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A model, struggler, assistant director and now a lead actor, Sidharth Malhotra has seen it all in last five years. Though it is a norm amongst star kids to turn assistant directors (ADs) for big filmmakers, rarely does one hear an absolute outsider planning this route towards stardom. In a tell tale mood, Sidharth, who would now be making his debut in Karan Johar’s Student Of The Year spills the beans.
You too must be ecstatic with all the recognition coming your way during promotional tours, isn’t it?
(Smiles) Yes, when I go on stage and one of those girls out there screams my name, it is a very exciting feeling. Achcha lagta hai ki waah yaar, isse mera naam pata hai. Of course on stage you can’t show that you are flattered and hence have to be starry and all. However when back in car, Varun (Dhawan) and I do keep count on who amongst us got the maximum number of flowers. All of this is new to us because before this film kisko pata tha ki kaun Sidharth hai aur kaun Varun.
Well, Karan has indeed made you a household name.
Yes, but the biggest struggle starts from here. After working with someone as big as Karan Johar, the tension is that ab aap ksike saath kaam karoge? There are so many actors who try their luck with him once in 4-5 years. Now that I have got a film with him in my debut itself, it would be difficult to find someone bigger.
Did you really think that being an assistant director would make you a good actor?
The idea was always to turn actor. The way I thought about it was that if I had to be in Hindi films, I had to first learn how to make them. This is the reason why I took on the role of an AD for My Name Is Khan. It wasn’t an easy choice though. I was doing well as a model and knew that as an AD, you could well be treated like a servant. You are required to do all odd jobs, including even wiping the floors. I wasn’t even a chief assistant director, I was just one of those many ADs out there.
Guess all of that paid off though?
(Laughs) Yes, that decision did land me SOTY. Otherwise I had so many model friends who didn’t want to learn about films but just become overnight stars. Looking at my example though, there are models who are saying that ham bhi AD banenge. Aise itna aasaan nahi hota hai. Sirf koyi ek hota hai jo aage nikal jaata hai. Even TV mein bhi ek hi Shahrukh tha aur woh aage nikal gaya.
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