With his tenth film poised to hit theatres this week, Sidharth Malhotra pauses for a second before answering what his dream role would be. “It’ll be fantastic to build a character from scratch,” he says with evident enthusiasm, “and make a franchise of a superhero – a character which India hasn’t seen.” But for now it’s clear that the 34-year-old actor is happy with his inventory of roles so far, and he chats about shaping up his character Abhay Singh for Jabariya Jodi, as he reflects on his journey in the industry.
Malhotra stars opposite Parineeti Chopra in Prashant Singh’s Jabariya Jodi – a romantic comedy about the practice of groom-kidnapping. Also called pakadwa vivaah (marriage by kidnapping), the issue is prevalent in parts of Bihar and Uttar Pradesh, where poor families often kidnap men to avoid paying dowry and have their daughter marry within the caste. “Abhay Singh comes in with his gang, looking to pick up the boy and get him married, thinking he’s doing something good,” says Malhotra, explaining that the film’s kidnappings are inflicted on men who make exorbitant dowry demands. “Eventually, they realise that maybe jabariya shaadi is not the correct way to kick the problem of dowry,” says Malhotra.
Love and friendship
But the focus, says the actor, is ultimately on the love story unwrapping between MLA-aspirant Singh and the feisty Babli Yadav who falls in love with his character and decides to give him a taste of his own medicine. Malhotra and Chopra will be returning together to the screen after they were last paired in Hasee Toh Phasee (2014) – a romcom about a man falling in love with his fiancé’s genius sister. Malhotra’s friendship with his co-star, he explains, is especially strengthened by the fact that Hasee… arrived very early on in both their careers. While Chopra débuted as a lead with Ishaqzaade in 2012, Hasee was her third film since. On the other hand, Malhotra débuted with Student of the Year (2012) and was cast opposite Chopra for his second role.
“The best part about working with someone who you’ve worked with in the past is that you don’t have to waste time breaking ice,” smiles Malhotra.
Eschewing labels
In the seven years since his début, Malhotra has made careful choices to avoid being labelled a rom com hero. Whether it’s been the 2015 sports drama Brothers, or Neeraj Pandey’s espionage thriller Aiyaary (2018), the actor has deliberately chosen a pot pourri of genres. “I’ve been lucky, no two films have been the same,” he says. Reuniting with Chopra in a romcom meant the film had to offer “something different”. And the actor explains why Abhay Singh was a new experience. “A lot of preparation went into Abhay Singh’s accent – we are speaking Patnaiya in the film which is a mix of Maithili, Bhojpuri and Magahi,” shares Malhotra. But the actor was more involved in building his character’s look. “Because I had a first-time director [Prashant Singh] I could lend a lot of inputs,” he says. Whether to wear an earring, have tattoos, colour his hair, have paan, choose prints and colours for the character, or wear a gamcha (cotton towel), Malhotra’s inputs were based on what people in Patna are wearing today. This involvement seems to have come naturally – considering Malhotra started off in the industry as an assistant director on My Name is Khan (2010). Ask him if he plans on donning the director’s hat soon and he says, “At present, no such plans. [But] maybe really far down the line,” he says. Until then, audiences can watch out for him in Milap Zaveri’s Marjaavaan alongside Riteish Deshmukh, Tara Sutaria and Rakul Preet Singh, and in the Captain Vikram Batra biopic Shershah.