John Abraham’s nemesis in RAW, Sikandar Kher on learning local dialect for his Pakistani ISI agent role
Sonil Dedhia (MID-DAY; March 29, 2019)

With John Abraham delivering two successive hits last year in Parmanu: The Story of Pokhran and Satyameva Jayate, Sikandar Kher knew he’d have to put up a tough front before the actor in Romeo Akbar Walter (RAW). “I’d constantly worry about putting up [a pale performance] before him, because I am his nemesis in the film. But, he made me so comfortable that I could experiment with my character. Also, even after his shot, he would hang around on set and chat with his co-actors and technicians,” says Kher.

Well aware that the role of a Pakistani ISI agent has been explored on the big screen umpteen times, Kher says he was keen to make his act distinct, so that it could stand out from the rest. “I realised that one of the things that I could do is work on the dialect. I met Ishraq bhai [Shah, unit member], who has written some of the dialogues of the film, and asked him to help me learn the Pakistani lehza. I found it a little difficult to nab. There are certain pockets in Pakistan where locals speak in Urdu with a Punjabi twang. Being a Punjabi, I thought it was something I could attempt. So, we started working on it. I worked on my accent and would constantly seek his feedback. The process went on for a month,” says the actor, adding that the unit would even incorporate dialogues that accentuated the dialect. “The result has left me creatively satisfied.”

Up next, Kher had Dulquer Salmaan and Sonam K Ahuja’s The Zoya Factor in his kitty. “I enjoyed exploring the character of Sonam’s brother since I don’t actually have siblings. Sonam is my neighbour, so, working with her was fun.”