Mardaani 2 Villain Vishal Jethwa On Preparing For The Character: “I Tried To Relate Myself To An Animal”

Though Rani Mukerji is headlining her last release, Mardaani 2, it is impossible for people to step out of the theater without thinking and maybe even fearing the films sneer antagonist, and debutante Vishal Jethwa.

Though the young boy has had his fair share of screen time on the small screen, the YRF outing was his first silver screen outing. And the actor has hit home in his debut itself.

Portraying the habitual and conflicted criminal, Sunny in the film, Vishal has finally opened up about his prep for the character and how his character’s psyche took a toll on his real-life and health.

In his conversation with Pinkvilla, Vishal has opened up on playing the villain in Mardaani 2, “I feel every person has a ‘secret’ dark side to them which perhaps they themselves are not aware of. I had to search that part in me for this role. I did a lot of workshops for it, we tried a lot of methods. I tried to relate myself to an animal, a python. I watched a couple of videos of the animal, on how he preys his victim and breaks them enough to feed on it. I had to reach that darkness within me, which was very difficult. I used to keep an empty chair in front of me and remove all my aggression and anger on it. Once in the process, I had gone extremely aggressive and my director told me to relax. After 4-5 seconds, I came out of the character and started sobbing (sigh). That day I thought I had gone a step ahead in becoming the character.”

Further speaking about the impact that his character of Sunny had on Vishal himself as a person, the actor said, “It is very disturbing. When I was doing the workshop and used to leave the workshop, my head used to start paining, literally. The character’s psyche was such that it used to take a toll on me. I was supposed to watch a lot of criminal news and their videos and as a part of workshop enjoy it but I just couldn’t. I could not sleep at night. It was very important for me to not lose myself in this. It took a lot of time to return to Vishal from Sunny. I remember seeing myself in the mirror and not recognizing myself. I used to feel, this is not me. I used to watch my old albums and photos and miss the real Vishal Jethwa. So, when the shoot got wrapped and my hair started growing, I saw glimpses of Vishal return to myself. Then later, when I wore my own clothes after 4-5 months, I felt uncomfortable for the first few days and I felt like I have lost something within me as Vishal. I used to meditate and meet people. It took me a bit of time to be back as Vishal.”

Backed by Aditya Chopra’s Yash Raj Films, Mardaani 2 is the sequel Rani Mukerji’s 2014 cop drama Mardaani. Mardaani 2 hit the theaters on the 13th December and saw Rani revive her tough cop character, Shivani Shivaji Rao.

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