Sahil Khattar in an exclusive chat with MissMalini talks about his recent series, ‘Bajao’, the preparation that went behind his role ‘Dhaari Punia’, and how he has switched from being a content creator to an actor. The actor also spills the beans about what’s more in store for him. Read on to know…
- Tell us about your role in the series ‘Bajao’ !
I play a character called ‘Dhaari Punia’. He is this short tempered yet very intelligent guy and is a perfect combination of brains and brawn. All the plans and ideas are his, he is the driver of a lot of problem solving junctions. So I play this Haryanvi, robust, stoic, still very intelligent and a sharp guy who is the brains behind all the operations of ‘Bajao’ and this guy is also a problem solver. ‘Dhaari Punia’ is driving the series to a different level.
- How did you prepare for your role as ‘Dhaari Punia’?
Firstly the character has a Haryanvi accent and for me that was not a big task as when I represented India in ‘Asian Games Roller Hockey’ most of my teammates were from Haryana. So for me other than fine tuning it, the rest was pretty cool. I did a lot of workshops to work perfectly on my accent and to prepare in general. Also, did a few workshops for the monologues that I had. There are some great monologues in ‘Bajao’ where you will ROFL. Not just that you will see some great action sequences coming from this guy as the physique that I carry is pretty much like ‘The Rock’.
- We see that you have shifted your focus to acting from content creation, are you now a full time actor? Totally! I am only a full time actor now, because actors are the ones who only do acting or do brands. So I am doing both whether it is on YouTube or any other medium for that matter. I would love to collaborate with brands and do more content. I would love to now act as acting makes me feel complete and acting is the only profession where rhythm, singing, dancing, movement all of this comes together. It requires all your life experience to prepare for a character. I really love acting as it is a different spotlight that shines on you. I am really happy basking in the glory of this spotlight. It makes me feel really good when I am called as an actor as opposed to any other profession in this industry.
- What made you go for this role?
Well! When ‘Bajao’ was pitched to me, in fact gifted to me by a very good friend who might be orchestral in changing my life, who is Tej Karan, head of Jio Studios Web Series. He is the one who thought that I could become ‘Dhaari’. When this role was offered to me, I was like I always wanted to do a madcap, really quirky comedy in a really bhasad wala world. I felt that it is perfect because in the beginning I had seen films like ‘Pyaar Ka Punchnama’, ‘Fukrey’ and comedy is on the back of my hand. I felt that entering this world with ‘Bajao’ would be perfect, the fact that my character is one of the leading guys. I mean any one would grab an opportunity to become a hero. Once you see the series you will realise how hard I have worked for the role, and had taken a lot of time to prepare for the role. I had workshops to get the Haryanvi accent perfect, underwent a physical transformation and more. I mean it is because of all these things that ‘Dhaari’ pad gaya sab pe bhaari. - What’s more in store for you?
It is definitely more acting. There are a lot of projects that I have to pick and choose. After looking at ‘Dhaari’s performance I am getting a very good response. I am just trying to soak in and absorb all the love. There are a few scripts that are to be read and many projects to be signed. I really hope I do the right one. But having said this, after all the buzz around ‘Bajao’ I will take a 1 month break and probably go and play roller hockey in Chandigarh as I was a Roller Hockey player in the Indian Team. After this I might chill in Chandigarh for a few days and then I will resume work.