0:00:00.264,0:00:05.047 4-5 months later, Salman bhai said you know I am going to play the cop. And I said but you 0:00:05.047,0:00:08.970 are playing a cop in Dabangg and Radhe, its going to be the third film that you will be 0:00:08.970,0:00:14.361 playing a cop. He was like no but I like the organic reality of this film. I think that this is 0:00:14.361,0:00:16.486 going to have a different view to it 0:00:16.586,0:00:22.424 All actors always want that phantom shot. Who doesn’t want the slow motion right? 0:00:22.424,0:00:25.826 Everybody wants to one day see themselves do that phantom shot 0:00:26.010,0:00:30.693 A big superstar should always try something new because they are always repeating 0:00:30.693,0:00:33.745 themselves but when they want to try something new then 0:00:33.745,0:00:35.959 there is also a box office pressure that binds them 0:00:36.763,0:00:41.082 But your last film didn’t make 100 crores so that means it wasn’t a hit. But actually, the thing 0:00:41.082,0:00:47.075 is the film is already made in a budget that it is also recovered its money so we are not risking anything 0:00:47.597,0:00:51.041 Hi guys this is Himesh and welcome to Pinkvilla. Today we have with us Aayush Sharma 0:00:51.041,0:00:54.370 who is all gearing up for Antim which is releasing on November 26. 0:00:54.556,0:00:56.523 Welcome to Pinkvilla Aayush, its lovely having you here. 0:00:56.652,0:01:00.691 Thank you so much brother. Its amazing to be with you and on Pinkvilla 0:01:01.020,0:01:01.610 Thank you 0:01:01.924,0:01:05.800 Aayush my first question to you is you have been involved in Antim right from the time, I 0:01:05.800,0:01:08.680 think it has been three years. Could you tell us about the journey? 0:01:08.743,0:01:14.391 I think in November we first time saw Mulshi Pattern and by December we had decided that 0:01:14.391,0:01:19.585 we are going to make this film. From January onwards I started training for it like you know. 0:01:19.680,0:01:22.654 At that point in time, I didn’t really know that Salman bhai is going to be a part of it. I just 0:01:22.654,0:01:25.632 knew that I am playing this character Rahulya and the rest of the casting is going to take time, 0:01:25.632,0:01:29.632 it’s going to happen soon. So, my first thing when I figured out that I am doing this character 0:01:29.815,0:01:33.815 was like I want to really present myself in a new light. I really want to go out there and 0:01:34.540,0:01:39.038 change the way my physical appearance is, through my voice, through my performance to 0:01:39.038,0:01:45.107 have that kind of a graph that this character demands. At that point in time, I remember I 0:01:45.107,0:01:49.743 thought this was going to be like 7-8 months and we will be able to do my transformation but 0:01:50.112,0:01:56.034 it was much difficult to actually put on that weight you know. It was like almost going in a 1 0:01:56.034,0:02:03.221 kilo per month. So, I think in March I got in touch with Tiger, Tiger Shroff I called him up 0:02:03.221,0:02:09.063 and I said, brother you know I really want to transform and do this film and this action film 0:02:09.371,0:02:13.821 and I think you can really guide me in how to go about it. So he told me that you know why 0:02:13.821,0:02:18.093 don’t you have my trainer? So, I go this trainer on board and the first thing that trainer told 0:02:18.093,0:02:22.452 me that is sir I don’t think I can do it in 3-4 months. I mean like no, but why can’t we do it in 0:02:22.452,0:02:28.702 3-4 months? I am not out of shape; I am much leaner. He said no, the kind of action you are 0:02:28.702,0:02:33.116 looking for, the kind of stuff you are looking for it will give us. It will take minimum one 0:02:33.116,0:02:38.663 year. It will be a gradual thing. You will need to first start training like an athlete. I want you 0:02:38.663,0:02:44.411 to be strong in real life to look strong on camera and so it will take time. You will have to lift, 0:02:44.673,0:02:49.191 eat and you will have to really, really dedicate your life into this to actually do that. So, first 0:02:49.191,0:02:52.799 thing I went and Salman bhai that its going to take some time, its not going to be as simple 0:02:52.799,0:02:57.029 and he said, don’t worry. Do it at your pace. Don’t do it in the pressure that you have to start 0:02:57.029,0:03:02.735 this film this year. We started that journey and then I think about 4-5 months later, Salman 0:03:02.735,0:03:06.553 bhai said you know I am going to play the cop. And I said but you are playing a cop in 0:03:06.738,0:03:10.278 Dabangg and Radhe, its going to be the third film that you will be playing a cop. He was like 