Jaideep Ahlawat: ‘I want to do challenging roles like in Raazi’     

Q. How would you describe your journey so far?

A. It has been beautiful. I don’t know why people call it a struggle. I feel the word struggle has been used in a derogatory sense in the film industry. Everyone is struggling in his or her own field. It puts me off to hear people say “Struggle kar raha hoon” or “kaushish kar raha hoon”. I look at it as a journey and ‘struggle’ is part of the learning.

Q. So, what did you learn in this journey of yours?

A. It all began with my days at FTII (Film and Television Institute of India), Pune. I only knew of Hindi cinema then. After joining the institute, I learnt about world cinema apart from learning the craft of acting. Besides, part of growing up is to take things in one’s stride - be it success or failure- and move on with life.

Q. Is there anything that you’d like to rethink and redo?

A. I would want to dance as I love it and not many know. I would want to do a light-hearted film where I get to do all this. I remember Onir Sir telling me that I change my looks in every film. So, if someone asks me to play a rockstar, I am sure I will be able to do it as that is the beauty of acting. You can become somebody else each time. I am also game for romance. There is the Dev Anand kind of romance. We also have Shah Rukh Khan and Irrfan Khan. Their interpretation and expression of romance is completely different.

Q. So, what is your kind of romance?

A. Shah Rukh Khan kind of romance. I am not as flamboyant or energetic like him. So, I would want to portray that on screen. At least, you get to do something that is challenging.

I remember when I was prepping for Raazi, my friends noticed that I had gone completely quiet and would tell me that. I did not do it deliberately; it just happened probably because of the preparation for the role. So I started becoming that character who would only observe and watch people.

Q. Tell us about your first break.

A. My first break happened accidentally. I never wanted to be an actor, but an Army officer. The first film that I got was that of an Army officer in which John Abraham played the hero but the film did not happen. Around that time, Honey Trehan called me to audition for Aakrosh and I got the film immediately. But Khatta Meetha was my first release.

Q. Are you choosy about the role you pick for yourself?

A. I am choosy about my films. There are times when you do films for money too and there are those films on my list as well. I don’t feel nice about choosing a story that can move without my character. I really need to know the importance of my character. By saying that, I don’t mean I want to play the lead (in fact, who does not want to play the lead?) but for now I want to be part of a film, whose story does not move without me like in the case of Raazi. Without Mir, the story of Raazi does not stand. Roles like these are full of responsibility as a lot rests on your shoulder.

Q. Were there retakes in your scenes with Alia Bhatt, especially the bits on training where you play nasty with her?

A. I don’t think I hit her in the film. May be during the rehearsal, she got accidentally hit. By the way, she looks petite and soft but she is a very strong girl and has a good understanding of relationships. When the shoot started, we didn’t know each other. We had no idea about each other’s personalities but by the end of the film, we became friends. Our bonding became strong while shooting in Mumbai for the film. I remember the last sequence when she is shouting at me for killing Vicky. There was silence on the sets and we hugged each other.

Q. The writer of Calling Sehmat wanted Gulzar Saab to make the film but the latter said he could not as cinematic language has changed. Do you think that way? Do you think the story telling of Anurag Kashyap has changed?

A. Cinema and literature keep changing every ten years. Anurag Kashyap also can’t be the same either. Whether he evolves or not, he cannot be the same. What his understanding of cinema was during Shool or Paanch is not the same as that of Mukkabaaz. Definitely his understanding of cinema would’ve only increased as he would’ve only learnt more about cinema over the years. It is not about one person, it is about an entire cinematic language.

Gulzar Saab said he saw Raazi as an action film but Meghna looked at it differently; so it is how you perceive a story and every kind of cinema is important in a sense. Rajkumar Hirani has a particular understanding of the language. Zoya Akhtar, Dibakar Banerjee pick up an aspect of a story that a normal person would not think of. Audience is getting exposed to different kinds of cinema and that could be one of the reasons that Raazi was appreciated by all. Cinema is changing and it is because the audience is changing.