Cumberbatch’s Strange India connection

BRITISH actor Benedict Cumberbatch (left) has said his connection with India goes back to when he was a teenager, and the Doctor Strange star hopes to return one day to interact with the country’s “first superhero”.

Cumberbatch, who took a gap year after school to travel to Darjeeling in northeast India to teach English at a Tibetan monastery, fondly remembers his sixmonth-long stay in the country.

“I love your country, I love your cultures. It feels like I was there almost a lifetime ago, in my late teens, for six months of teaching, exploring, and travelling. I would love to have an excuse to come back and if that’s to interact with the first Indian superhero, bring it on,” Cumberbatch told reporters in a virtual roundtable interview for his film Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness.

When quizzed about which Hindi movie actor he believes could be part of the MCU (Marvel Cinematic Universe), the London-born actor namechecked Shah Rukh Khan, saying, “Khan is great.”

The two-time Oscar nominee said he was aware of the popularity Doctor Strange films enjoyed in India and hoped to deliver another entertainer with the much-awaited sequel.

“It’s very exciting to know the level of anticipation there is with pre-sales. I’m hugely grateful to my fans in India for supporting me throughout my career. I hope (this film also does well), but I’m not taking anything for granted,” Cumberbatch said.

“The only reason these films are watched is because we try to better them every time during the making of them… We are working tirelessly for it to be a success globally,” he added.