Sushant Singh Rajput talks about being an introvert and shares his highs and lows with Unnati Joshi
With so many controversies around the film and Sushant Singh Rajput losing his cool every now and then, we were expecting a very starry entry and honestly a few tantrums at the launch of Raabta. But his entry was so low key that we didn’t immediately notice, giving the impression that he isn’t one to throw starry airs.
Sushant is only a few films old but has never failed to impress us with his acts. So we were pleasantly surprised when he decided to speak about Raabta and use it to pitchfork his views on filmcraft. “I remember I was preparing for Detective Byomkesh Bakshy!, when Dinesh Vijan (director) met me. He narrated three scripts and asked me to choose one. Well, yes, I was given an option,” he laughs and continues, “Then there was this forth one which he was not supposed to narrate to me but he did and I got interested in this and asked for the script. He said, ‘I will get back to you.’ And then Byomkesh happened and after it, when I was chilling in Goa for three-four days as it was very exhaustive, I got the script. It was on reincarnation and it takes a lot to convince yourself about a script where the focal point is something that you don’t believe in. I don’t believe in reincarnation. But when I was reading it, I forgot that I didn’t believe in it because it was so engaging. And this is what we do in films, we say things that probably aren’t real but if we say it well, you will buy it.”
The actor has already set many hearts aflutter with his six-pack abs and a shirtless act in the boyfriend song. Quiz him about the preparations, he pulls his chair and tells us, “let me tell you about the characters first. The first, the contemporary one, is fun-loving and is not obsessed about future. He wants to do what he really wants and not what he should do. He is really charming (from his mother’s point of view). I did a lot of improvisation in a way that he can crack you up.
“And the second one, I had no reference because he is very animal like and he doesn’t know or deal with any emotions except survival. He is a ferocious warrior who would either kill you or get killed. Not many have seen him but everybody knows about him. So of course there were a lot of things I had to work on. Because all the characters that I have played in theatre, TV or films, I have referenced from real life. Most of them I have seen somewhere or have probably read about but this one was completely different. So I had to be really good. I went to Bangkok and prepped for it. I had to have a certain kind of body, trained my voice as well. There’s only one thing you need to do and that is to change the way you think and then everything changes, your body language and mannerism and that’s what I did.”
Sushant, who is one of the most promising actors among the current crop, says that acting was never a plan and credits his growth to his working experience with Dibakar Banerjee and Shekhar Kapur.
“Acting was not a natural choice. I could not even say that I wanted to be an actor even if I wanted to be one. I come from a middle class family where I have four sisters and they are all super qualified, doctors and all. And I am the youngest. So I figured out early that I had to do something important. I was told to be an engineer much against my hidden will. And then I figured out a way. First I forced myself to like what I was reading. And when I became good at it, the subject got the best of me. I was a class topper and a national Olympiad winner (Physics). Then I sat for all the engineering exams and DCE happened. I was ok with my life. But one thing was for sure, when I was studying, I was curious but not excited. Probably, I thought I liked it. In the first semester itself, I went to Shiamak Davar Institute for the Performing Arts (SDIPA) just to have an extra-curricular activity. And then when I was on stage performing for the first time, I realised the enormity of connecting with the world, the adrenaline gush and the achievement of owning a moment.”
“Having said that, the way I approach my craft has changed a lot. Also because I got an opportunity to work with Dibakar and then for ten months with Shekhar Kapur, I developed focus. People have a tendency of thinking in a strait jacket, no matter what we do. We think of numerous wrong ways and only a right way but with them I figured out that there are many right ways; probably the same as the wrong ways. It’s all about your conviction. And now with that kind of understanding, I can take a leap of faith. I am not afraid to fail, that’s what has happened,” he adds.
Sushant, who was an introvert, believes that theatre gave him a high. “I still am an introvert,” he asserts. “I still have this inability to express myself. So when I was dancing, I could express without the use of words. It was a big high. Then Shiamak asked me to do theatre. There was this thing that would happen, I would go on stage and say, ‘Do not judge me, I am not me, I am the character’. And these were probably the things that I actually wanted to say and couldn’t say. For somebody who couldn’t talk is now on stage talking and everybody is listening and these strangers are getting affected by what I was doing. It is like being a magician. It took me three years to be really convinced that this is what I want to do even if I don’t get paid for it. That’s when I dropped out from college. I had found my calling.”
About his early influences, he shares, “Before acting happened, it was Shah Rukh Khan for sure. Everything that he used to do, I would get swayed by it. Once I had entered the performance space, I started watching different films and then there were many of them. Jack Nicholson and Daniel Day-lewis are real inspirations.”
He is quite vocal on social platforms and never fears expressing his thoughts and opinions. Does he ever fear getting trolledIJ “They troll. But like I have said, it is not for acting that my views have changed. My views have changed overall. Nothing is right actually and nothing is wrong. It just depends on the context and also from the place you are looking at the subject concerned. Whenever I make a point or give my opinion, of course, it is contextual. If you change the context, you can troll me as it doesn’t make sense to you. There are many engineered trolls and also there are many who wouldn’t mean it but would attack just for acknowledgment. It was easy for me to condition myself to get used to it but I don’t want to do that. Because it affects me and can’t ignore that. So what should I doIJ I tell myself let’s not read them,” he says shrugging off his distaste.
Hadn’t he been successful in films, where would he have been as an actorIJ “Theatre or TV. It doesn’t matter. From 2006 onwards (it’s when I dropped out) it has been about discovery. When I was doing theatre, I used to stay with six guys in a single room, cook my food and wash my clothes. And with all the acknowledgment and the money now, I can match that happiness. If not films, probably on TV or maybe a short film that I will make and be a solo hero,” he concludes laughing.
Photos: Pankaj Kumar