0:03:10.278,0:03:16.905 no but I like the organic reality of this film. I think that this is going to have a different view 0:03:16.905,0:03:22.185 to it. Its not that typical cop who is going to be like you know completely out there. This film 0:03:22.185,0:03:27.063 has a little bit of darkness to it and I really want to be part of it. I genuinely believe that it’s 0:03:27.063,0:03:32.938 going to be good for you and I was very happy. Every actor it’s a dream to be on a poster 0:03:32.938,0:03:36.806 with him. I mean come on who doesn’t want to be on poster on with him? But obviously I 0:03:36.806,0:03:43.463 knew that it is, I am up for a huge task because to even be worth of being on a frame it is not 0:03:43.463,0:03:48.203 only a matter of physical transformation, it is not only a matter about trying to look, be or feel 0:03:48.203,0:03:53.032 muscular. It had to be completely distinct you know my character had to be a worthy 0:03:53.032,0:03:57.815 opponent to him so I think that took its own course. About a year and a half, we were just 0:03:57.815,0:04:03.253 training and just working on this character and finally I think when Mahesh sir officially 0:04:03.253,0:04:05.693 came on board and he started writing the film in the way that 0:04:05.693,0:04:10.347 he saw the film that really helped in shaping up what happened. 0:04:10.929,0:04:14.427 And you know the film was initially titled Guns of North and I believe you were planning to 0:04:14.427,0:04:17.609 set it up in the northern belt. How did that change happen 0:04:17.609,0:04:19.548 after and how did the Sikh cop came into picture? 0:04:19.694,0:04:23.694 So basically, when we were working for this film, you know we thought we can you know 0:04:23.752,0:04:29.614 the situation back drop of where that story starts from is actually, we can set up in north. At 0:04:29.614,0:04:32.553 the same situation, same things have happened there as well so we thought we might be able 0:04:32.553,0:04:37.559 to set up north but eventually when we started going through the multiple drafts that we were 0:04:37.559,0:04:44.220 writing we were not, I was not sure that we have the right approach to the film because it 0:04:44.220,0:04:47.469 almost felt like we are having a very top angle view to this problem. 0:04:49.590,0:04:55.596 We had a very top angle view of this gangster and this whole world and how you know 0:04:57.297,0:05:01.087 people come from this village and become gangsters in the city. I think I felt that it is very top 0:05:01.087,0:05:06.453 angle view so did Salman bhai. He also felt that you know just to scale up the film it might 0:05:06.453,0:05:11.956 actually lose the essence of what we really want to tell. A story we want to and then we 0:05:12.087,0:05:17.669 decided we really got Mahesh sir back and we said we really want it to be a rooted film. A 0:05:17.669,0:05:25.091 film that has real character, it should feel like a real film. We don’t need a glossy film on this. 0:05:25.250,0:05:30.124 This story doesn’t really have that kind of a backdrop that you can have choppers and this 0:05:30.124,0:05:35.668 luxurious cars and this and that. Like my character in the film, he is not, he is the gangster of 0:05:35.668,0:05:41.186 Pune. But he is not some lavish gangster sitting who has this massive houses and he has 0:05:41.784,0:05:43.431 Not as flamboyant as we have seen 0:05:43.632,0:05:49.099 Yeah, yeah. He is a very real space of a gangster so that’s why we moved the film back and 0:05:49.099,0:05:55.255 we said that lets go to Antim. Let’s make the film we intended to make not go towards 0:05:56.393,0:05:59.395 And you know you said that you know when the film was conceptualised you were not 0:05:59.395,0:06:03.266 aware, actually no one was aware that to who is going to play the cop. And for first 4-5 0:06:03.266,0:06:07.266 months when you were training what were the discussions like because you know in the 0:06:07.479,0:06:12.889 original film if we look at Mulshi Pattern it’s a very pivotal character but not as long in terms 0:06:12.889,0:06:15.665 of length. So, what were the discussion like and how did 0:06:15.665,0:06:18.793 that character evolved since you were involved in the journey right from the first day? 0:06:19.645,0:06:25.611 See, when we as you rightly said in the original film cops character was actually like 25-30 0:06:25.611,0:06:32.017 minutes of the film but there is a very, we felt that the climax when he says it was a very 0:06:32.017,0:06:37.572 important scene if you think about it. When he says, what village are you from? He says 0:06:37.642,0:06:44.605 Mulshi. That point we felt was a very, very strong point. We