If ‘small town guy with big dreams’ had a new-gen poster boy, it would be Siddhant Chaturvedi. The life of the 29-year-old actor from Uttar Pradesh’s Balliya is truly the stuff that Hindi films are made of.
Having grown up watching Shah Rukh, Salman and Aamir Khan redefine romance onscreen, and Ajay Devgn and Akshay Kumar fight off bad guys, every 90s’ kid has dreamt of becoming a hero, but few have followed through, and even fewer who’ve succeeded. Chaturvedi managed all three.
Despite being a supporting character in the Ranveer Singh-starrer Gully Boy (2019), his humane portrayal of an ambitious rapper, MC Sher, from Mumbai’s slums moved audiences and critics alike. Chaturvedi, who had earlier appeared in two web series, Life Sahi Hai (2016) and Inside Edge (2017), had arrived. Since then, he has starred in three big-banner films, including YRF’s Bunty Aur Babli 2 (2021), starring Rani Mukerji and Saif Ali Khan, and Gehraiyaan (2022) opposite Deepika Padukone and Ananya Pandey. His latest horror-comedy, Phone Bhoot, with Katrina Kaif and Ishaan Khatter, hit cinemas on November 4.
“It is a fun film about two friends who are on an adventurous road trip and find themselves in a crazy situation. Having said that, comedy is quite difficult to crack; it’s not an easy genre. The cult films that we’ve grown up watching are Hera Pheri, Andaz Apna Apna and most of the Govinda movies. So it’s challenging and exciting,” he says. Chaturvedi has several releases slated over the next year, including Zoya Akhtar’s slice-of-life film Kho Gaye Hum Kahan and another YRF project, titled 4th House. “Then there’s Yudhra directed by Ravi Udyawar. It’s hard-core action, something I will be doing for the first time,” he says.
Compared to his peers, Chaturvedi started his career in Bollywood a tad bit late, but the delay wasn’t mere chance. His decision to wait for the perfect debut or to pick the films has been carefully thought-out. “I always wanted to work with the cream of the industry.
Any outsider will like to be in films that have a wider reach, which is why, for me, the production house matters. The entire game of your release can change because of the producers’ reach and good will,” says the actor, who has signed four films with Excel Entertainment and reportedly a three-film deal with YRF.
What Chaturvedi also doesn’t negotiate with is the quality of the film’s script. “I look for stories that are different. If a big production house offers me a bad script, I won’t do the film. It’s important for me to have the right combination: a good script, a great director, backed by a well-known production house that can offer a worldwide release,” the actor says.
While the audience, critics and most importantly the industry (Chaturvedi made his debut appearance on Koffee with Karan earlier this year) have recognised him as a star, the actor is cautious of giving himself the title yet. “I have not achieved the stardom of legends such as Amitabh Bachchan, Shah Rukh Khan, Salman Khan, Aamir Khan, Ajay Devgn or Akshay Kumar, who I have admired all my life. They have been the face of Bollywood and entertained audiences for ages. I have a long way to go and I have to keep innovating my art with every film. I want to find my own path,” he says, adding, “I want to redefine stardom, but it will take time.”