Showing posts with label Sidhartha Mallya interview. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Sidhartha Mallya interview. Show all posts
Don’t dislike me because you link me to someone else-Sidhartha Mallya
8:29 AM
Renuka Vyavahare (BOMBAY TIMES; October 10, 2021)
What does being born into privilege feel like? Does it come at a huge price? Having it all —is that a weight easy to carry? Sidhartha Mallya, son of businessman Vijay Mallya, reflects upon these thoughts and more in an in-depth chat with Bombay Times from the US. The actor, whose recent memoir addresses his mental health journey, says that, “Most of us are quick to make judgments by seeing what’s on the outside.” He also elaborates on the baggage of his surname, his controversial father and more. Excerpts…
For the outside world, Sidhartha Mallya is someone who’s born with a silver spoon. What else could he need! Would you say that all the privilege you enjoyed came at a huge price?
I think it’s subjective, right? What do we mean by ‘have it all’? For different people, different things are desirable. Sure, from a materialistic point of view, the outside world might have a general consensus that I had a lot growing up, which I did. But most of us are quick to make judgments by seeing what’s on the outside without having any clue of what might be going on internally.
How do you cope with these preconceived notions that people have about you?
For many years, I just buried it. I am not old by any stretch of the imagination, I am 34, but the world today is a very different place than it was when I was 10. I went to an all-boys boarding school at the age of 10. Growing up at a time when mental well-being wasn’t prioritized among kids, maybe I was a product of the environment that I was in. These sorts of things like mental health weren’t talked about at all. I probably wasn’t even aware of what I was going through. It was only later in life, when I started working on myself that I realised how much it had affected me.
Naomi Osaka, Simone Biles, both world-class athletes, have received huge support when they came forward about their mental health, but there’s also a counter argument. Pressure is a part of the game. Privileged people citing mental health issues as opposed to those with limited means are bound to be judged. How do you view this situation?
From the outside, Naomi Osaka is 23 years old, former World No 1 women’s tennis player. She is a four-time Grand Slam singles champion and is one of the highest-paid female athletes. For people watching her from the outside, she has it all. But she proved to everybody that all of that stuff means nothing. Everyone is susceptible to feelings of mental ill-health. It’s not like she is at the end of her career and on the verge of retirement, likewise with regards to Simone Biles. However, their careers are limited compared to other careers because they are athletes. They can’t do gymnastics or play tennis till they are 75. Both were on top of their game. To then have the courage to say that they weren’t in the right frame of mind to compete was admirable. To say that our mental health has to be our priority is mighty courageous and inspiring. They are perfect examples of great role models. You need to change your perspective on what’s weak. At the moment, the belief is that if you act tough, you are tough. If you act like Osaka or Biles, you are “weak”. What takes more courage? To hide or to stand in front of the world and say that I don’t feel okay? I can guarantee you it’s the latter that takes far more strength. Putting up a guard is not strength; that’s weakness.
You went from Sidhartha to Sid in between and now back to the original. What transpired the name alteration?
In India, no one called me Sidhartha (stresses on the tha in the name). I was called Sidharth. I would say it’s Sidhartha, but when I corrected people, they got angry. When I moved to the USA in 2012, diversity wasn’t what it is in the film industry today. Sid was more ethnically ambiguous, and I didn’t want to be typecast, so I opted for that name. But this year I thought, that doesn’t matter... Sidhartha is a beautiful and powerful name. I am going to embrace it and people will learn to pronounce it. Whoever wants to call me Sid, can call me Sid.
You gave your version and point of view in the explosive investigative documentary Bad Boy Billionaires: India, which explored the rise and fall of Vijay Mallya among other disgraced businessmen. About your father, you said, ‘He was a political pawn’. What made you speak for him at that point?
I did that appearance because it’s good to have a balanced view. You are going to get enough people to speak against him, so let me say that I am not here to defend anyone, but to say what it feels like. You don’t want anyone you care about to suffer regardless of what they have or have not been accused of. No child wants to see a parent suffer and vice versa. From that point of view, it’s taxing to see someone going through that. As for me... If you don’t like me, judge me for me. You don’t like my book? That’s fine. But don’t dislike me because you link me to someone else. I am trying to do my own stuff now, but you always end up getting labelled and branded. My surname didn’t always have the connotations that it does today.
You are Vijay Mallya’s son and that continues to be your identity — the surname. Ironically, you were on your own growing up… a lone child. Do you hope to get this dichotomy between your reality and perception out to people through your book?