felt that is a very strong point 0:06:44.659,0:06:48.333 then you know otherwise you are thinking there is a cop who us just doing his job, trying to 0:06:48.333,0:06:53.759 go after a gangster. We felt that this is a very interesting thought to say that there are two 0:06:53.759,0:06:59.657 people who had the same back story, who actually know they both know each other’s back 0:06:59.657,0:07:08.374 story very well but on one side there is a cop who has been wronged but he chose to be a cop. 0:07:09.002,0:07:15.983 And there is one person who chose to be gangster so there’s a flip side to both the characters 0:07:15.983,0:07:21.898 and both of them had the choice so what Mahesh sir genuinely felt was the story also has the 0:07:21.898,0:07:27.189 option to give a message out to people that at any given point of time even though you are 0:07:27.189,0:07:31.310 wrong you still have an option of what path to choose and that’s something that we wanted to 0:07:31.310,0:07:36.473 project so that’s why we increased the role and we also felt that there has to be a certain 0:07:36.473,0:07:43.065 person who is the catalyst behind the journey. You know we need somebody who is making 0:07:43.065,0:07:48.125 sure this journey is manoeuvring the way you know the ups and the downs of the character 0:07:48.125,0:07:52.515 happen that’s what something we felt and that’s the reason why we increased the element. 0:07:52.754,0:07:59.036 We increased him very much pertaining to Hindi cinema, we involved him a little bit more, 0:07:59.397,0:08:04.029 we increased the run time, we gave him a little but of more cinematic treatment to obviously 0:08:04.219,0:08:11.359 cater to his fans and the film story and make sure that he is still not away from the film. You 0:08:11.359,0:08:15.359 know it should not be that he is a sperate entity of the film, he is very much also a character 0:08:15.359,0:08:20.716 in the film like we all are just characters you know that’s how everybody is intertwined with each other. 0:08:21.459,0:08:25.980 And Aayush you know like you said you transformed for this role. How easy or difficult was 0:08:25.980,0:08:28.730 that transformation journey like and also because you know 0:08:28.730,0:08:32.119 in between the pandemic struck us in which delayed the process? 0:08:32.535,0:08:37.910 Well I think the most difficult thing was the eating. I had to eat a lot. I had to constantly keep 0:08:37.910,0:08:43.377 feeding myself and that was the most irritating thing. I remember when I was going on a 0:08:43.377,0:08:47.277 vacation or something I had to go and choose hotels which had certain kind of a gym for me 0:08:47.277,0:08:53.679 to go to and you know meals booked in advance and eat that. So I think the most difficult part 0:08:53.679,0:08:59.414 about the transformation was more than anything was just eating, training everyday like there 0:08:59.414,0:09:03.819 were no of off days so it used to be training every day and then there used to be 0:09:03.819,0:09:08.418 physiotherapy in the night and there used to be ice bath in the night just to make sure we 0:09:08.555,0:09:13.725 don’t get injured, to make sure that, there used to be constant process. It was almost like how 0:09:13.725,0:09:18.102 athletes’ train. And then by the end of it got to me you know 0:09:18.622,0:09:25.193 And you know talking about the delay due to pandemic, did that ever bother you because you 0:09:25.193,0:09:29.714 even at the trailer launch Salman sir said that Aayush used to be, when will we start? And 0:09:29.714,0:09:31.830 you lost patience that one point of time 0:09:32.041,0:09:38.289 So its but natural because my first film came out in 2018 and I had decided to do this film in 0:09:38.289,0:09:44.749 beginning of 2019. Now you are like prepping for it, there’s been delays and I have to still 0:09:44.749,0:09:48.749 work on myself and there is certain amount of days so 2019 is gone in that and then there is 0:09:48.834,0:09:53.932 2020 that starts and you are okay now, we are three months away. Now we have like one year 0:09:53.932,0:09:58.697 okay so as an actor sometimes you feel like I debuted in 2018 now if I don’t have a release in 0:09:58.697,0:10:03.134 2019 then it looks like that there is nothing happening you know those thoughts come to your 0:10:03.134,0:10:10.614 head. You get like but I had taken up something as Antim which was quite bigger than what I 0:10:10.614,0:10:15.896 could chew and that needed that kind of effort and that patience to make sure that it happens 0:10:15.896,0:10:22.517 in the right way so finally when it was about to start in 2020 then the pandemic happened and 0:10:22.517,0:10:32.900 