Veere Di Wedding’s Bhandari aka Vishwas Kini: I made Sonam laugh a lot in the look test

Actor Vishwas Kini has finally got the big break he was waiting for — playing a rich, clingy guy, opposite Sonam Kapoor Ahuja in the recent release, Veere Di Wedding. Hailing from Jalandhar, the very thought of becoming an actor was “too scary” a thought for him. He reveals how he landed his first big-budget film.

“I was supposed to do another film with Rhea Kapoor (producer of VDW) that was still materialising when she started with Veere… Since she knew me from earlier, she decided to test me for Bhandari (his character in the film). She called up Mukesh Chhabra, the casting director for the film. I was surprised that I was considered for the role, since I am not at all like Bhandari in real-life!,” says Vishwas, revealing that it was the look-test, which nailed it for him.

“In the look-test with Sonam, I made her laugh a lot, and baat ban gayi. The main emphasis was on not just playing a Delhi guy, but a ‘West Delhi rich spoilt brat’ because Delhi people bahut tez hote hain. They will instantly know it, ki South ya West, kiska role play kar raha hai. It had to be real.”

The road to the newfound attention wasn’t smooth for Vishwas. He tells us, “I hail from a middle-class family of engineers, so they wanted me to become one too. I studied science till class 12. Then I had a band in college, and wanted to become a musician. Later, I decided to do an MBA, but nothing materialised. I was confused in life, but then I started watching a lot of films. Main Jalandhar se hoon, vahaan pe agar aapko actor banna hai toh bhi aap bol nahi paate, kyunki mushkil hai (I come from Jalandhar, and there, if you want to become an actor, you can’t even say it out loud because it’s too difficult).”

There are many strugglers who land in Mumbai every day to try their luck. Vishwas being one of them, luckily got support from his family, who even helped him financially. “My family supported me throughout, till about three years, until my debut film 1983 Punjab released in 2014. When my parents saw me on the big screen, they must have realised that I can act and will make a career out of it, and stopped asking me what work I have in hand, or which auditions I am going to give.”

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