Vicky Kaushal appears to have it all, a National Award in hand, great projects to boast of and a huge fan-following but the 31-year-old says he’s still figuring out his life. “My journey has been good. I don’t compare myself with others. The comparison is with myself—whether my current performance is better than my last one. I hope I don’t take my success for granted. The audience can give you everything but the moment they are unhappy they will take it away all. Success is temporary. Both failure and success come in phases and it lasts with the kind of work you do.
When I see the happiness in my parents’ faces it’s the greatest joy I could have asked for. My father always keeps telling us that his father always saw him struggling. My grandfather died at the age of 94, but he never saw my father’s success. My father misses that joy my grandfather never had.” So what keeps Vicky grounded? “My mother’s call early morning, when she tries to wake me up, brings me down to harsh reality. It’s important to know who is around you and how they can keep you grounded. I am lucky that I live with my parents. My friends and I don’t discuss about films.
My parents and friends are my reality check,” he says. In his personal life, there have been rumours of the actor’s alleged relationship with Katrina Kaif. However, Vicky is in no mood to clear the air. “Love is a good emotion but I don’t want to clarify. I want to guard my personal life. I can’t lie but I know if I lie I will have to tell more lies. There are many versions and you have to keep clarifying all the time. It’s not the right time to talk about my personal life,” he explains.
Vicky also says that actors tend to feel lonelier when they are successful. “When you are shooting you are pampered. But at home it’s not the same. The audience keeps you on a pedestal and when it falls apart it’s difficult to understand what’s happening,” he points out. The actor’s latest film Bhoot Part One: The Haunted Ship is a horror film, a genre that has more misses than hits in Bollywood. “As an artist it’s the correct time to experiment. The audience wants to be surprised every time. No one expected Dharma Productions to make a horror film.
There is a dearth of good horror films here because there is no audience for it. Whereas in Hollywood they have an audience for such films,” says Vicky on choosing the film. On experiencing paranormal activities in real life, Vicky says, “Whenever I visit my native town in Horshiarpur, Punjab, I feel scared. They have open spaces all around. The toilets are far away from the house. It frightens me. I always take someone along with me when I visit the washroom there but I have never experienced anything paranormal,” says the actor adding, “I suffer from sleep paralysis. In the beginning, I found it to be scary. It’s basically being physically awake but mentally asleep. It usually lasts for 10-15 minutes.”