Vicky Kaushal talks about breaking bad for his upcoming film on a serial killer
Sanyukta Iyer (MUMBAI MIRROR; February 16, 2016)

From clapping for Nawazuddin Siddiqui as an assistant on Anurag Kashyap's Gangs of Wasseypur to featuring alongside the actor in the director's next, Raman Raghav 2.0, life truly has come a full circle for Vicky Kaushal.

The Masaan debutant recalls his first audition for the role, when Anurag told him that he looked like a very good boy and he was not looking for a good boy for this role. "So I locked myself in a room for five days, lived in darkness, without internet, my cell phone or any contact with people. A week later I auditioned again and bagged the role because this time, Anurag saw the fire in my eyes," reminisces the actor.

The director's next features Nawaz and Vicky in a cat-and-mouse chase, with Nawaz as 'Psycho Raman', a 1960s serial killer, on the prowl in Mumbai, who murdered over 23 people, and Vicky as the police officer on the case. The film wrapped up in December and is slated for a summer 2016 release.

The son of action-director and stuntman, Sham Kaushal, Vicky says being a part of a gritty film like Raman Raghav reminds him that money is not everything. "In Masaan too, I was two shades darker, looked gareeb and unexciting," he jokes, throwing light on his humble origins. "I was born in a 10-by-10 chawl with no kitchen. I've seen all the hard work my father put in to move us into a bigger house. He taught me early on how cinema is a director's medium and I continue to live by it."

He admits that working with Nawaz was like debuting all over again. "I gave it my all," admits the 27-year-old actor, who has two more releases this year — Mozez Singh's musical-drama, Zubaan, co-starring Sarah-Jane Dias and Luv Shuv Tey Chicken Khurana director Sameer Sharma's next, Manmarziyan, a romantic Punjabi drama, featuring Ayushmann Khurrana and Bhumi Pednekar as the leads.