“I will not play a hero’s friend.” Siddhant Chaturvedi talked to Brut about initially rejecting the role of MC Sher in “Gully Boy”, dealing with criticism and more.
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00:00I did a Yash Raj film. I did a Dharma film.
00:03People were like, he's an outsider. How is he getting into the lobby?
00:07I shaved off my head and I went completely silent for four months.
00:10Even Gehraiya came out. Everybody was saying that, oh, he's overrated.
00:14Hi, this is Siddhant Chaturvedi for Brute.
00:21There was this film which they were auditioning for.
00:25It was supposed to be like a launchpad for newcomers.
00:30And this is after two years of auditioning.
00:33I auditioned for that. I got selected. I got finalized.
00:36I was working with the director, the characterization and everything.
00:39I was walking like the character.
00:41And I gave in my six to eight months to that.
00:45I missed all the weddings, everything.
00:47All my family gatherings, everything.
00:50I was just focused on that because I thought this is my first good break.
00:54And then after eight months, I get to know that the film is shelved
00:57because the producers wanted somebody known.
01:00They wanted to launch people who come from the background,
01:08which is quite disheartening.
01:09And that took a huge toll on me because I was so much in the character
01:13that I was very, very sad.
01:17Very sad.
01:18Like so much that I shaved off my head and I went completely silent for four months.
01:22I was just silent, not meeting anybody, not meeting any friends.
01:25My CA friends were not there anymore
01:27because they were obviously pursuing their own thing.
01:31And also, they felt that I was kind of a misfit
01:34because once you get out of the community,
01:37people think that, okay, he's not a part of our community anymore.
01:39So they stopped chilling with me.
01:42And yeah, I mean, so I was very alone.
01:45And then, yeah, I mean, I got back again.
01:48And thanks to my dad and my mom and my brother,
01:52they really supported me a lot during that time.
01:54And then eventually, I grew back my hair and then grew back my confidence
01:58and then started auditioning again till I got my first job,
02:02which was Life Sahiye with Lav Ranjan sir.
02:07Nandini Srikanth had called me for the same part,
02:10I think six months back.
02:12And she told me that there's this film called Ghariboy,
02:15which we all know was being made.
02:17And Ranveer's friend's part, you have come and audition.
02:21I was like, I will not play a hero's friend.
02:25I was nobody at that time.
02:27I don't know how, I mean, I had this confidence in me.
02:30I said, I won't play hero's friend, ma'am.
02:33I'll come and audition out of respect, but I am looking for something more.
02:37She's like, okay, fine.
02:38So I had said no to MC Sher too,
02:42because I didn't, usually they don't give the brief, right?
02:44And auditions, they just tell you that, okay, he's hero's friend.
02:48You don't know the impact.
02:48You don't, you've not read the script.
02:51I was like, okay, fine, I will not.
02:53But when Zoya told me to audition for the same part,
02:55I said, okay, I might not do the part,
02:58but just because I want Zoya to know that I'm good,
03:02I will audition.
03:03I just want to see her.
03:04I just want her to see my audition.
03:06She liked my audition.
03:07She called me and she told me, not like, hey, do you want to do this film?
03:10She sent me the script.
03:11She was like, listen, I'm sending you the script if you like it.
03:14And I'd love to have you on board.
03:17I read the script.
03:18And as I was reading the script, I said, there's some magic to this guy.
03:22He's not the hero, hero, but there's something about him.
03:27What happened is after Gully Boy, I was like underrated.
03:30Everybody was there.
03:31And then suddenly when Gehraiya came out,
03:33everybody was saying that, oh, he's overrated.
03:35And then I realized one thing where I'd like to quote this line from Three Idiots,
03:40where, if you know, remember that scene where they check the list.
03:45So it's almost like, when a friend fails, it feels bad.
03:49But when a friend comes first, it feels even worse.
03:52And that's what I think happened where people were like,
03:55how is he getting a film with Shakun Batra, Dharma, romancing Deepika Padukone?
03:59So I think that didn't go well because they thought it was too soon for me to do that.
04:05I did a Yash Raj film.
04:06I did a Dharma film.
04:08And I did an Excel film right now.
04:11People were like, how is he getting so much?
04:13He's an outsider.
04:14How is he getting into the lobby?
04:16And then people were having speculations about my dad being,
04:20I don't know, some financer or something.
04:22And it's nothing like that.
04:24My dad's a chartered accountant.
04:25He has a small office in Andheri.