just you are like that’s work more towards, the three year period by the end of it just felt like I 0:10:32.900,0:10:37.060 hope by the time this film releases I hope I don’t have to come back and introduce myself to 0:10:37.060,0:10:41.128 people that you know that I had to, I hope the wait was worth it 0:10:41.218,0:10:44.022 you know that to wait for something like Antim was worth it 0:10:44.433,0:10:50.529 And you know talking about Loveyatri and the journey since then what made you decide to 0:10:50.529,0:10:54.697 you know step away from lighter space, the rom com space and you know switch to 0:10:54.998,0:10:58.677 something as intense as Antim? And what were the offers that 0:10:58.677,0:11:00.117 were coming your way in between that? 0:11:00.659,0:11:09.370 See my first reaction after the feedback I got to me after Loveyatri I always wanted to make 0:11:09.370,0:11:14.167 sure that I do something else in my next film. Obviously, some offers were coming again that 0:11:14.167,0:11:18.696 I was a boy next door, falling in love with a girl and the songs and the story and how all these 0:11:18.696,0:11:24.928 things go by but I genuinely didn’t feel convinced that I want to comeback, to another 0:11:24.928,0:11:30.943 romantic comedy you know I think that was the first film. I really wanted to shift gears in the 0:11:30.943,0:11:36.908 second film. I genuinely feel that you know right now its too early in my career to box myself 0:11:36.908,0:11:41.091 in one zone and say this is who I am and this is what I am going to always do. I believe there 0:11:41.091,0:11:45.899 is I have time, I have the energy, I am young to keep manoeuvring, keep changing myself to 0:11:45.899,0:11:50.389 do something else and you know if something excites you, why not? And action has always 0:11:50.389,0:11:56.395 been one of my favourite genres you know. Let’s be honest all actors always want that 0:11:56.395,0:12:01.371 phantom shot. Who doesn’t want the slow motion right? Everybody wants to one day see 0:12:01.371,0:12:06.605 themselves do that phantom shot and I still remember that when finally, the teaser, the first 0:12:06.605,0:12:10.337 look of Antim came out and I am running Salman bhai asked me what do you think of it? 0:12:10.463,0:12:15.179 You think it’s works? I said I don’t know I am just happy that it’s a phantom shot. I am just 0:12:15.179,0:12:19.319 happy that this whole action thing is coming out, I am just happy with that because that’s like 0:12:19.976,0:12:28.229 a dream come true for every actor to have a phantom shot so I just felt that if I really need to 0:12:28.229,0:12:33.130 make an impact, I need to throw myself at a different ship altogether you know. In my first 0:12:33.130,0:12:39.142 film I tried to be this romantic, sweet character and my second film because that’s what the 0:12:39.142,0:12:44.412 challenge was first thing that many people told me that you are too cute looking for being a 0:12:44.412,0:12:50.734 gangster. But I said that’s the challenge. This is something that we have here that you look 0:12:50.734,0:12:55.949 like this so you can’t do this but if you go to see films in Hollywood people, they change 0:12:56.050,0:13:00.686 according to films. It’s not about how you look. You change, you put on weight, you lose 0:13:00.686,0:13:05.743 weight. If Christian Bale can put on so much of muscles and then lose it so can I 0:13:05.932,0:13:09.710 And Aayush you know this is your second film so there might not be much of box office 0:13:09.710,0:13:13.935 pressure on you but you know with Salman Khan’s involvement there is a certain number 0:13:13.935,0:13:18.883 that everyone expects, what sort of discussions are there on that front between you and him 0:13:19.029,0:13:22.829 because you know whenever his films come its like 100 crores in three days and then what 0:13:22.829,0:13:25.840 next, we will see. So what are the discussions around that? 0:13:25.871,0:13:31.164 See I think when we started the idea of Antim was actually to attempt something different for 0:13:31.164,0:13:36.581 me and for him as well you know I think last couple of films that he has done it is the first 0:13:36.581,0:13:40.263 time that there is no female protagonist for him, there is no song where he is romancing 0:13:40.263,0:13:43.586 anybody or there is something like that. We are doing something different this time so we 0:13:43.586,0:13:46.624 were mentally prepared that we are actually signing up for something which is going to be 0:13:46.624,0:13:53.207 different either and this is a honest conversation. Either it is loved because it’s a dark film if 0:13:53.207,0:13:57.405 it’s not