The last thing you will see him do is run around trees. He is happy to break stereotypes and extend his talent to both offbeat and commercial cinema. And once that is taken care of, actor Arjun Mathur, whose film ‘My Friend Pinto’ hit the theatres this week, doesn’t mind going lengths to get into the skin of the character.
Which he proved when he kissed his male co-star Rahul Bose in Onir’s ‘I Am’. “Considering I would never do anything like that in my personal life, it wasn’t a bad idea to do it on screen,” says the self-confessed homophobic, adding that the kiss really got him noticed. But before that happened, Mathur went through a phase where nobody took him seriously. “People thought I was just another young chap who’d get lost in the crowds,” says Mathur.
With no filmy background, Mathur didn’t once feel insecure. “I never had a moment of self-doubt. Backed with training in acting, I was ready to deliver the best,” he says. But one requires more than just talent to make it big in the industry. “It’s about influential surnames. I have auditioned for several big films, but have lost out to a star son, last minute,” he says.
For Mathur, it was a nine-year-long quest to be noticed. From assisting in films like ‘Kyun! Ho Gaya Na’, ‘Mangal Pandey: The Rising’, ‘Rang De Basanti’ and ‘Bunty Aur Babli’, to grabbing meaty roles in films like Mira Nair’s ‘Migration’ and Farhan Akhtar’s ‘Positive’, Mathur doesn’t slot himself in a particular genre.
In Zoya Akhtar’s ‘Luck By Chance’, he essayed the role of a struggling actor, not very different from his real life story, but with Farhan and Zoya’s help, who encouraged and believed in him, he has come a long way. “I have valued every bit of their friendship and advice,” he says.
But the real breakthrough came when he acted in ‘My Name Is Khan’, which proved his mettle in mainstream cinema. From a fat boy with long unkempt hair, to a charming young man, Mathur is confident of making it big. “All I need is a good director, bold enough to believe in me. Today everybody wants to cast me as a lead, but they don’t because of the pressure to take a big name. It will take just one producer to break the mould set by superstars and the rest will be history,” he says.
Excited about ‘My Friend Pinto’, Mathur says, “I want the film to do well but even if it doesn’t, I will not be heartbroken. I am not dying for applause as my life doesn’t depend on it. It depends on giving my best and performing roles that will be remembered. I am not here to get attention. All I want is appreciation,” Mathur signs off.