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Actor Siddhant Chaturvedi initially had trouble understanding his character, Zain Siddiqui, in Gehraiyaan. The actor, who admits he is old school when it comes to romance, said director Shakun Batra helped him unshackle himself from the stereotypical idea of love.
“I didn’t know how I was going to approach this character,” Siddhant told indianexpress.com, adding that to understand his outlook on romance, Shakun asked him to list his favourite romantic films. “I sat down whole night and created a list that consisted of films such as 500 days of Summer, Veer Zaara, Dilwale Dulhaniya Le Jayenge and so on. When I sent it to him, he said, ‘This is exactly what you don’t have to do.’ He wanted me to understand this world (referring to Gehraiyaan).”
In return, Siddhant said that the filmmaker gave him a set of films to watch that were like a sneak-peek into Gehraiyaan’s world. “When I watched them, I was like ‘Yeh toh galat hai. Ye toh nahin hona chahiya.’ I was judging the situations and the characters. So, whatever conditioning I had because of Hindi cinemas, Shakun broke it because the idea was to see and show something new. So, while I didn’t have a method to approach this role, Shakun made me do method acting, for sure.”
Siddhant opened up on how Shakun’s idea of life is close to reality and against the typical Shah Rukh Khan romances (which Siddhant hopes to be a part of someday). “This script demanded maturity of a different kind. Shakun is quite philosophical and mature. His idea on life is nuanced and real. He doesn’t like to kind of play to the gallery, something that most of us have grown up watching and something I am dying to do. On a side note, anyone reading this, please sign me in a quintessential romantic movie. I am a huge fan of Shah Rukh Khan and want to do something like him. But coming back to Gehraiyaan, when the film came to me, it was very different to what I had seen. Very different,” he admitted.
But for him, conversations with his co-stars, especially Deepika Padukone, helped him become the character. “I think to pull this (the role) off, conversations really helped. Deepika is so mature. She has seen life. She has been in the industry for 15 years now. So, every time I sat down with her and spoke about everything — from life to relationships, I understood a lot of things. She is also married. So, in conversations with her, I understood how things change after getting married. Film acchi bani hai but I am taking a lot of learnings from the experience on this film, which has become like a Bible to me. I can vouch that I have personally grown as a human with Gehraiyaan.”
While Siddhant cannot stop praising Deepika, he agrees that the initial days with her were difficult. Recalling his first workshop with Deepika, Siddhant expressed he was “panicking.”
“I remember the first workshop with Deepika. I was panicking. I didn’t know what to say or what to do. They (Shakun and others) had put us in a room and started recording. They were like, ‘Just talk.’ And I am like — ‘Arre Deepika Padukone se main kya baat karunga?’ Samjh hi nahi aaya yaar. Because meri baatein (with Deepika) toh Ranveer Singh se shuru hoti thi aur Ranveer pe khatam. But how do I move ahead of that because I had to romance her in this film,” Siddhant laughed as he narrated the incident. He then recalled that he got a guitar and performed to woo her. “I was like ‘I will impress her by singing.’ I did that. But it didn’t work. Shakun told me, ‘Ye sab nahin chalega.’ He made me understand that this film is different. You can say that he held my hand and walked me into this new world of romance.”
He also credited Deepika for making him comfortable. “She knew where I come from, how I would be. She is very self-aware. She is a star but around us, she never behaved like one. She was so simple and submissive to the character. She made all of us – me, Ananya and Dhairya – comfortable. We were in awe of her,” Siddhant expressed.
After such a deep dive, how did he detach himself from Zain?
“I can’t really detach myself from the roles I do. Even after Gully Boy, I don’t think I have left MC Sher behind. I learned a lot even during that film. Even in this film, I experienced life. But having said that, detach toh ho jaata hun because I come back home to my parents. I don’t think there is a bigger way than this to keep yourself grounded because asli zindagi toh yehi hai. I like to wake up, share a cup of tea with my parents, read and keep myself updated with the news. For me, that is the ultimate way to detach. Jab tak maa-baap hai, bhai hai, dost hai, it is going to be easy to detach because they show me where I came from, where I belong. Fortunate to have this mechanism,” Siddhant said.
Looking back at his journey so far, Siddhant said he is “living a dream.” “I am motivated with the journey I have had. People around me ask how did I come here but honestly, I don’t know. I think I didn’t compromise with my dream of being an actor in films. Now, I just hope that the noise around me doesn’t take over my head as I rise (as an actor). I hope I can keep the 19-year-old me alive in me for the longest time. Also, I am glad the industry has welcomed me with open arms. The films I am doing with A-listers and big banners, the one after this is with Katrina Kaif, make me realise that maybe I am on the right track,” he concluded.
Gehraiyaan will release on February 11 on Amazon Prime Video. He also has Phone Bhoot, Yudhra and Zoya Akhtar’s Kho Gaye Hum Kahan to his credit.
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