'I would get bored if I played the same kind of roles and looked the same throughout the years.'
A fascinating new series where film folk reveal what their movies taught them.
Sidharth Malhotra, six films old, started his acting career with 2012's Student of The Year.
His latest film, A Gentleman, is set for an August 25 release.
Sidharth tells Rediff.com's Patcy N what he has learnt from his movies.
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Right from Student Of The Year, I have learnt a lot from my films.
Especially the sheer magnitude and stardom you can achieve.
We appeared on Karan Johar's platform so we met everybody during the film's promotions.
I had no clue as I was very new.
The other two -- Varun Dhawan and Alia Bhatt (who co-starred with him in Student Of The Year) -- knew people from the industry.
For them, they were 'uncles' and 'aunties' and 'chacha-chachi.'
I was on my own.
Hasee Toh Phasee brought me into a performance zone.
It was a small budget film, co-starring Parineeti Chopra.
Ek Villain brought me to the action zone.
It taught me how to portray a personality.
Brothers introduced me to sports.
It was more physical and I had to match up to a senior actor (Akshay Kumar) who has does so many action films.
I got to learn a lot from Akshay. We have a great relationship today.
I love him as a person and as a co-star.
In Kapoor & Sons, I had amazing actors around me (the film starred Rishi Kapoor, Ratna Pathak Shah, Rajat Kapoor, Fawad Khan and Alia Bhatt).
I had to do a casual small bit.
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In Baar Baar Dekho, I had to age myself.
I took that as a challenge even though the film was not as accepted as I wanted it to be.
In A Gentleman, I play two personalities.
I have not repeated myself in the past and I consciously make that effort.
I want to try different genres because I feel we have to change trends.
In the earlier days, actors did one kind of role and looked the same.
The trend is different now.
Aamir Khan is the only one who does it and I am trying to do my version of it.
If I find stories interesting, I keep mixing it up.
Once you start, your initial fright goes away and you're more secure in your job.
I enjoy the work I am doing now.
All my films, which will release in the next six months, have scripts that I love -- A Gentleman, Ittefaq and Aiyaary.
There is a large variety for me. I have worked with great directors.
I would get bored if I played the same kind of roles and looked the same throughout the years.
For a film like A Gentleman, I got a different hairstyle, body tattoos...
I'm physically bigger.
In Ittefaq, I will be softer.
The true test of any film is when it gets accepted.
If I had to look back at my box office successes, I was very aggressive and intense in Ek Villain.
I also got a lot of love for Kapoor & Sons where I am really soft.
So people have loved me in two extremely different kinds of characters, which is good.
