Darsheel Safari who started his career as a child in the phenomenal Taare Zameen Par reunited with his mentor for an ad recently.
Says Darsheel, “I was very excited to reconnect with Aamir Sir and couldn’t believe it until it actually happened. I didn’t even tell anyone until after I met him that I actually met him. Nostalgic is not the word. The first time I met Aamir Sir, I hid my tears. In fact, everybody in his team. They’ve seen me when I was so young. I was greeted with such warmth and familiarity that it felt like a homecoming of sorts. We both revisited some memories. I felt so safe with him as I felt he absolutely knew the skin of me as an actor and could extract the best out of me. So I was just relaxed and enjoying the moment which I cherish now.
Darsheel reveals he has completed three films as an actor. “Two are in post-production. The first being a murder mystery Tibba with Adah Sharma and Sonali Kulkarni Ma’am. It’s a fresh dark space for me to explore. Then I did the biopic Phule with Pratik Gandhi sir and Patralekha Ma’am. I play their son in it. Recently, I finished another film shoot in Agra about which everybody will know very soon and will hopefully be left pleasantly surprised. I’ve completed two web series also. Most of this is slated for release this year.
He admits Taare Zameen Par was a hard to follow up. “I’m so happy that my first film has sort of given me this learning about the absolute gold standard of storytelling.I realise that after all these years , I was too too lucky to be a part of this. My goal is to be associated with such stories that connect with an audience that can match my first film in some way or the other. People don’t know I’ve turned 27 yet, they still think I’m 9. So currently I’m working on projects that can show my range as an actor. Hopefully, everybody will accept me with the same love they greeted me with the first time around, I’m working hard for the same.”
Darsheel took a break from acting before resuming . “I took a break from acting after I got into college. I discovered theatre there through extra -curricular activities. For the first time I saw an audience react live to me and my antics. That was the moment that made me understand the power of an actor. He or she can connect with an audience, he can generate an emotion within them. That realization blew me away.”
The years since Taare Zameen Par have gone into rigorous training. “I pursued theatre for 8 years after that. Did shows all across India. Perfected my understanding of emotions and expressing them. Understood how to make a character your own and how to make it real and experienced what our audiences want. They want relatability. I feel evolving is an eternal process for an actor, and it indirectly helps the person evolve also. I found the best way is to never stop absorbing and adding to your arsenal. So around 2021, I decided to get back into films and thankfully have been doing films, web series, and theatre simultaneously.”
