Siddharth Malhotra, who played the role of an aggressive hunk in Student of the Year (SOTY), has drawn acclaim for an almost opposite portrayal in his latest flick Hasee Toh Phasee. Siddharth, in the character of Nikhil Bharadwaj, is not the typical hero but a shy, sweet and committed guy.
“The character I am playing is a little lost and emotional. His family and girlfriend keep troubling him for not making enough money. The quirkiness in the movie will make the audience laugh and take them on a fun ride. Parineeti and I are not playing the regular hero-heroine but a little odd kind of characters. It was fun working with her,” says Siddharth. The chemistry of the duo can be seen in the movie’s song- ‘Shake it Like Shammi.’
The movie is a romcom and the madness in the script is exactly what sold the film to Siddharth after he met director Vinil Mathew. Produced by Karan Johar, the actor has sought not to disappoint him. “He was the first one to see potential in me while there were so many other options. Hats off to him for his confidence, he has given me whatever I have today,” says the actor about Karan, who launched him in the industry. He also feels it’s his responsibility to show Karan that he has given the industry a talent.
The actor believes that he hasn’t set the clichéd loverboy image for himself and is trying his skills at different characters. “I think setting even a particular image needs a lot of hard work. I will have to do another five SOTYs to get that loverboy image.” He will be seen as an intensely aggressive character in Villain , his upcoming film.
Siddharth owes a lot of what he is to the influence of his mother. “My father was in the merchant navy which allowed us to travel a lot. My impression of acting comes from whatever mum chose; Yash chopra’s films, Pakistani dramas, American sitcoms. Thanks to her interest, for this is what I picked.”
However, the film industry is a lot different from what the boy experienced in his early years. He feels that it is far tougher to convince people now. He also fondly admits that Amitabh Bachhan is his favourite hero. “I don’t like being compared to any other heroes. I hope to have a unique image of my own and not somebody else’s.”
