‘DELHI UNIVERSITY HAS CRAZY ENERGY’
Actor Siddhant Behl, remembers his college days in the Capital
In the Capital for a friend’s wedding, Delhi-born-andbred actor Siddhant Behl, appears to still be in love with the city, as he starts talking about the good ol’ college days. “Hum Kamla Nagar bahut jaate the. There used to be a Momo’s point and we would go also gorge on Chhole Bhature, at Shakti Nagar, and Stephen’s college cafeteria was our zone, too,” says the Hindu College alumnus who made his Bollywood debut with the film Jugni (2016).
About his acting journey, Behl shares, “In the 90’s, I would see actors — Govinda, Shah Rukh Khan, Salman Khan — and get inspired to mouth their dialogues. Then, introduction to theatre changed things. After school, I bumped into NK Sharma’s Act One theatre group and joined him. That was the first time I was introduced to the stage and I kinda got consumed.”
Theatre days became intense when he joined Delhi University (DU). “DU is a different world altogether. The energy here is crazy. Since
Winter is my favourite season and I love coming to Delhi [during this time], and dressing up in jackets and all SIDDHANT BEHL ACTOR
there was no active dramatics society in my college, my friends and I thought of starting one, but our convener told us that the college already has a society. ‘It was registered 10-12 years back, called Ibtida. Tum wohi use kar lo’, he said. And few years back, I got to know that it was registered by film director Imtiaz Ali. But back then, we thought that we founded the society (laughs),” he shares.
If there is anything else that he misses since moving base to Mumbai, it is “dili ki sardi”. “Mujhe lag raha hai main Marathi ho gaya hoon, itni thand lag rahi hai now that I’m here!” Behl remarks.