Amol Parashar on ‘Sardar Udham’: It’s an achievement to be noticed in a great film with Vicky Kaushal – Times of India

Breaking away from his happy-to-go lucky image, actor Amol Parashar left the audience stunned with his impeccable transformation as Bhagat Singh in filmmaker Shoojit Sircar’s Oscar-nominated film ‘Sardar Udham’. While Vicky Kaushal played the titular role in ‘Sardar Udham‘, Amol’s impactful performance also won hearts. In an exclusive interaction with ETimes, Amol shared how he nailed the role. Excerpts…

How has been the response for your character in ‘Sardar Udham’?


People have loved the film and the way Shoojit (Sircar) sir has perfectly moulded it in a unique way. For me, it was always going to be a special appearance, in terms of screen time, as the story focused on Udham’s story. But it has been loved by so many people! It’s overwhelming to be a part of a film that leaves such an impact. Being noticed in such a great film with such a great performance by Vicky is itself an achievement; I would pat myself on the back.

Your look was so different from your previous films…

As an actor, the look is something that’s taken care of by the makeup and costume teams. I was just conscious of my role. I knew it was different from my previous work, so I had to make sure that I do justice to it. I had to forget about everything else I had done before and just focus on the character. Bhagat Singh’s character was very realistic; he was a real human with emotions, banter, fun, passion, love for the nation and its freedom. I had to make sure that I tapped into his vision in that sense. The only reference you have of these people are from the scenes but Shoojit wanted me to read about him, imagine his character, and not have any baggage from his previous portrayals. We created an actual character without relying on any depictions.

How did you prepare for the role?


When you have a great team, the work gets divided. We had a very clear vision of what we were trying to show. I think the only thing we required was the learning part about these people. The kind of research material the team had with my personal work, I realised that they are much more than what we think we know about them. This opened up my ideas and mind about these legends from India’s modern history. Getting down to their thoughts is different because we have also formed our ideas about them from books, stories, and more.

Was there any perception about Bhagat Singh you had that changed while researching for the film?


My idea on Bhagat Singh was rather expanded over the course of the film. Apart from revolting against the British government, he had a lot of political and social ideas which perhaps not everyone knows. It told me a little more about these legendary people, how well-read they were. The picture of the person becomes gets enhanced and real. My knowledge only grew, I won’t say it changed.

You really needed to connect with the character…


Of course, you need to connect and this is why reading about them helps. Like I found out he used to write a lot anonymously.

You’re a writer too…


(Laughs) What he wrote was more about social-political things, while mine was more of a personal-emotional story. They were young, idealistic, and very intelligent people. Reading about their views on society, people welfare, freedom and justice evolves you, it’s quite eye-opening.