loved it might not get loved, its fine. But even he wanted to attempt it, even I wanted 0:13:57.405,0:14:02.070 to attempt it and I feel that at this point in time I genuinely don’t have as you rightly said I 0:14:02.070,0:14:07.146 don’t have the box office pressure but his name is expecting something. People are expecting 0:14:07.146,0:14:13.519 those things but I think it is all about experimenting. Sometimes I genuinely feel that we 0:14:13.896,0:14:20.474 always speaking on his behalf that a big superstar should always try something new because 0:14:20.474,0:14:24.729 they are always repeating themselves but when they want to try something new then there is 0:14:24.729,0:14:26.777 also a box office pressure that binds them 0:14:27.464,0:14:31.784 But your last film didn’t make 100 crores so that means it wasn’t a hit. But actually, the thing 0:14:31.784,0:14:37.565 is the film is already made in a budget that it is also recovered its money so we are not risking 0:14:37.565,0:14:44.138 anything out here but that image of 100 crore but that also boxes you into that small thing that 0:14:44.138,0:14:48.452 100 crores if you want to keep playing in that club you might have to repeat yourself all the time. 0:14:48.570,0:14:50.630 So there are no pressures in that front? 0:14:50.630,0:14:55.290 No, I think we are very content with the fact that we are trying to tell something. This is a 0:14:55.290,0:15:01.069 different film for both of us that’s why you know we feel that I just feel that this film has, this 0:15:01.069,0:15:08.030 film will see its own destiny and I think there will be people when we went into the whole 0:15:08.177,0:15:11.704 sequences there were times when we would say that you know Salman bhai’s film audiences 0:15:11.704,0:15:18.214 are more family audiences, is it okay to have this in the film? Are we okay to be so brutal in 0:15:18.214,0:15:24.286 the film and the idea was that I think its high time we need to, we can't always be catering to 0:15:24.286,0:15:31.234 same cinema. He is always been a huge superstar and he just told me I have time between 0:15:32.311,0:15:34.871 before Tiger starts and I genuinely want to do this film 0:15:34.871,0:15:37.804 as an experiment for myself as well so I think that’s exciting. 0:15:38.522,0:15:40.289 And Aayush what next for you after Antim? 0:15:40.646,0:15:45.169 Well there are you know I genuinely feel that I really don’t want to rush into anything you 0:15:45.169,0:15:49.169 know I just feel that you know everything depends mainly for Antim because this is a big 0:15:49.211,0:15:53.450 film for people to actually gauge what I am capable of. So I would not say that there is 0:15:53.450,0:15:57.450 multiple offer that I am getting or I am this film and that film and I am sitting and work, this 0:15:57.470,0:16:02.365 is not that. I genuinely feel that there is going to be a, its going to be a career defining film for 0:16:02.365,0:16:07.506 me. It’s a very important film for me if it does connect, if it does get the appreciation and the 0:16:07.506,0:16:12.645 love then it will be based on Antim. Right now, everybody will talk about movies but they 0:16:12.645,0:16:18.662 will not start the time Antim shows its merit at the box office. So I really don’t want to rush 0:16:18.662,0:16:25.088 into it you know based on anything, I just want to take my time. After my first film I took my 0:16:25.088,0:16:30.188 time to work on the things that I was told that this is the things that I ned to work on as an 0:16:30.188,0:16:34.188 actor. I worked on it and I came to Antim. So I am sure there will be some feedback that I 0:16:34.188,0:16:37.234 will get after Antim, I will work on that and then I will what I want to do next 0:16:37.716,0:16:43.354 But there are reports about you doing another film with Salman that’s Kabhi Eid Kabhi Diwali? Is there 0:16:43.354,0:16:46.981 any truth to that or there have been multiple reports for the last two years that’s why? 0:16:47.604,0:16:53.270 Well, you know this film is definitely on floors, its called Bhaijaan and I think they are 0:16:53.270,0:16:58.879 already Sajid bhai and Salman Bhai discussing for it. I think it all depends if you know Sajid 0:16:58.879,0:17:02.879 bhai and Salman bhai want me in the film and if they offer me and tell me to do the film I 0:17:02.879,0:17:06.343 will definitely be a part of it and why not? It is Farhad sir is 0:17:06.343,0:17:09.387 directing it, Sajid bhai is there, Salman bhai is there, I think it’s kickass 0:17:09.921,0:17:13.567 Perfect. Thank you so much Aayush. Lovely talking to you and wish you all the best for Antim 0:17:13.677,0:17:14.485 Thank you, thank you.