Yogesh Mishra | yogesh@bollywoodtown.in
Siddhant Chaturvedi shot to fame from Gully Boy (2019), and since then he never looked back. Prior to that, he acted as a teenage cricketer in a popular web series, Inside Edge. After that, he never looked back. After Gully Boy, he has given back to back many movies like Bunty Aur Babli-2, Gehraiyaan, Phone Bhoot, Kho Gaye Hum Kahan, etc. In an interview with Yogesh Mishra, he spoke about his recent action film Yudhra, his thought process about the difference between action and violence, what if he was not an actor, and many more.
The genre of your every film is different from each other; is it your conscious decision?
Yes, it’s a conscious decision, you can say. In life, I think, things happen once or twice by default; otherwise, you yourself take a conscious decision. If I had to do the same kind of work throughout, then I would have opted for a corporate job. I have a problem doing repetitive works, be it film or anything else. I always prefer different kinds of characters and genres. People are mostly afraid of changing the genre; I don’t know why, but for me, I still take a risk of doing variations in films. Even you can see the difference in my upcoming films too. Efforts may or may not be successful, but I think I will continue giving variations in my roles. I have worked with many talents so far, and I consider it a learning process for me.
As you said, since you have taken enough training for action sequences for your recent film “Yudhra,” would you like to continue with action films?
I have learned rapping. I learned bowling. I have learned the stand-up and now the action. After that, I still feel that I need to learn even more things. The action was a bit different for me because since childhood only I was quite energetic. I learned high jump, taekwondo, and karate in childhood. Whenever I find time, I still go to learn a unique art, which is a Brazilian art form. I have seen all these things in MMA. I have seen a lot of them and tried all these things. So, even if I don’t continue action films, I would continue doing all these things.
What, according to you, are the differences between an action and a violence film? How do you consider the recent trend of increasing violence in action films?
I think action driven by purpose is what may result in ultimate satisfaction. Action just for the cause of effect, just because we have to do action to show that 4 to 10 people are thrown away in the air, I don’t like it. We always have to listen to purpose. Since our film (Yudhra) is written by Farhan sir (Farhan Akhtar), who is a responsible filmmaker in such matters, we are not going to do any such things where you find any unwanted sequence in the film.
In context to your recent film Yudhra, which, according to you, is the most suitable genre for this film?
This is an action film with a U/A certificate. We purposely made such a movie where the audience should not feel the excessiveness of anything, be it action or violence. There are ways of doing action scenes. Even in old action films like Deewaar, there is hardly one action scene; the rest are the anger and expressions. There are hardly any unwanted violence scenes in it. In the trailer of Yudhra, there is a scene of violence where we tried to show the amount of anger and violence artistically to make the audience feel the moment rather than making it an open violence scene. We make such action and violence films just for entertainment purposes and not to inspire people to do that. I am quite conscious about doing any such violent scenes.
If you had not opted for an acting career, would you have chosen the profession of a CA (Chartered Accountant) or something else?
If I was not an actor, then I think I would have been a very bad CA (Chartered Accountant). I would not have allowed my clients to pay tax timely (laughs). I don’t know; if I was not an actor, then I don’t know who I would have been.
Do you pay taxes timely?
Obviously, because my dad is a CA.
