11 minute read
Court Martial - Amit Sadh
From running away from home at the age of 16 and even doing jhadu pocha at people’s homes to having suicidal thoughts; Amit Sadh’s journey has had insane twists and turns. Yet he’s been ziddi and has triumphed over all adversities. Today, he’s one of the most bankable actors in the industry and is in a league of his own. In a candid interview, the charismatic Amit Sadh talks to Sumita Chakraborty about his Zee5 webseries Ziddi, his tumultuous journey, his passion for acting and more. Read on.
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There’s a huge buzz about Zidd… what made you pick this Zee5 webseries?
Zidd is a gift from the Universe and the Gods to me. I remember I was locked up in a room giving interviews – it was a super busy day and I was busy with promotions of Avrodh and Breathe. And then I received a call from Boney Kapoor – I first thought somebody was playing a prank on me, and I said, Ya Bro’. But when I realised it was Boney Kapoor himself, I started stammering… Sir Sir (Ha Ha). He told me my team will call you… I have something nice for you. However, I told him I had just played a soldiers’ character but anyways, let’s talk in 20 minutes. The guys Akash and Joy who spoke to me were very nice and when they narrated just two-three lines of the film to me. I instantly knew it was a gift from the Gods, and I had to become this character - I had to do this film. …And the great thing is that the whole team from the core group of writers, director producer resonated with the same beautiful energy and enthusiasm from that day till today - yes, Zidd is beyond special.
You are excellent in these inspirational characters, do you consciously pick them? What is the process?
It’s not a conscious effort because the only thing I live by design is life. To be honest, to be authentic and work on my character is by design - that is a lifelong effort. You have to wake up every day and be conscious about it. But otherwise picking up such characters has never been a conscious decision. But it is so strange that everybody’s asking me the same thing. …Maybe it’s the Universe but it makes me more conscious of the fact that people are putting responsibility and their hope in me and I just hope I can live up to it. I am willing to work hard to live up to it. I just don’t want to disappoint anyone because the people, universe, you, everyone... are putting so much love and faith in me. And I hope I keep delivering and fulfilling my promise to stay connected. For me, the meaning of cinema is being redefined. Generally, we just become actors to buy our cars, our homes, our holidays, our luxury living… of course, there’s nothing wrong with that. If you work hard, you do whatever you want to do whether you take a plane and skydive or throw the money out of the bags in the Caribbean. It’s totally up to you. But I just think I’m finding a new meaning to cinema and also finding an amazing connect with humankind and my country with my work. It’s very healing for me and I hope for everyone else too. That is so gratifying and that is just the biggest joy of my life.
Amit, you’re slowly getting into a different league by itself… a league of fabulous performing actors.
I have nothing to say really. I just have one fear in life and that is kaam milna band ho jaye. So my only wish is that kaam milna kabhi bandh na ho. Sometimes I do a movie for free or less money but I depend on movies and becoming characters, and through this I have formed a bond with people and I hope that doesn’t stop. I don’t know which league I’m in but I love my work with passion, and I hope I keep getting work that will be remembered and loved.
You’re one of the finest actors but you quietly do your work and then shy away from the spotlight… go off trekking or to the mountains. We hear of you only when the producer pushes you to do some media interactions. Why is that? Isn’t the spotlight what actors crave for?
Ha Ha… yes, I keep getting calls from producers… put on your phone… come back! As for your question… Do actors crave for spotlight? I don’t know, ma’am. I’m not that person. I don’t want the spotlight I’m just a normal, ordinary boy who just wants 26 to do my job, live like a normal person, stand in line, behave like a normal person and live a normal person’s life. That’s the truth. The spotlight you get for five minutes and then instead of chasing life, you chase the spotlight. And in that your entire life goes chasing something so fleeting. I don’t want to do this. I want to chase life and enjoy every aspect of it. I don’t give a damn about the spotlight!
You’ve become so philosophical. Is it because of the insane struggle you went through? I believe at the age of 16, you ran away from home and even worked at a house doing jhadu pocha… from that to now being considered as one of the most bankable actors in Bollywood. The journey must have had some very insane twists and turns but you continued despite having no God father, no money, no contacts yet you managed to achieve so much? Was it your zidd that you didn’t give up? What made you go on?
