get a better range as a supporting actor? For instance, Lallan Sudheer has more juice than the lead character of Amay Patnaik?

I’m sure Ajay bhai was also enjoying his character. But it’s written in a way that he can’t do tomfoolery. If he goes into Lallan’s zone as well, it’ll fall apart. It’s a huge responsibility! The whole film is banking on his image and heroism. Abhi ye ajeeb si baatein ho rahi hain ki I overshadowed him, but that’s laughable. We have different roles with different beliefs, so we’re operating differently. And I feel being a lead actor is a more focused job where you can’t deviate from your part. A guy like Lallan Sudheer can do anything because he’s been placed in that zone.

In early days, you took break from acting to go to Australia, where you did a bunch of odd jobs. When you returned to acting, did those experiences help you as an actor?

Hundred percent! When I came back from Australia, I felt for the longest time that I wasted seven-eight years of my life away from acting. But when I started getting into it seriously, then I realised these are the factors which make me better than my peers. My life experiences are my biggest strength. Even if you wash dishes at home, you gain even from that. These daily ordeals should never go out of your life.

You broke out on streaming in 2017, but do you think our streaming landscape has the same advantages it had back then?

Jaldi mein ho gaye sab beech mein! OTT was a gamechanger. It should’ve always been that. It was showing real stories and high quality content. Then it turned into herd mentality. Studios started competing with each other. Similar stuff began coming from different places. Then you’re competing with best of the world. Those guys give time and do everything in depth. That depth has vanished from our streaming content. Then you’ve just become television. Plus, they made so much content so quickly. The bank is so huge that out of all the shows, only one or two get popular. Everything else seems very redundant. So I think they should go on back foot and think about this. It happens in every industry that you’ve to rediscover and reinvent yourself. So our industry is also going through a metamorphosis right now.

Do you think being an OTT actor restricted you to streaming for the most part, instead of giving you more opportunities in the theatrical space?

When you didn’t have work, and were just twiddling your thumb and staring at walls at home, OTT came as a lifesaving boon. I don’t mind working on OTT. The point is I want to do good work and good roles. They should just make you feel challenged, and jismei aapke input se chaar chaand lage. There’s no point of doing blink-and-miss parts. It’ll neither reach the audience nor it’ll be good for me creatively. Of course, experiencing something collectively on the big screen with instant audience reaction is a different high altogether. Every actor craves for it. The bottom-line is the work should be purposeful, the medium doesn’t matter.

Ranvir Shorey, Shashank Arora, and Amit Sial in Titli.

It’s 10 years of Kanu Behl’s Titli this year. You consider the role of Divakar as one of your most challenging. Why is that so?

Just being a part of that family that’s depicted in Titli. We worked very hard for it. We did a lot of workshops. We had to change our mental space 360 degree and come down from the comfortable place we’re in. It was torturous at that point of time. We hated Kanu then, but it was all for a good cause. When we watched the film, we knew exactly what he was trying to do to us. We were shooting in Sangam Vihar in Delhi. In order to get there, you have to go through these big, exuberant luxury farmhouses to reach a slum. I said if these people crossed these farmhouses every day, then it must cross their mind to break into them at night. Your mind starts operating that way.

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Why were those workshops torturous?

They aimed at a mental shift, which involved stepping down from the pedestal you’re on in life. It’s a very difficult process. In the middle of the shoot, my then-girlfriend, who’s now my wife, came to visit me on Holi in Delhi. She looked at me and said, “Your eyes have changed. Something has shifted inside you.” So that’s what workshops do.