Sidhant Gupta, who won immense praise for playing a pivotal role in Jubilee, believes that the Vikramaditya Motwane web series has paved the way ahead for him. After his television show Tashan-E-Ishq (2015), he got several offers, but he chose to step away from the medium to seek creative satisfaction through movies. He talks to us about how his career has taken a new turn with the OTT show.

Sidhant, who hails from Jammu, gives the credit for all the appreciation he has received for Jubilee to Motwane. He says, “I can spend a lifetime on a Vikramaditya Motwane’s set, which is a vibe. The atmosphere is so creative. The set only allows characters to be present. It doesn’t allow you to walk in with the baggage of your filmography. Everyone’s doing their own work and treating each other with respect.”

Talking about his role, Sidhant tells us, “There was something about Jay Khanna which the audience could connect with. He knew that life goes beyond the bubble of pain and fear. I could connect with this character, because, like Jay, even I have a never-give-up attitude. The show changed my life 360 degrees. The character gave me a perspective and brought out aspects of me like never before. This was like a dream role. Aise roles baar-baar nahi likhe jaate. I don’t know how it found me.”

Sidhant’s story is different. While many actors have used TV as a stepping stone to get an entry into films, Sidhant grabbed a role in a movie right after he moved to Mumbai to pursue a career in showbiz. He was seen in Tutiya Dil (2012) and Badmashiyaan (2015). The TV show Tashan-e-Ishq got him noticed, but somehow, he felt disconnected from the medium.

He says, “TV gave me popularity. After doing the show for a year, I quit because that was not what I had come here for. Then, I did a cameo in Bhoomi (Sanjay Dutt starrer). The film didn’t work at the box office. Meanwhile, I kept rejecting TV shows as there was no creative satisfaction, and I felt that I was doing the same thing over and over again. For me, acting goes beyond earning just fame and money.”

Sidhant feels that it is easy to lose your individuality in the movie business. He says, “I wasted a lot of time being like others in the industry. I was being extra nice and extra pleasing just to meet people who were in important positions in the industry (to get work). When you become like everyone else, you lose your individuality. What I liked about working with Motwane is that he encourages you to show your edgy side. He also gives you that comfort to be whatever you are and own it, and that has been the best part of my experience of working in Jubilee.”

To change gears in his career, Sidhant took a break to focus on himself and work on his acting skills. He shares, “I went to London in 2018 and took acting workshops. After my first session, for the first time, I felt the magic of being an actor. I realized that acting is not just about facing the camera and delivering your lines. I found an intention that went beyond the little things I was trapped in. It also liberated me and helped me get rid of my self-doubts.”

In the web series Jubilee, the character of Jamshed Khan, an upcoming actor, is touted as the next big thing. Everyone wants to get a piece of him, because talent like this doesn’t come by too often. In real life, actor Sidhant Gupta who plays theatre director Jay Khanna in the show, is drawing similar curiosity ever since the show released on Amazon Prime last week.

Directed by Vikramaditya Motwane, Jubilee is set in the Hindi film industry of the 1940s and ’50s (it starts in 1947), and is about a bunch of people trying to find their destiny in tinsel town. It also stars Bengali actor Prosenjit Chatterjee as big-shot producer Srikant Roy, Aparshakti Khurana as his Man Friday, and Aditi Rao Hydari as Roy’s wife and a top actress.

At a time where loud crime dramas are getting eyeballs, Jubilee is quiet, but charming. Especially Gupta as the intense, yet light-in-manner Jay. Gupta last grabbed eyeballs as Kunj Sarna from Zee TV’s romantic-drama Tashan-e-Ishq. The director has a knack for giving young actors a role that sheds a completely new light on what they could do with their craft—think Abhay Deol in Dev D, Rajat Barmecha in Udaan, Harshvardhan Kapoor in Bhavesh Joshi Superhero and Ranveer Singh in Lootera. As Jubilee gathers steam, Motwane and Gupta speak to us about process and progress.

Edited excerpts from the interview. 

Vikramaditya Motwane: It was an audition! I haven’t seen this show.

Sidhant Gupta: Don’t see it!

VM: Is it bad? Anyway, now, it’s too late. I saw him audition with my casting director. Jay was a very crucial bit of the puzzle. He had to be likeable, and intense. He had to be a good dancer, and very charming. I think Siddhant kind of grew into it. We could see the intensity, and he did serious scenes very well. The rest of it was a tossup—we had faith and went ahead. We knew he was a good actor and that he would pull it off... he has done better than I thought. 

SG: All I wanted to do was play. I wanted to be outside, not be contained. I think I became an actor because it allowed me to do everything. I had no plans—I just landed up in Mumbai. I sailed through life, and it brought me here.

VM: It’s a mix of many things. The research was in stages—the emotional stage, which was hearing about these stories for 20 years, more like urban legends. Then it was about the geopolitics—independence, refugee camps, etc. The last bit was production research—art, costumes, set, newspapers. With the actors, there wasn’t much research really. We worked out the style we wanted to give each one, and then started shooting. We did work on their language. There were no specific instruction. For Sidhant, it was all in the page, and he had to get it. We sort of found the character, and we both worked on it. 

VM: That’s Sidhant you are talking about, not Jay!

SG: (Laughs) Jay likes to share, because he values emotions a lot—that’s all there is! For a while, I didn’t know what I was doing as an actor. You can lose faith in this city, because there is so much insecurity. It’s like a chase. This script made me believe again. I had decided I won’t do any more of this, till I know why I am doing this. And the answer came to me with Jubilee. This work chose me, and I chose it. I didn’t give up, and I got this character, who doesn’t know how to give up.

VM: I had reached a turning point before Jubilee, maybe with AK vs AK (2020). I started enjoying the material. I had a great time doing Jubilee  too. Every film you do, becomes a new challenge, and I like that... it’s like enjoying going from one relationship to another. And you find yourself in that journey.

SG: It changed my life right from the moment I became part of it. It’s given me a lot... that’s the kind of give and take you have with a role like this. Right now, I like this feeling of putting your heart into something, and it’s connecting with others. This is the magic of cinema!