Actor Amit Sadh who portrayed the role of inspector Kabir Sawant in season 1 of the Breathe series reprises his role in season 2, Breathe: Into The Shadows. “The Kabir Sawant you saw in season 1 was a protector, an alcoholic, who is troubled and guilty. But when duty calls, he turns up to serve justice in his own way. In season 2, the world is new, and we reveal a lot more about Kabir’s personality. It’s the second step to Kabir and to the story of Breathe. The audience will find their own perspectives and answers in it,” says the actor.
This July, apart from Breathe: Into the Shadows the actor will also be seen in the film Shakuntala Devi on Amazon PrimeVideo. Next he plays one of the leads in Tigmanshu Dhulia’s film Yaara on Zee5 and will appear in the web series Avrodh on Sony LIV.
The actor says he is secure with the roles he has bagged in his career so far. What’s impressive is that, though being cast in multi-starrer and ensemble films, Amit has always stood out for his performance. The actor says, this happens because he is committed to his art and not to the star persona that comes with fame. “When I come on a set I don’t let my status influence my performance. When I am in front of the camera, I play my character,” he explains.
Tigmanshu Dhulia’s Yaara releases on July 25. Yaara is a story of four street kids who grow up to become big smugglers and best friends. This is Amit’s third film with Tigmanshu. The actor credits his director for making him explore different characters. “My best acting coach till date is Tishu sir. No director has ever broken down the role for me like him. I have worked under him in Raag Desh, Baarish Aur Chowmein and now Yaara. It’s just the way he breaks down every scene that has taught me a lot. I share a bond with him like a student and his teacher. There’s always a ping-pong kind of game going on between us on sets, when we are constantly in conversation. The way I break down characters and change identities for different projects is because of him,” admits Amit.
Though such big films are coming up and more work is in the pipeline, Amit’s hunger for more roles is growing. He says the length of the role and how it is projected doesn’t matter. “As an actor I came here to play beautiful roles. Look at Bradley Cooper. He became who he is because he played all kinds of roles, even if they were small. Likewise Johnny Depp played a small role in Platoon. You won’t even notice him in that film. But look at who he is today. So I think every role is important, it’s not the length and projection that is important. I was battling with all of these complexes initially, then I decided that I will walk a path where the roles and acting is more important not how many lines I say. That’s why I feel even my 10-minute part in Super 30 was accepted by everybody,” enthuses Amit.
His focus on staying true to the role, which means adhering to the physical demands of the character and looking a certain way, may not have helped him get advertisements and brand endorsements, but that doesn’t impact Amit. The actor explains, “A lot of people in the industry ask me to be bigger than the character. They say that I will end up getting only character roles and won’t get any brand endorsements. For example, when I was playing Kabir Sawant, I looked a certain way. My eyes were puffy and I look tired because cops usually don’t look fresh in real life. They work day and night and they don’t follow a diet. But the way we show cops in our films, it appears as if they have spent their entire day at a spa or a salon before they report for duty.”
Amit also says this approach to his roles is similar to Aamir Khan. “The actor who has impacted me the most is Aamir Khan. There are two things I admire about him. Firstly, I think he works very hard and minutely on not just his role but on everyone else’s roles as well. If he is doing a scene with you, he takes keen interest in what you are wearing and how it is looking. He takes a lot of pain and effort to check everything. Secondly, I have realised this after watching his films, he doesn’t play a hero. He plays a character and he doesn’t leave his character even when he isn’t shooting. He keeps the craft bigger than himself. I am fortunate to have started imbibing this quality of his in myself. I wouldn’t have given this answer three years ago. I have realised this now,” says the actor.
Read the full interview here