I just wanted to be honest about the upbringing that I had. Whatever people think, I am who I am. I cannot change that. No matter whose son or daughter you are, everyone can suffer. I decided to come up with a book now because a lot of good conversation is happening around mental health. Due to the Coronavirus pandemic, we were forced to look inwards. This wouldn’t be the case if we didn’t have to be isolated from the world.
You have written that you were diagnosed with depression in 2016. That was also the year that your father, Vijay Mallya, reportedly fled to the UK after being accused of financial fraud and bankruptcy. Was his situation one of the triggers for your mental upheaval?
I don’t know, but I am sure it played a part. It must have, right? As I say in the book, what really coincided was me at drama school. We learnt movement, dance and voice. It led me to be in touch with my innermost feelings. It helped me reconnect with the part of me that wasn’t strong because of my upbringing. It was the first time that my walls were lowered, and the vulnerability was coming out. I think it was this rush of emotions hitting me from years, mixed with what you just mentioned about my father. It was a combination of various things. If whatever happened to him had happened 10 years ago, maybe I wouldn’t have felt it that strongly. Not because I was different then, but I was more guarded as an individual. In my later years, the guard was down, so you tend to feel more.
We have seen you at the IPL games and events in Mumbai, but not many people knew that you were interested in acting. Did you always aspire to be an actor?
Yes. I think it is a part of being an only child. When you have no siblings, you have to create your own fun. My parents got divorced when I was very young, so there was a lot of instability. I used to find ways to escape it and that’s where the imagination came from. From a very young age, I developed this vivid, wild imagination. I used to love playing characters and messing around. That desire to slip into characters and interact with people has always been in me.
I felt upset but I was adamant that my memoir would not be an angry book-Sidhartha Mallya
8:25 AM
Party boy Sidhartha Mallya is now an actor and mental health advocate. In his just-released memoir, he reveals his vulnerable side, and his struggle with depression and OCD
Jane Borges (MID-DAY; September 26, 2021)
Minutes into the video call, our interviewee tells us how the media has hardly ever got his name right. His friends and acquaintances call him Sid. Everyone else knows him as Siddharth Mallya, son of businessman and ex-chairman of United Spirits, Vijay Mallya. “[But,] I’m Sidhartha,” he shares, stressing on the final letter of his name. “That’s how it has always been. I really don’t know when they [media] changed it.”
It is late evening in Los Angeles, when we catch up with the 34-year-old, who is currently pursuing a career in acting there, after moving away from the family business in 2012. We’ve been trying to jog our memory, thinking of his last public appearance in India. He admits it has been years. Once a regular face on Mumbai’s party circuit, Sidhartha now prefers the quiet life: He wakes up before dawn, meditates, heads out for a walk, often with his dog, and then hits the gym, before going for acting class. He hasn’t had a sip of alcohol in three years—the irony that he belongs to a family that has been one of the biggest producers of alcohol in the world, is not on lost on him. The change in lifestyle, however, was spurred by his own mental health journey. Sidhartha suffered through depression in 2016 and was also diagnosed with Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder (OCD), a condition he realized he had been living with all along.
“On the first year anniversary of when I stopped drinking, which was 2019, I remember putting up a brief post on Instagram [speaking about that journey]. I had thousands of people respond to it, saying they could relate to everything that I was sharing. I didn’t expect a response like that. What I had done was just be honest and open. I realised that maybe I could continue talking about the other things I was going through,” says Sidhartha, who made his feature film debut in Netflix original Brahman Naman.
In 2020, when the world shut down due to the Coronavirus pandemic, Sidhartha finally decided to kick-start his new online series, ConSIDer This, where he not only spoke about mental issues he struggled with, but also how one could deal with similar challenges. “I always felt this duty to continue doing whatever I could to shine the light on the issue.”
That’s how his just released book, If I’m Honest: A Memoir Of My Mental Health Journey (Westland), was born. “This is not a self-help book,” he assures, adding, “…I am not a Deepak Chopra or Jay Shetty [to write one].” “A lot of times, people aren’t really looking for help. They just want to feel like they are not alone, and for me, sharing my story, and having one other person resonate with it, meant something.”
He chose against having a ghost writer, because he wasn’t comfortable having someone else tell his story, and in their words. This meant rethinking how he would write this book. “What I did was that I almost interviewed myself. I’d walk around with my phone and notepad, and every time something would come to me, I’d write it down on my phone.”
Incidentally, Sidhartha has consciously refrained from name dropping in the book—he doesn’t reveal the identities of his parents, extended family, friends and even girlfriends, because this memoir, he says, isn’t about them “as much as how they were players in the broader picture”. And yet, it’s his parents’ divorce, and the subsequent legal soup that his father found himself in, after his airline Kingfisher Airlines Ltd, ran into trouble, which are at the heart of his story.
