Actor Amit Sadh, who will be seen in the romantic comedy Running Shaadi, says it is a mad film with eccentric characters. By Unnati Joshi
Actor Amit Sadh, who has been somewhat a late bloomer in the Hindi film industry, still feels like a newcomer after seven years with Running Shaadi. “I am the oldest newcomer, this is the second time I am being launched”, said Amit as he pulled his chair to sit.
The 37-year-old TV actor made his big screen debut in 2010 with Phoonk 2. But it was 2013 movie Kai Po Che that breathed new life into his film career and catapulted him to fame. The actor’s Bollywood future looked bright. A stint with Arshad Warsi (Guddu Rangeela) was a bit of a spark and then he had flatlined.
This time, he has made it as a leading man. “It’s a mad film of mad characters. Whenever you think of making an impact as a hero, you think in cliches. There’s always this dude who will come in a convertible, jacket and great hair. Even if he is presented as an underdog, there’s a twist to catapult him into a larger-than-life space. What I liked about this character and the reason why I took this film is that he is a normal midtown guy. He doesn’t have good hair, he can’t talk properly, he is immature, nervous and a very uncool. I am a huge fan of Tom Hanks and if you watch his films, from Forrest Gump to Captain Philip, he has always enacted a normal person. For me the challenge was to play a regular guy. It was a huge challenge to portray a character who is called Ram Bharose and stands by his values and principles with the limited personality he has. Also it is set in a very real world of Amritsar and Patna. The simplicity of the film attracted me.”
Was picking the Bihari accent a challengeIJ The actor took a deep breath, smiled and running his hand through his hair, said, “I think I am very good regional actor. I was Gujarati in Kai Po Che! Then in Guddu Rangeela, I played a Haryanvi character. In Sultan, I was this cool urban aspirant and now I am playing a Bihari. I love touring around India. And hence picking accents has never been difficult for me. But there is a certain perception about Biharis. You try to imitate lalu ji when you have to pick that accent but from the start I was very clear. I didn’t want to mock the character and neither disrespect the people from Bihar. So I did workshops and during that I met an uncle who was from Patna. He told me that, ‘I can’t teach you about the accent and the role. All I can tell you is Bihari is not just a language but an attitude. Just get that right.’ So I have tried that (laughs).”
Explaining his character, Amit said, “This is a very easy-breezy film. But playing a character like Ram Bharose is very difficult because I don’t relate to him the way I did to Aakash Oberoi (his character in Sultan). For this, I will give the credit to my director Amit Roy, who from day one has supported me and helped me to stay in the character. I share a great comfort with Taapsee which I think the viewers will see. It was a very close unit. We shot the film like a small family.”
The actor didn’t reveal much about his future projects. “Planning I think doesn’t work for me but I have Sarkar 3 coming up with Mr Bachchan,” he concluded. Photo: Pankaj Kumar