Harshada Rege (DNA; January 23, 2018)

Sidharth Malhotra is one of those few people that I have met who, like me, prefers Pierce Brosnan to Sean Connery as James Bond. “I have grown up watching those movies,” he explains. A self-confessed fan of the spy-film genre, it’s obvious that the actor is mighty thrilled to play one on the big screen in Aiyaary. This is also the first time that he gets to work with director Neeraj Pandey, who is a pro at this genre, with movies like A Wednesday and Baby to his credit. Here, the actor talks about the unavoidable clash with Pad Man, relationships in Bollywood, and working with Neeraj and Manoj Bajpayee for the first time.

Which has been your favourite spy movie?
True Lies, where Arnold Schwarzenegger’s family doesn’t know what he does. See, the main job of a spy is to get information. Both, Manoj and my characters in Aiyaary, are those of military intelligence people. Their job is to know what’s happening around. This is probably the closest we have got to showing real-life spies. They aren’t always glamorous. They aren’t always fighting and punching. Their main job is to not get noticed. And that’s where the Aiyaary aspect comes in. They’ve been taught to merge in the crowd, not get noticed, change forms, and get relevant information, hence the title.

This is the first time you are working with Neeraj Pandey...
Yes, and he is great to work with. He is one of the few filmmakers in the country who wants to make movies to make a difference in a way and talk about real subjects and issues. But he does that in an entertaining and thrilling manner. Look at A Wednesday, what a lovely thriller! Not one shot in the film is a filler scene, and the punch in the end is superb. So, in his words, he says that Aiyaary is almost in a similar format. I was very happy to hear that and now that the film is close to release, I am very excited to have people see it.

Was shooting with him what you expected it to be like?
The thing about him is that he shoots fast. His speed is unique because he is so clear about what he wants as he writes the dialogues, the screenplay and the story. Once he gets his shot, he doesn’t question it and moves on. He uses a lot of steady-cam. His strength is his writing and his command over a story and how to take it forward. There will be no filler scenes or place to think ki abhi kya karna hai. He knows exactly why he has it there. That’s been his USP.

You have teamed up with Manoj Bajpayee for the first time too...
Yes. It’s been a very enriching and exciting experience. I was watching him and learning. I was like a sponge on the sets absorbing what he was doing. He is a silent actor. He has given some prolific performances, won National Awards...so to be on sets with that kind of an actor, you just get to observe his preparation and discipline. The way he switches on and off on the sets is amazing. He was sweet enough to spend time with me after shooting. He takes these acting workshops. I wanted to know what he does. I called him and he landed up. We were talking about performances, movies, Hindi poetry, his theatre time... it was great. I learnt a few things that will help me in future

Now that Pad Man has changed its release date, you are back to clashing again at the box office...
For us, our life is back to square one. We thought we were being gracious enough and moving forward for an easy and solo release so that more people can see our film. It was also more of a production call and rightfully so because the numbers are affected in a way. But we were never shying away from a clash, it was purely to avoid three films coming on January 26. And I think there’s an immense amount of love from Pad Man team who just want to latch on to any date that we come on and they are just not letting go (laughs). So, again, we are pretty happy and confident of our film. Two films will come on a particular date so there’s not much that we can do. Now, people will have two films to watch. Let’s see...

You have said that clashes at box office don’t affect equations, but is that really possible in Bollywood where relationships are so fragile?
I won’t say that every relationship in the industry is easy to maintain or grows with time, but there are exceptions to the cases. It’s also very situational. Relationships in the industry are very fragile, I agree with you. But it’s a personality thing — it’s also about what you want to put on line, and what that friendship means to you. I think there’s a very distinct line between friendship and business. Anyone in this industry will give priority to work first unless they are family. And rightfully so, that’s the way the world works and should work. We are all here to do good work and business. So, I do understand it. Over the years, there’s a sense of maturity as well, to be prepared for these situations and maintain relationships, and also to know to what degree can they be extended to.

Besides this film, you will also be a part of the Vikram Batra biopic. What is it about the spy/army genre that fascinates you?
Just the inspiration angle of it. These are real-life heroes and the whole country knows them and what they do for the country. These are the people who are sacrificing their lives for us. It’s also a matter of chance that two of these movies have come up back-to-back. I might have a love story in the middle to just pace them a bit. But even these two films are not similar. Aiyaary is not a war film, it’s a relevant film about what happens today in the military intelligence department. The other will be a proper biopic. That will be straight-arrow inspiring about a particular battle and war that India fought. They are two distinctly different films.