As a child, Sidhartha remembers battling through feelings of loneliness, guilt and abandonment, after Mallya started a new life with his other family, often misdirecting his anger at his mum. “I was holding on to a lot of resentment and anger for a number of years without even being aware of it myself,” he admits. “But when I started working on myself, I began to gain a certain level of empathy for my dad and everyone else. [Sometimes] it helps to see things from other people’s perspective.”
In July this year, Mallya, who left India for the UK in 2016, was declared bankrupt by the insolvency and companies court (ICC) of the high court in the UK. He later sought permission to appeal against his bankruptcy order. Sidhartha invests a chapter titled Sad about Dad, not discussing the case as much as his own helplessness watching his father go through this. “Everyone is entitled to their opinions… but at the end of the day, nobody wants to see someone so close to them suffer, whatever the reason be. To see the stress he has gone through over the last five years, has been painful and difficult,” he says.
What has, however, been most frustrating, is dealing with social media trolls. “I receive messages from people, having a go at me, blaming me for everything. Sometimes people say, ‘who are you to talk about mental health, when your father has caused mental ill-health to so many people’. [That’s when] you kind of feel like you are caught between a rock and a hard place.”
He says that while writing this book, he experienced a lot of different emotions. “I felt upset and angry, but I was adamant that this would not be an angry book. If and when I thought that was happening, I’d edit it out, because that would have not served the actual purpose of the book.”
Acting is where my heart is-Sidhartha Mallya
8:26 AM
Post his father’s 60th birthday bash, Sid Mallya talks about his dad, debut film and how he almost worked with Priyanka Chopra
Sanaya Chavda (DNA; December 20, 2015)
He’s all of 28 and raring to go. Sid Mallya, often
known for being Vijay Mallya’s son and heir to the Kingfisher business,
has finally found his vocation. A few years ago, the suave youngster
packed his bags and moved to Los Angeles to pursue an acting career. Sid
(aka Siddhartha) was determined to create an identity of his own.
Currently a student of The Royal Central School of Speech & Drama in
London, he has come a long way. Although he’s still completing his
course, he’s all set to make his film debut with Brahman Naman, a
British movie that will premiere as part of the World Cinema dramatic
competition at the Sundance Film Festival early next year. In a candid
chat, Sid tells After Hrs about his acting ambitions, being a Mallya and
what the future holds.
Debut dreams
Sid is making his on-screen debut with Brahman Naman, an international film directed by Kolkata-based filmmaker Q. “Ironically it was shot in Bengaluru even though it was a British film, which in a way was kind of nice given my family history in the city. It’s directed by Q and produced by a guy called Steve Barron, who was a very big music video director back in the day, who did the video Take On Me for AHA, Billie Jean, tons of Duran Duran stuff. It was just nice to work with him and Q, because Q’s very artistic and he doesn’t seem to worry about what’s acceptable and what’s not — he just does things. And that’s why it was lots of fun to work on this film. It’s not the biggest role in the film — it’s a supporting lead — but it’s big enough,” says Sid. Delving further into the character he plays, he says, “I am the main antagonist lead. It’s all set in college, Bangalore University. He’s sort of the jock character, gets all the girls and they’re sort of the geeks so that’s where the rivalry comes in. I could definitely relate to bits of it…”
An Indian in Hollywood
What many don’t know is that Sid had also auditioned for a number of ABC shows including Quantico, which has grabbed much headlines for Priyanka Chopra’s leading role. “Like most actors in America I auditioned for a lot of ABC’s pilots, one of them was Quantico and a number of other shows which either did or didn’t get picked up or got cancelled along the way. But that was just in the audition process. Priyanka Chopra is doing really well. That’s all credit to her for sticking through and getting to where she is. I haven’t seen Quantico yet because we don’t get it in the UK. I believe she’s doing a great job and it’s testament to her character and to her work ethic,” he adds. While there are some Indian actors who have managed to make a mark abroad, is Sid concerned about being typecast? “Funnily enough I’m not stereotypically viewed as Indian. They don’t look at me and think I look Indian. In fact, I get more South American than anything else. And I think I’m in a fortunate position because I have that ethnically ambiguous look where I could play Middle Eastern, Mediterranean, South American, Mexican, Egyptian so there’s a lot more — in fact the last thing I think I’ll be able to play is Indian. Because if they want someone, they want someone who looks traditionally Indian, now my mannerisms and all aren’t traditionally Indian so I think I’m okay in terms of typecast. In acting school, funnily enough, they’ve told me I do need to work on softening my accent a little because I have a very thick, cut, crisp British accent that could also limit some of the things I do,” admits Sid. “Apart from Priyanka and to an extent Aishwarya (Rai Bachchan) there hasn’t really been an Indian actress who’s made it big there. There have been more actors — Anil Kapoor, Irrfan Khan — who have done projects as opposed to the actresses. Therefore logic would tell you it’s easy for the actor. I guess for girls, everyone likes a good-looking face but if you’re not talented it doesn’t matter how good-looking you are. So I wouldn’t say it’s easy for them. Perhaps there are more opportunities for them…”
