‘I HAVE BEEN CRAVING THIS PRESSURE’
Vicky Kaushal wants people to have greater expectations of him
It’s safe to say Vicky Kaushal hasn’t been in a single film where his performance didn’t win accolades. After nuanced portrayals in Masaan (2015), Sanju (2018) and this year’s Uri: The Surgical Strike, Vicky is set to surprise the audience with his upcoming films. The line-up includes Sardar Udham Singh, which the actor says is “a dream come true”, besides Bhoot, Takht and a biopic on Field Marshal Sam Manekshaw. Excerpts:
You’ve started work on Sardar Udham Singh. How different is it from Uri, also a patriotic film?
Sardar Udham Singh was a freedom fighter, so it pretty much looks into the mindset of a revolutionary. It is too soon to divulge more details. But it’s something new I am doing and I always wanted to work with Shoojit (Sircar; director) da.
What are the challenges in this successful phase of your career?
Now the focus is even more, to be as honest as you always were, and to be as hard working as you always were. Kyunki woh nahi chhootna chahiye jis wajah se yeh sab mila hai... kai baar koi bhool jata hai. The focus is to not lose your integrity.
How do you maintain this level of focus and not get swayed away by all the attention?
Because I know that whatever I am getting is because of what I do between ‘action and cut’. So, my focus is just work. That’s what will give me all of this, and will take me up or down. All of this that I am getting at the periphery is only because of my work. Tomorrow, if my work fails, I won’t get all of this. And tomorrow, if I succeed in my work, I will get more of this.
In times of a crisis, who do you fall back on?
I fall back on my family and my close friends. I will share all the dilemmas and doubts that I would be going through just with them. They are my sounding board. I don’t keep things within me. I pour it out to them. They know my weaknesses and strengths. They know exactly what I’m going through, so it is a big relief that you know you have a place to vent.
How do you deal with all the pressure and the fact that so much is now riding on you?
I have been craving this pressure. So, when you start struggling as an actor, this is all you want. You want these opportunities and you want people to bet big on you, and tell you ki ‘Tumhe achha kaam karna hai’. I have worked hard for this pressure, so now that it is there I can’t complain about it. And I want this pressure to only increase with every film that I do. I never want people to think that they don’t care about the work I am doing. I want people to say that ‘Pichhle film mein achha kiya, is film mein pichhle se aur bhi zyaada achha kaam kiya’. That is what I want.