I was born and brought up in Gurgaon to a middle class family. My father, now retired, worked with the revenue department, and my mother is a housewife. I have two siblings who are both married and have kids. But I was always interested in doing something apart from studies.
A film like 'Kai Po Che!', 'Queen', 'Behen Hogi Teri' and 'Bareilly Ki Barfi' are not really independent films.
It's very tough for someone who doesn't have a filmi background to get work in Bollywood. It's not a smooth ride unless you are really lucky. But I think one has to be prepared for that.
It's very tough for someone who doesn't have a filmi background to get work in Bollywood. It's not a smooth ride unless you are really lucky. But I think one has to be prepared for that.
When you are successful, the perception of the people around you changes. If I do a variety of work, people notice me differently, and that is what is happening. I am fortunate to get these opportunities.
I feel since people have started noticing me and enjoying my performance, and considering the kind of love I've got in 2017-18, many feel that I have arrived, because there's a belief that I can probably carry a film on my shoulders now.
All the characters play an important role. For me, as an actor, for my character to come out so beautifully, I would give all the credit to my co-actors, directors and writers.
People claim that no good actors came out of FTII after Naseeruddin Shah and Shabana Azmi. What they don't know is that the acting course was closed for 26 years and reopened only in 2004.
I was a very outgoing guy. I loved roaming around, hanging out with friends. From class 5th, I practised and learnt martial arts for about 7-8 years and have won medals at the national level. Then I trained in dancing on stage. In class 10th, I acted in my first play, and that's when I realised I wanted to become an actor.
It's amazing how you get to recreate somebody else's life on-screen. It's wonderful when you get responses like, 'You actually look like him.'
Everybody is replaceable; nobody is irreplaceable here. If I'm going to say no to it because I want to do two films a year and sit at home, someone else will.
'Newton' is a very Indian film. I think, after a long time, people will see an Indian film in its true form. As in the story, the character, it is set in the heartland of India, but it's purely like how there was a time when Hrishikesh Mukherjee used to make sweet Indian films.
There are a lot of things people are calling me, and I'm overwhelmed. I have a lot of gratitude, but I just want to keep doing what I'm in love with, which is acting.