It was my Zidd that made me continue. Also I think I just started becoming very sorted. Of course, when I was younger, I wasn’t at all sorted. We just complicate things - we decide in which dimension, which quantity, which color… package we want. I didn’t want that. I just prayed every night that God please make me an actor. Someone sent me to Ajmer Sharif, I prayed to God to make me an actor. Again, someone sent me to the Golden Temple and I prayed make me an actor. I never asked for anything else. It wasn’t even about badi acting karni hain, choti acting karni hain… it was just acting. I just think that I was very lucky in life that I didn’t go for how people go for a package in life. I didn’t want that… I wanted happiness. I wanted to be able to act, I wanted to be able to enjoy life. And now I feel that God is giving me all that in abundance because he’s giving me work, he is giving me health, he is giving me good thoughts, he is giving me human connect. I didn’t even pray for this. I didn’t even know that I could build or have such a beautiful human connection. For me, that is a beautiful, beautiful gift from the universe. But yes, Zidd thi ki jeena hain aur struggle mein bhi I had the determination to succeed. Kabhi galti hui, usko theekh kiya. I worked on myself. And here I am!
I believe you even thought of giving up your life… there are so many ppl today who are perhaps in your shoes today… what message do you have for them?
Yes, I was very small… I was 16 and struggling. I’m talking about 25 years back… A lot of people go through these thoughts. But these days it’s better that people are talking about it. There’s some awareness about it. There’s no stigma to it. That’s why, when somebody talks to me it, I’m okay talking about that topic because I feel if I can be a case study that people say it’s okay Amit ko bhi iss tarah ke thoughts aate hain but he turned his life around. So if I can be that example or that strong motivator who from my experience, my story or my sharing something about my past can heal or make people strong. I am more than okay about it.
Somebody had told me mat bataya karo. But then I said that it would make me very selfish agar mein logo ko bataunga nahin ki jahan mein pahucha hun, aap bhi pahuch sakte hain. I feel that people who have such experiences should share, because that gives them hope and strength to others. Life is amazing. Life is beautiful and life should not be ended. I feel we need to be there for each other. India has a population of over a billion and for a better society, we need – not trolling, not pulling people down, not making a mockery of each other – but conversation and support to help us all heal and grow.
Sultan was the turning point in your life, how was it working in Sultan and with Salman Khan?
Sultan’s credit will always go to Ali (Ali Abbas Zafar) as he casted me in the film. When it comes to Salman sir, I’ve never shied away from saying that I’m his eternal lover. He’s a great man and I tell you, what is the greatness of a person… the greatness of a person is not that the person is always right. It’s about a person who lives his good and bad with pride. And he’s the epitome of that. I just love the way he takes care of people. And more than anything, he was so nice and warm to me and I think I’ll remember the experience all my life
Amit, you call a spade a spade. You don’t mince words. You don’t butter anybody. You just do your work and go your way. How are you managing to stay in Bollywood?
Ma’am, main kabhi Bollywood mein aaya nahin. Na tha, na rahuga. I’m an actor who is part of the Indian film industry. Bollywood has become a term of ‘ownership’ for some people. But they should remember nobody can ever have ownership on Art. I’m not going to look back and think about what happened in the past. I don’t do that! I want to look at the present, I want to look at the future. I want to be a great example for young boys, girls, actors and actresses and artists in India. I want them to know that there is hope. There is a right passage of training and opportunities ahead for them. In terms of acting, I feel that the Indian film industry can be stronger than what it is. If we forget our ownership and our stakes… and if we collaborate collectively and work towards solutions on how we can make things better... How we can tell better stories? How our movies can be watched by the world? …Then why can’t eight billion people watch our films? Why can’t we make such stories? So yes, these are my thoughts.
What about global cinema?
The world is becoming a small place. But I’m going to talk as an Indian. I just feel that India is one of the most diverse, beautiful countries in the world. This is the only country when you go 40 or 50 miles in any direction; color, caste, creed, language, religion, the way of looking, talking, food, spices, vegetation and afforestation… everything changes. So imagine how many stories we have. I just feel we should tell more stories and tell our stories in a dignified and nice manner so that actually people get to know about them. And I just feel the West knows us from their point of view. I want us to know ourselves from our point of view. I want to watch our stories which are not deglamorized or which shows that we live in shit because we don’t! They don’t need to be fake representation of us as well. But yes, there is hope as we are making good content now. We are working hard, we are pushing our imagination, we are improving the work scenario. Our communication is much better than it used to be. I think we need to be united. That’s it!
Lastly, how do you see yourself in the future - from being an actor -you’re a fabulous storyteller – would you move to other dimensions?
I have a lot of ideas in life. But yes, cinema definitely is a very, very big aspect of my life and will always be. I just want to stay connected to art and use art to connect with humankind.
