Interview | Siddhant Chaturvedi on ‘Gehraiyaan’

With Gehraiyaan, the actor is turning his back on stereotypes, leaning into ‘real’ narratives, and letting director Shakun Batra’s collaborative process strengthen his craft

The Hindu Weekend  spoke with actor Siddhant Chaturvedi, 26, via Zoom just as  Gehraiyaan ’s promotions were starting and he was still looking for the right words to describe the film.

“It’s a relationship drama, but unlike anything you’ve seen before,” he says. “We called it domestic noir for the longest time and didn’t even have a title until much later because it’s so new and fresh.”

Gehraiyaan , a Dharma Production directed by Shakun Batra, that also stars Deepika Padukone and Ananya Pandey, is Chaturvedi’s third film. The actor had a dream debut of sorts in Zoya Akhtar’s Gully Boy (2019) as MC Sher — who helped Ranveer Singh’s Murad channel his angst and achieve his dream of a career in hip-hop.

When I met him days after the release of that film, he was still in a daze processing all the praise that was coming his way. ‘Surreal’ was a word Chaturvedi used often during that conversation and almost three years later that feeling hasn’t changed for him.

Read more: Why Siddhant Chaturvedi isn’t copying SRK in Gehraiyaan