“Udham Singh always stayed with me,” Vicky Kaushal on playing the revolutionary in Shoojit Sircar’s film

Known for delivering several memorable performances ever since making his acting debut with Masaan (2015), Vicky Kaushal is presently waiting for the release of his next film Sardar Udham. Directed by Shoojit Sircar and produced by Ronnie Lahiri, the biographical drama sees the Uri: The Surgical Strike (2019) actor in the titular role of revolutionary Sardar Udham Singh.

Talking to a publication, Kaushal spoke about the amount of preparation he put into essaying the part. “As part of my process, I always believe in reaching out to the character and somewhere in the middle, that character extends its arm and reaches back out to me. From there, you just grab onto that arm and there is a beautiful marriage of this process that happens during the filming. In that process, subconsciously, you are always consumed by that world, those traits and colours of the character.”

He added that Udham Singh always stayed with him and it continues to do so to date. “It all happens without you consciously knowing that you’re carrying so many aspects of the role with you at all times. Udham Singh always stayed with me and it continues to do so today. You tend to enact between the action and cut, but yes, some part of it lingers with you at all times,” he added.

Talking about the impact that playing a character like Udham Singh leaves on an actor, Kaushal said, “You don’t speak the lines or the mannerisms consciously, but at times, your family notices something and they point out – and say, ‘you are looking aloof’, ‘you are feeling different’, ‘there’s a different vibe to you’. Over a period of time, they understand the nature of the work and they tend to give you the space. But when they do react like that, I come to know that there has been some noticeable shift within me. And you like that to be there, as well. I like to acknowledge that there has been a shift in my personality and my behaviour. But you don’t want to analyse it, you just want to flow with that shift.”

Sardar Udham is set to release on October 16 on Amazon Prime Video.