In spite of your growing stardom you refuse to hike your price during these times when actors with multiple flops insist on charming the sun moon and stars?
I can’t talk on behalf of others, but I personally believe that with the rapidly changing tastes and choices of the audiences today, nothing is predictable and we as actors need to stand by our producers at such a time so we can all together enjoy the success of a film that takes combined effort of the team. By doing so, even the filmmakers have more liberty to make larger than life cinema, or spend good amounts on content quality and be cautious with budgets that can be reduced if we actors stand by them.
Would you say Bhool Bhulaiyaa 2 was a game-changer for you?
At a time when nothing seemed to be working in the movie theatres …it was really scary for us all… so at that time to have this sort of a box-office success is a game-changer for everyone in the team. Right from the makers to us actors ,all our efforts paid off, and how!
How has it changed your life and career?
Bhool Bhulaiyaa 2 has been a game-changer for me personally: the way masses have reacted to it is something else. I’m also really amazed to see how the kids specially have reacted to it. I feel they have given immense love to BB2 and Rooh Baba. A film’s success multiplies the love amidst the audiences for an actor and that’s the biggest takeaway post this film.
Did the quality of films being offered to you change after Bhool Bhulaiya 2?
Yes, it has also brought a lot of interesting scripts and film offers my way especially from directors that I always wished to work with because they got the chance to see my potential.But that also comes with its own set of responsibilities and my focus is to keep delivering on that, for my audiences.
How do you choose your scripts? What is the basic criteria?
Choosing a script is always a tough decision, I really pay attention to a few things . Firstly, is it something that excites me, is the script interesting enough to keep me hooked to the end and secondly, is it something I, as an audience member would want to watch with my family or friends or even alone.These are the questions I ask myself before accepting a film. And I’m always looking to do something new, or even a script that gives me a chance to do something new in my journey as an actor and to keep surprising my audiences.
You have quite a slate of projects coming up?
Yes,from Freddy to Satyaprem Ki Katha, from Shehzada to Aashiqui 3 to Kabir (Khan) Sir’s next, all these films have such varied concepts but all these scripts had their soul in its writing and have some wonderful characters that excite me and satisfy my hunger as an actor.
You are very comfortable with fan attention. How do you manage to keep calm when they crowd you?
I’ve always yearned for the masses love. An actor is only worth anything and everything when he has the love of the fans with them and I am so glad that I have been lucky enough to have the most loyal, supportive and loving of fans ever since the time of Pyaar Ka Punchnama. With time their love has only multiplied.
But fans can be demanding?
You know , when I get crowded or surrounded by them at a theatre or any even, I can see myself in them, I used to be one of them myself, so I know how earnest they are. I just love my fans and ‘fanception’ is a word that truly captures my love and emotion for them and I will keep striving harder to keep proving myself worthy of their love.
When you look back on your days of struggle do you feel grateful, angry or both?
Of course I am grateful. Struggle can be hard, difficult or smooth.But it is the period as a whole that defines your future and makes you who you are. I faced a lot of difficulties back in my days of looking out for work and I am extremely grateful for that because your struggle teaches you more than any success can and mine has taught me to be patient, to never give up and put in the best effort into your work relentlessly and success will automatically come as a by-product of this dedication whose main goals is to keep going, and keep entertaining.
