‘For a while, I didn’t know what I was doing as an actor’

Vikramaditya Motwane

In the web series Jubilee, the character of Jamshed Khan, an upcoming actor, is touted as the next big thing. Everyone wants to get a piece of him, because talent like this doesn't come by too often. In real life, actor Sidhant Gupta who plays theatre director Jay Khanna in the show, is drawing similar curiosity ever since the show released on Amazon Prime last week. Directed by Vikramaditya Motwane, Jubilee is set in the Hindi film industry of the 1940s and '50s (it starts in 1947), and is about a bunch of people trying to find their destiny in tinsel town. It also stars Bengali actor Prosenjit Chatterjee as big-shot producer Srikant Roy, Aparshakti Khurana as his Man Friday, and Aditi Rao Hydari as Roy's wife and a top actress.

At a time where loud crime dramas are getting eyeballs, Jubilee is quiet, but charming. Especially Gupta as the intense, yet light-in-manner Jay. Gupta last grabbed eyeballs as Kunj Sarna from Zee TV's romantic-drama Tashan-e-Ishq. The director has a knack for giving young actors a role that sheds a completely new light on what they could do with their craft - think Abhay Deol in Dev D, Rajat Barmecha in Udaan, Harshvardhan Kapoor in Bhavesh Joshi Superhero and Ranveer Singh in Lootera. As Jubilee gathers steam, Motwane and Gupta speak to us about process and progress.

Edited excerpts from the interview.

Vikram, when did you first see Siddhant in action - was it his show or an audition?
Vikramaditya Motwane: It was an audition! I haven't seen this show.
Sidhant Gupta: Don't see it!
VM: Is it bad? Anyway, now, it's too late. I saw him audition with my casting director. Jay was a very crucial bit of the puzzle. He had to be likeable, and intense. He had to be a good dancer, and very charming. I think Siddhant kind of grew into it. We could see the intensity, and he did serious scenes very well. The rest of it was a tossup - we had faith and went ahead. We knew he was a good actor and that he would pull it off... he has done better than I thought.

Siddhant, you grew up in Jammu where you played basketball and did professional swimming. How did Bollywood happen?
SG: All I wanted to do was play. I wanted to be outside, not be contained. I think I became an actor because it allowed me
to do everything. I had no plans - I just landed up in Mumbai. I sailed through life, and it brought me here.

Sidhant Gupta as Jay Khanna in Jubilee

What kind of research went into the show. Was Jay's character inspired from things you had heard all these years, Vikram?
VM: It's a mix of many things. The research was in stages - the emotional stage, which was hearing about these stories for 20 years, more like urban legends. Then it was about the geopolitics - independence, refugee camps, etc. The last bit was production research - art, costumes, set, newspapers. With the actors, there wasn't much research really. We worked out the style we wanted to give each one, and then started shooting. We did work on their language. There were no specific instruction. For Sidhant, it was all in the page, and he had to get it. We sort of found the character, and we both worked on it.

Is Jay an intense guy who hides his emotions by being extremely charming and happy?
VM: That's Sidhant you are talking about, not Jay!
SG: (Laughs) Jay likes to share, because he values emotions a lot - that's all there is! For a while, I didn't know what I was doing as an actor. You can lose faith in this city, because there is so much insecurity. It's like a chase. This script made me believe again. I had decided I won't do any more of this, till I know why I am doing this. And the answer came to me with Jubilee. This work chose me, and I chose it. I didn't give up, and I got this character, who doesn't know how to give up.

Vikram, all your work has been very different from each other. What has making this show taught you?
VM: I had reached a turning point before Jubilee, maybe with AK vs AK (2020). I started enjoying the material. I had a great time doing Jubilee
too. Every film you do, becomes a new challenge, and I like that... it's like enjoying going from one relationship to another. And you find yourself in that journey.

Sidhant, has this role changed your life?
SM: It changed my life right from the moment I became part of it. It's given me a lot... that's the kind of give and take you have with a role like this. Right now, I like this feeling of putting your heart into something, and it's connecting with others. This is the magic of cinema!