Taking baby steps
Sid says that since he’s still in school, he’s not in any rush to sign more films. “I’m still in drama school, that’s my focus. I have just completed the first semester so I’ve got till next September. It’s a full 360 degree approach to it. There’s performance, voice, movement, dance, text analysis because the whole thing is how to act through the body. They’ve literally taught me how to re-sit, how to talk, how to walk, breathe because they think everything is connected. If you don’t breathe from the right place in the diaphragm then you tighten everything in the chest. If you don’t stand properly on your feet, you tighten everything in the hips. If you tighten your hips, you tighten your breath, if you tighten your breath you tighten your neck and then emotion doesn’t flow. So it’s a full round thing. We did the waltz, meringue, jive and tango. It’s a nice holistic approach,” he says.
And if Bollywood were to come calling, would Sid take the opportunity? “No, I’m not interested in Bollywood. I don’t think I’ll be able to do it either. The sensibilities are very different, and I don’t think I have the sensibilities to make it in Bollywood. I don’t speak Hindi so my options are rather limited,” says Sid who admits he hasn’t been keeping track of the latest releases either.
Family matters
Sid, who is currently on a Christmas break from school, flew down to celebrate his father Vijay Mallya’s milestone 60th birthday. The bash in Goa, which lasted for a couple of days, was said to be a lavish affair. However, Sid didn’t come with a gift for his dad. Commenting on what he’s learnt from his Pa, Sid says, “One thing he does really well which perhaps I don’t do as well — he’s quite easy to switch off what other people think. And criticisms or whatever, he’s quite easy to switch away and live his own life whereas I read into things a lot more… You got to love what you do! That’s what he does. He can sit in the office till 5 am because he loves what he does and I didn’t love what I was doing that’s why I left to pursue this different career of mine. I think I’ve found my calling.” Sid does, however, reveal that he finds it easier living in the West, as here he is under constant scrutiny. “I wish people would judge me for who I was as opposed to someone’s son. But I guess being in India that’s something I’m never going to be able to shrug. Therefore in the West I’ve got that opportunity to be my own person a little bit more. It’s always nice.”
From the heart
His personal life has made waves especially a couple of years back when he dated Deepika Padukone. While there have been a couple of link-ups since then, Sid has managed to keep the media glare away. “Yes, there is someone. I’m not going to give names purely because it’s not fair on that person. Then people start prying and hassling that someone. She studies as well. I’m quite happy about my personal life so long as it doesn’t affect someone else. I know if I start giving you names then I’m putting their personal life at risk. As for me, I’m like an open book!” he says. Quiz him if he’s still in touch with Deepika and he says, “Yeah I mean I am in touch with Deepika, like I’m in touch with anyone. I couldn’t be happier for her. It’s great that she’s so successful and long may her continue. I don’t know anything about her Hollywood ventures but I’m sure she will be as great in Hollywood as she’s been here. Best of luck to her!”
Looking ahead
What does the new year hold for Sid? “Hopefully, more of the same. I’m happy that things have started to progress in this career that I’ve chosen. 2014 was a stepping stone, 2015 has gone one higher and hopefully 2016 I can continue on that upward trajectory. There are amazing directors and big people that you always want to work with. But I’m happy to take whatever I can. I just want to continue making good stuff and continuing to grow and continuing to learn. That’s my main goal. This is where my heart is!”
Sidhartha Mallya was to play Priyanka Chopra’s lover on Quantico
7:49 AM
Not just that, he also auditioned for a role inTrue Detective, made famous by Matthew McConaughey
Tushar Joshi (DNA; May 20, 2015)
Priyanka Chopra is in the news for headlining her
first American show Quantico, where she plays a FBI officer. But not
many know that the show has another desi connection. Sidhartha Mallya who is
now pursuing acting in London at the Royal Central School of Speech and
Drama had auctioned for the part of Priyanka’s love interest on
Quantico. However, the actor didn’t get the part.
