Tall, handsome and courteous with a drool-worthy fit body and an easy smile, Sudhanshu Pandey is every interviewer’s dream. The 40-year-old is in Chennai for a shooting schedule of 2.0, and CE chats him up during his break. Excerpts follow...
What made you accept 2.o?
I am proud to be a part of it for many reasons. Being directed by Shankar, and has Rajinikanth sir in it... I mean I am glad I bagged it! I was told that many Bollywood actors were approached for my role. I have been shooting here for the past 10 days, and will head to Mumbai in a couple of days.
How was the experience of working alongside Superstar?
We have many combination scenes together. I grew up watching his films. I would have been 7 or 8 when I saw Andha Kanoon (1983), which had Amitabh Bachchan, Hema Malini and Superstar. Usually, I’m not star-struck; neither do I get carried away by fame or stardom. But when I met him, I was totally in awe of him. He made me really comfortable on the sets.
We bond over spirituality. He goes to a place to meditate in Uttarakhand, where I am from. It takes a lot of guts (if I can say) to be what he is. Being a Rajinikanth isn’t easy. What we see in films, and what he’s off the sets are poles apart. He gifted me a book on the Himalayas, and asked me to read it. He also said how the book changed his life. I am looking forward to reading it.
We heard that you play an evil scientist in the film?
Yes, that’s right, but I can’t elaborate on it more. After Akshay Kumar’s character, mine is a powerful role. It’s a negative character, but there’s a reason for that. I won’t say there’s a complete makeover for my character, but I am styled in a certain way. I’ll be seen in regular intervals in 2.o. Shankar took a lot of interest in the looks of my character. He experimented with different hairstyles before zeroing in on the final one. He also brought in special glasses from the US to get my look right. It takes nearly two hours for me to get ready for the shooting.
Have you always wanted to become an actor?
I have been fortunate to work with many leading actors like Jackie Chan, Vinod Khanna, Anil Kapoor, Priyanka Chopra, and many others. I have done many films in Bollywood, but I never thought I’d become an actor. I was in an Army school, and most of my friends are colonels. After cinema happened to me, life has changed...for good. I count myself lucky. Despite the language issues, I can speak dialogues with more than 80% accuracy in pronunciation. I am open to doing Telugu films as well.
How good is your Tamil now?
2.o is my fourth film in my Tamil. I know a bit of the language like neenga saapteengala, naan nalla iruken. (Laughs) My manager is pretty fluent in Tamil. Just like he hasn’t learnt Hindi from me all these years, I haven’t picked up Tamil from him!
What interests you more — Bollywood or Kollywood?
If you are at ease with yourself, you can work anywhere. I feel more comfortable working in South. It’s easier because people make it simple. Be it actors or technicians, they’re real here...unlike Bollywood. You don’t have to go through 10 people to convey something.
K’town isn’t complex. It’s not that I don’t get opportunities there, but I am in a happy space when I am doing Tamil films. Plus, the people who make them are fantastic. I want to experiment more with different genres of acting. Though I find it cool to play a baddie, I am game for character roles as well. I want to be a part of Tamil cinema because it has quality scripts.
What’s next?
My dream of working with Shankar has become true. I would love to work with Gautham Menon next. In fact, he praised me for my role in Billa II, and told me that we’d do a film together. Indrajith, which I did with Gautham Karthik, is yet to release. It’s an action-adventure film. Though my character has grey shades to it, in the end, the audience will see that I’m a good person (grins).