I’m here to stay: Sidharth Malhotra

Actor feels that Ek Villian was an endeavour to turn all the non-believers into believers.

NEW DELHI: Model-turned-actor Sidharth Malhotra, who is currently riding high on the success of Ek Villain, which has minted INR772 million in its opening week, is confident he will play a long innings in filmdom.

The 29 year old, who was criticised for his inability to dance or to emote well in his debut film Student of the Year, despite the fact that it passed off with flying colours at the box office, has a reason to believe that.

“This kind of box office success was my first experience. I feel I’ve reached out to more number of people with this film than I ever did before; so that’s exciting. Now, I feel that I am here to stay,” said Sidharth.

“It’s satisfying to see that I took a risk two years ago by choosing a character like this, it is so different from what I’ve done before and it’s paying off. It’s very satisfying as an actor to try something new and see that the audience is liking it,” added the actor who played romantic roles in his first two films.

So far, the actor has had three releases, of which Hasee Toh Phasee is the only film that underperformed.

While many would kill for looks like his, the six-foot-plus actor found it a challenge. “We are not just standing and posing, are we? I’ve tried to change my looks in all the three films. People think ‘he is a good looking boy, so he can’t act’. To break that stereotype and go beyond my looks was also a challenge,” said the actor, who wants to keep reinventing himself.

Sidharth, who plays Guru — a criminal transformed into a good guy by the power of love — in the romantic thriller, said the film “was also an endeavour to turn all the non-believers into believers”. “I think Ek Villain is the best answer I could give to the people who didn’t see my craft or who weren’t convinced about my space here,” he added.

The movie has earned him more than just fans; the actor said many filmmakers have been approaching him post the success of Ek Villain. “Now, filmmakers will not feel shy in putting money in a project with me. I was committed to two films before I did Ek Villain, so now I am concentrating on those two films (Warrior and Bhavesh Joshi).”

Sidharth, who assisted director Karan Johar in My Name is Khan, had thought of going behind the camera as well. However, after the thunderous success of Ek Villain, he has changed his mind.

“I got into assistant direction. I had thought of that as an option, but now, after the success of Ek Villain... nah. Why would I go behind the camera? I would like to be in front of the camera. It’s far tougher to be a director,” he said.

Published in The Express Tribune, July 6^th, 2014.

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