Animal Director Felt I Could Match Up To Ranbir: Siddhant Karnick

Adipurush and now Animal, Siddhant Karnick couldn't have asked for more. But he's an actor who's worked his way up to reach where he is now. In an exclusive interview with Deccan Chronicle, Siddhant talks about his film career starting from a music album to working alongside Ranbir Kapoor in Animal.

Excerpts

Do people still remember your music video with Swara Bhaskar?

You must be the only one, other than my mother and some loyal well wishers … no one till now has come up to me and remembered me through that music video, maybe because I look different with a beard now as opposed to when I was clean shaven in the music video.

How did you land the role of Ranbir's brother-in-law in Animal?

Sandeep sir had seen an Airtel commercial of mine almost 5 years ago. When he was finalising cast of Animal, he said he wanted someone who can, in his words “ Jo Ranbir ko Takkar de”, and he saw that in me. In fact, he was so confident about me that he cast me in the first meeting itself, he didn’t even ask me to read or audition for the part. And observing the audiences reaction and all the compliments I have received since, I believe I delivered!

Tell us about your first meeting with Ranbir and Anil Kapoor. Did you make an impression on them?

The first time I met them was together, for our readings, and I made a terrible impression, I got stuck in traffic and landed up 6 minutes late. Both the stars were already there before me and I was cringing. But they never made me feel bad about it. In fact, they were very welcoming.

Tell us about your interaction with Anil Kapoor

Anil sir, other than all the great things that are publicly known about him, he is a walking talking encyclopedia of the Indian Film Industry. During our shoot when we would be waiting for the shot to be ready, he would regale us with many of his experiences from the sets and tell us amazing behind-the-scene moments which the public isn’t privy to. So it felt great to just listen to him and learn about what went on into making some of the greatest films of our industry.

How is Ranbir Kapoor on the sets?

Everyone knows him to be a star and a fabulous actor. I got to see another side of him, that of his professionalism while shooting the argument scene that was between his character, mine and my wife, in the glass house.

What you don’t know about it is that we were shooting in a glass house, in the heat wave of Gurgaon at Pataudi palace wearing black suits and with big lights on set emitting more heat than the Sun. To say it was HOT would be an understatement.

Ranbir was there, behind the camera giving me his cues with full energy and commitment. I will always respect him for that. Also, he had the kindest things to say about me to my mother at the premiere. He said to her that I am a very good professional actor and also how he appreciated my etiquette on set.

Your comments on Animal being a misogynist film

I don’t see it as a misogynist film, and those who have formed that opinion have taken things out of the context.

There are rumours about Animal sequel. What's your expectation from the movie?

My hope is that I would be cast in the sequel too.

You have worked with two well-known directors—Om Raut in Adipurush and Sandeep Vanga in Animal. Did you notice any similarities or differences between them?

Both are master story tellers and have very different styles of working. And that’s the case with everyone especially in the creative field. I consider myself very fortunate to have worked with genius directors and even more fortunate that they recognized my talent.

How was the experience with Prabhas on the sets of Adipurush?

Prabhas is a very down to earth and humble gentleman, I admire him to have done a film and a character like Raghav in a language that is not in his comfort zone. I remember in the choking incident, he was very careful about the way he performed the action as he had to lift me up three feet off the ground. Come to think of it, I got choked by the leads in both the films (laughs).

Adipurush rocked OTT platforms, but fizzled out at the box office. How do you analyze that?

I feel the OTT platform can breathe a second life to a film. Most of the time we get disappointed with things because of our high expectations. When I watch a film on OTT it’s usually, ok I have time, let me watch a film. And if I watch a good film without expectations, I enjoy it more. That’s what I feel happened with Adipurush. People’s expectation was low when they watched it on OTT and loved the film. I also got a lot of compliments and appreciation for Adipurush after the OTT release, especially from children.

What next after Animal?

Even after the biggest film of my career, I still don’t have any concrete work lined up. This is the nature of the work that we do. The assumption that work gets amplified after a big film which has seen a lot of success is true in some cases, but most of the time it isn’t. It isn’t a reflection on my talent or performance, it’s just the nature of our industry.

So I tell myself, persevere and be patient and most important, have fun along the way because this too shall pass. This wisdom has come to me after 20 years of being a professional actor.