Remember the kid in Gadar? He is all set for his adult debut
You saw him as Sunny Deol’s kid in the 2001 superhit film Gadar: Ek Prem Katha, but Utkarsh Sharma is a grown-up now. And, he is set to make his debut as a leading man in the Nawazuddin Siddiqui-starrer Genius. Here are excerpts from an interview with him:
How excited are you for your first film as the leading man?
I’m very excited to share this film with the audience. Andar se toh nervousness ho rahi hai. I first got myself educated in the craft... I went to an acting school in Los Angeles, did my film direction course. Before that, I assisted papa (filmmaker Anil Sharma) on Salman Khan’s Veer. So I had started working since the age of 13-14.
Everyone remembers you as the kid from Gadar. What memories do you have of that time?
Kabhi train pe dauda rahe the, kabhi chalte truck pe chadha rahe the (laughs). People would shout at each other, draw out swords, handpump ukhaad rahe the (laughs). All of this really transported me into a different era and world. There are a lot of memories. Amrish (Puri) sir and Sunny sir’s scenes would be very exciting. As a five-year old, I wouldn’t understand anything, but their voice would have so many emotions that even as a child, I used to get goosebumps.
How is your father as a director? Did you get any special treatment? Since I have worked with him before, I knew he’s a taskmaster, and I would have to match his passion. For him, work is more important than family. I knew he won’t be treating me as his son, but like any other actor. I, too, treated him just as my director on set.
What’s your take on nepotism? First of all, I agree that being an industry kid helps you. As a child actor, I didn’t choose to star in Gadar. We couldn’t find the right kid.
At the last moment, they had to take me. Dad has worked with so many big actors. So, I knew that if I want to work in films, I would have to get educated in it.
I don’t have experience like Nawazuddin sir, but I’ve tried to [make up for it] through my education. UTKARSH SHARMA ACTOR