Vicky Kaushal: As an actor, can’t ever fill Irrfan saab’s shoes

Late Irrfan Khan and Vicky Kaushal

It's not every day that a film like Sardar Udham comes an actor's way. Vicky Kaushal knew that shouldering the period piece that reacquaints the Indian audience with the bravery of freedom fighter Udham Singh, would be no mean feat. He would also have to navigate comparisons with the late Irrfan Khan, the original choice for the biopic. For Kaushal though, it was a matter of honour to step into the shoes of Khan, one of the best artistes Indian cinema has seen.

"As an actor, I don't think I can ever fill Irrfan saab's shoes. If people feel that I was even one per cent of Irrfan saab, it's a big reward for me. Every shot I gave was a tribute to him. I would want his spirit to be on the set every day, blessing me so that I could give my best to the film," says the actor.

A still from the film

Guiding Kaushal on what may well be his most crucial work to date was director Shoojit Sircar. Collaborating with the filmmaker took him back to his theatre days. "He has a fluid approach. Since he too has a theatre background, he throws [his actors] into that universe and lets them explore. Not once was I brought on the set and told, ‘This is what you have to do'. Instead, he'd ask me, ‘What energy are you getting from this world?' The world [created by him] seemed so authentic that I would give into it."

Indian history books have documented how Singh avenged the 1919 Jallianwala Bagh massacre by assassinating Michael O'Dwyer, the former lieutenant governor of Punjab who played a key role in the episode. With the Amazon Prime Video offering, the actor-director duo have gone beyond the revolutionary's actions and shed light on his ideologies. "We wanted to make him as human as possible. Shoojitda's brief to me was get into the state of mind of Udham. It was important for us to interpret and put forth his ideologies to the audiences. It became crucial for me to internalise each and every emotion [that Udham may have gone through]. Shoojitda's films are not dramatic and don't have heavy-duty dialogues; he depends a lot on silences."

Also read: TRIVIA: Sardar Udham called himself ‘Ram Mohammad Singh Azad' while in custody