Remembering his audition, Sid says, “I had read up for the part of Priyanka’s character Alex’s lover. I guess I didn’t get the part because they wouldn’t want two Indians opposite each other. But I have to tell you it was the best pilot script I had read. I did a talent show with ABC, which is why I got to read for a lot of parts for their shows. Quantico was by far their best!”
In an interview to After Hrs, PC recently spoke about the criticism she received when she made her debut on American television at a sports event. She received lot of flak on social media for being an Indian on an all-American show and was even labelled an ‘Arab terrorist.’ Is Sid ready for a similar backlash?
He says, “I won’t get nitpicked in the US, neither should she have. She probably was marketed as a Bollywood superstar, but I am not one, so I don’t come with that baggage. Sid Mallya, the name, could also be from anywhere in the world. I don’t traditionally look Indian. In fact, I had read for a Mexican’s part in HBO’s True Detective. They loved my audition, but I didn’t look like a gangster from any angle! A lot of people have said that I look ethnically ambiguous, so that works in my favour. I could play Mexican, Middle Eastern, Mediterranean. Probably the last thing I could play is Indian.” Sid will make his debut on the silver screen in an international production about the quizzers scene in the early ’80s in India.
There isn't really a script for #SidSessions - Sidhartha Mallya
7:46 AM
Sidhartha Mallya on incorrect perceptions, a change in name and how he deals with his followers’ obsession with his crotch on his six-episode web show
Sristhi Dixit (DNA; November 6, 2014)
Bratty and arrogant are the words one usually
associates with Sidhartha Mallya, but what one usually doesn’t see
coming is his quirky brand of humour. Sid (as he now prefers being
called) feels he’s been seriously misunderstood for his harmless
one-liners and jokes that he often cracks at his own expense.
He even produced a series of six webisodes titled #SidSessions where he takes on his critics and answers questions like ‘Do you have dick?’. He didn’t just stop there in the first episode, where he took a light-hearted jab at a media house for putting out a video that focussed on his former girlfriend Deepika Padukone’s cleavage. Given the fact that Sid was linked to her in the past we decided to ask him if she connected with him after watching this episode. Read to know more...
What brought about the idea for the web series?
I initially only intended to make a one-off video for a group of my friends after one of them asked me how I dealt with all the criticism I get on Twitter. We then realised that it was actually quite funny so I decided to make six episodes for the public.
What will we see next on #SidSessions?
More of the same!! A lot of people ask me why I don’t also feature the positive comments and compliments that I get. The reason is because you then become a self-promoter. There are already far to many of those in India, and I was not prepared to become yet another sheep in an already overpopulated flock.
Are you scripting the web series yourself?
Yes, there isn’t really a script though! I just reply off the top of my head to comments made…
Do you fear that the popularity of your web series will compartmentalise you as a YouTuber and not an actor?
No, because I don’t intend to do much more unscripted stuff in the future. This is all a bit of fun, but my next project will definitely be in the scripted variety.
Apart from what we see in the first episode of #SidSessions, how do you deal with nasty criticism in life?
Ignore it, laugh at it, and give it back!!
Do you think some people on Twitter are obsessed with your crotch? You took on three questions pertaining to that area!
That’s just the start….wait till the next few episodes!
Does the way people perceive you (as a rich spoiled brat) bother you?
Nope. That unfortunately is a perception created by the media. Those who really know me will tell you that I am exactly the opposite.
Why did you register yourself as ‘Sid’ Mallya in the Screen Actors Guild?
Because I have grown up my whole life in England being called Sid by friends, family, teachers, etc. A lot of people think I have changed my name, but all I have done is take the abbreviated form of ‘Sidhartha’, the same was that ‘Will’ is short for ‘William’, ‘Brad’ is short for Bradley, etc.
Why haven’t you tried your luck at Bollywood yet?
I don’t think I fully understand the space, neither do I feel like I can do it complete justice. And to be honest, I don’t think the Indian audiences would relate to me as their on-screen representative that easily either given both the accent and language barrier.
What’s your reaction to being compared to Russell Brand?
Love it. He is another person who isn’t afraid to speak his mind, even if it doesn’t sit too well with people.
We liked the bit towards the end of the first episode where you slammed The Times of India for the “cleavage controversy.”
Of course you did, you’re DNA (Laughs)! No, but seriously, it was all meant in jest.
Not many know that you are an ordained priest. Just two questions, why and how?
(Laughs) I saw Joey did it in an episode of Friends. I looked up how to do it, went through the process online and it happened!
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)