Vicky Kaushal won the National Film Award for Best Actor for his performance in Uri: The Surgical Strike. (Photo: Vicky Kaushal/Instagram)National Award winning actor Vicky Kaushal has had massive success in 2019 in the form of Uri: The Surgical Strike. Even in 2018, Vicky gained a lot of appreciation for his work in Manmarziyaan, Sanju and Lust Stories. In this interview with indianexpress.com, the actor talks about winning the National Award, his strategy of choosing work and how he always puts his heart in his art.
Here are some excerpts from the interview:
What kind of career advice are you getting after the National Award win?
The only advice that I am getting is ‘Don’t change, be who you are!’ and that’s very valuable advice.
After winning the National Award, do you feel any kind of pressure to continue doing performance-oriented roles or you want to take it easy?
I am a hungry actor, I want to do every genre, varied parts. I want to do things I think I can’t take up, I want to try out things that people think are not up my alley, that’s how I will grow as an actor. This is what I want to do till the last day of my life, this is all that I want to do. So, whatever takes my heart away – a script, a story, I want to be a part of it. I want to work with great filmmakers, I want to be a part of good films, that’s what my quest is. I want to keep doing good work and I want to stay honest with my work.
Vicky Kaushal’s work in Uri: The Surgical Strike was highly appreciated.What is your strategy in terms of the kind of work you want to do now?
I don’t think like a surgeon when it comes to art, if something gets my heart going then I have to be a part of it. Firstly because most of the work that I have done or I am doing has been before the National Award. If I am getting so much love, so much credibility and honour, maybe it is because I have been following my heart and believing in my instincts. So, I think it is not necessary to change your game because you have got this honour.
But then is it that easy for an actor to not put strategy at all?
No, of course you have to have a strategy, but not after a certain point, then you are just butchering it and killing the charm of it all. You end up killing the love that you have for your art. We are really dependent on our spontaneity and our instincts so if we start planning and plotting more than loving what we do then that thing in you dies. Until a certain point, you need to choose work in a way that places you on the map, once that is done, you need to stop being calculative otherwise you are sold from the heart. Once your phase of strategising has worked, and when your heart says a yes and even your brain says a yes then it is a yes, but first, it should be your heart.
