His first role as the Varanasi boy, Deepak Kumar in Masaan, certainly got him all the attention he needed. But it was only after Raman Raghav 2.0 and Sanju, that Vicky Kaushal has been catapulted to the next level of fame.
With Manmarziyaan, Vicky, has consolidated his position not just in the industry but even in the hearts of young women across India. In a chat with Indulge, the actor talks about his role as Vicky Sandhu in the film, his relationship with Anurag Kashyap and what makes him work harder.
How much of Vicky Kaushal can we see in Vicky Sandhu?
I truly believe that Vicky Sandhu is my alter ego. You can see a lot of Vicky Kaushal in him. There's a superman inside me and that is Vicky Sandhu. It comes out on special occasions when I am with close family and friends or when someone plays Punjabi songs.
How was it to work with Anurag Kashyap who has known you since Gangs of Wasseypur days, when you were assisting him?
Anurag Sir and I have had a relationship of 10 years. He knows my wild side and he really wanted me to unleash that. It is a very liberating experience as an actor to play your alter ego to the fullest. Here was the platform when the director said if you feel like singing in a scene, sing, if you feel like dancing, just dance, if you feel like crying like a baby then cry, just don't stop yourself. In a way, I feel this was also the trickiest part of playing Vicky Sandhu because here's this character who lives his emotions to the fullest.
All your films have been highly appreciated by critics as well as the audience. How do you manage to play every role effortlessly?
I go to my directors with an empty slate and I try to surrender to the role as much as possible. I work on myself as an actor every day. It's not a thing of the past. It's an ongoing process. This makes my job very easy. Otherwise playing Paras in Lust Stories (on Netflix) would have been very difficult.
Tell us a little bit about your 'blue mohawk' look in Manmarziyaan.
I am a Punjabi and my village is in Hoshiarpur which is just two hours away from Amritsar. My cousins are in Ludhiana, so I know how the youngsters think and live these days in Punjab. I know which music is trending and what cars, clothes and hairstyles they like. So I had a fair idea of how Vicky Sandhu would be. Then, one day, all of a sudden, Anurag Sir sent me a reference picture of a guy with blue hair on WhatsApp. I sent him a message saying "wrong window?" and he replied saying, "This is the right window. This is you, this is Vicky Sandhu with the blue hair." I was like, oh my God! And in a second I got an insight of that character. I was really excited. Alim Hakim did the haircut and styled my hair. It took five hours to get my hair coloured. Then when we started shooting, I had to come about two hours prior because my hair and the tattoo on my arm had to be done every day. There was a joke on sets, everyone would say, "film ki heroine aa gayee," whenever I would come in.
How do you react to women who swoon over you?
I am not used to it (laughs) but it feels good. It's a privilege when you get love and affection, particularly when it comes from women because when women love someone, it's unconditional. I am really grateful and this kind of love makes me stronger.
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