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Sushant Singh Rajput about being a selfish actor, about learning from Dhoni and the differences and similarities between them
Upala KBR (DNA; September 30, 2016)

Sushant Singh Rajput admits he only thinks about himself and ensures the story centres around him when picking a character to play. He researched Mahendra Singh Dhoni and in due course, he reportedly ‘became’ Dhoni. Here, SSR gives us insights on how he became Captain Cool. Excerpts...

MSD is an introvert. How was your first meeting with him?
I’m the same. So, before we met, there was this thought: who is going to talk? (Laughs) Initially, I’d just listen to and record him. The first time, he showed me how to play shots. The second time, I gave him 250 questions. Like things that defined him, his perception of himself and such things.

What was the conversation like?
I felt flattered because when we started talking, MSD seemed very interested in my conversation. I was thrilled till I realised that he was like that with everyone. I felt a bit deflated (laughs) and thought, ‘Oh I am not important.’

Please continue..
He is always in control and I have learned that from him. How to be in control of everything, Earlier, I used to be completely obsessed about the future or my past. From MSD, I learned that obsessing about things leads you nowhere. Dhoni changed me as a person. I was shooting in Mauritius and one night, I went out of my room and lay down on a private road just staring at the stars above. The last time I did that? I must have been be around six or seven years old.

Your reaction to being offered The Untold Story?
I was curious. When I play a character, I only think about myself. As long as it only centres around me, it doesn’t matter. In a way, I am a very selfish actor. That’s my way of exploring different things, as I am very bored of my perception of myself. I need to pretend I am somebody else. So from the first day of the shoot, in my head, I am the character.

Let’s talk about his temperament.
Dhoni lives in the moment. He has a definite sense of right and wrong. For him, it’s like this: five things are right and these five things are wrong. And the other 90 per cent of things he doesn’t care about. I am slightly more dynamic as I tend to think it through again and again. Every time just because something is right, I may not do it. I don’t have opinions.

Are you Captain Cool like him?
No, but I have learned that I can become that. Rather than obsessing about the future, which you can’t do anything about, it’s better to be cool and calm and focused on right now.

Has he gone out of your system?
You need to destroy what you have been doing for the last few months and then you change. While playing a character like this, you just randomly pick some things and mannerisms which will always remain. I have figured out how he thinks. It’s different and good, so you don’t want to let it go. It stays with you because you want it, so you are never the same person when you start and finish the film.