Jaideep ahlawat
Villains are an essential part of films. There’s a reason why we loved Shakaal and Mogambo — quirkier, the better. AK 74 is a weird name but that’s what our villain in Commando, is called. He tells SANGEETA YADAV it was fun to play this role
‘Ak-74 completely out of the box’
.Your role as AK-74 in Commando has won you many fans...
Unlike other villains, AK-74 is a very unconventional and unrealistic villain. He is more like a villain of the ’80s. Though he is not physically strong, he is mentally very sharp, very contradictory. When you expect him to be livid, he smiles at you and then all of a sudden, he gets angry and shoots the person standing next to him. Playing AK-74 was fun. He likes to create fear in people’s minds to dominate them forever. He is a drug dealer and believes he can rule youngsters by making them drug addicts.
.How did the audition for the role goIJ
I gave auditions for AK-74 in 15 different styles within an hour because director Vipul Shah wanted to see how many variations I could give him. I’m eight films old in the industry and this was my longest audition till date.
.What research work did you do for your roleIJ
For me, the best part was that the movie is based in Punjab and I’m from there. So I related to the character and got into its skin easily. I often used to think why AK-74 would be so dominating.
What kind of childhood he must have hadIJ I have seen drug dealers and they are very clever and relaxed people because they know they have the power. But AK-74 has a flamboyant side to him, like any other Punjabi.
.Your dialogues gave quite a kick to the audience...
Dialogues make or break a character and AK-74’s dialogues were fantastic. There is a scene in the movie where he declares his love to the heroine even though she hates his guts. He morphs the posters of Singh is Kingg and replaces Katrina and Akshay’s pictures with his and Simran’s (the leading lady).
.Is Commando 2 in the pipelineIJ
There are talks of a sequel but I don’t have much information about it. The actor who will play the role will have his own style like I did for this first installment of the film.
.What response did you get for this over-the-top villainyIJ
The audiences have already seen me as Shahid Khan in Gangs of Wasseypur and as Salim in Vishwaroopam. They were bad guys and looked real but AK-74 is completely out of the box.
.What are your future plansIJ
I’ll be shooting for Vishwaroopam 2 from June onwards.