Suganth M (BOMBAY TIMES; December 29, 2019)

It’s been an eventful year for Siddharth; 2019 marked his transition from boy-next-door to an action hero in the South industry and the actor has also been in the news for voicing his opinion on various social and political issues. In a candid chat, the actor, who has been a part of Bollywood films like Rang De Basanti (2006) and Chashme Baddoor (2013), talks about being vocal on social media and shifting gears in his career. Excerpts:

Based on your interviews and social media posts, you are seen as someone forthright, who believes in voicing his opinion on various social and political issues. Have you always been like this?
Yes, nothing about me has changed. It’s unfortunate that we are living in such a dark time when every day, something happens that makes your blood boil and you can’t believe it’s happening in the India you grew up in. So, it has more to do with the India that I’m living in right now than my personality or my films.

Aren’t you worried about the impact this attitude might have on your profession?
If I have to get work by keeping quiet, I don’t need that work. I have got so much from cinema. I’m also at an age where I’m not 21 years old, right? So, I’m not worried about being called a kid who’s speaking too much. I’d feel guilty if I don’t speak out. I don’t want to be the quiet majority of this country. I’m very fortunate that God and this country have given me a lot. If a person in privilege like me doesn’t speak out, then what’s the fate of the country? It’s my personal choice. I’m not lecturing anybody on how to live their life. I don’t know any other way to live my life.

So far, I have not had any problems because of voicing my opinions in my career. I don’t think I will have any now either. Because that’s not how I’ve got all my films. If I’d made any compromises and tried to get work, then, I might have to say, ‘Things are going good, so why rock the boat?’

But has anyone from the South industry advised you to stay mum lest it affects your films?
I’ve done 30-plus films as an actor. I’ve worked in five languages. I produce my own films. I never depended on the permission of the industry to be in it. That’s why I’ve only done the films that I’ve wanted to do. And, I don’t think I’m taking a stand or a tone that’s unreasonable or disrespectful. I’m just speaking out as a voting, tax-paying citizen, as somebody who is genuinely concerned over what’s happening in my state and country. I’ve not built my career on a certain kind of behaviour. So, till now, not even one person in the industry has asked me to remain silent.

What about political aspirations?
I don’t aspire to be a politician. People who talk like me cannot be in politics. For that, you have to be more diplomatic and know how to say the right thing at the right time. I know how to speak the truth and I do that. If I don’t speak out, I’d feel guilty

After Sivappu Manjal Pachai and Aruvam, even Takkar, seems to have you in an ‘action hero’ role. Is this a conscious decision?
If I keep selecting films according to my exposure, intelligence and world view, I’m alienating a lot of people. For a few years, my way of planning my career was keeping myself as the benchmark and selecting what films I want to watch. The idea was to not dominate in the business but participate in it. Now, there are certain scripts that I want to do over the next 5-10 years, which may need bigger budgets. And to get those budgets, I need to play a certain kind of role to get an extra kind of audience for my films. I have looked back at history and tried to see how the actors who I grew up loving, did it. As an actor you keep evolving, though your core personality remains the same. I’ve always fought to be called an actor and not a hero because I want people to clap for what my character does in the film. That’s why it’s taken me a long time to accept this kind of commercial cinema. But, as I said, I need to be a little more dominant.