Actor Abhay Verma, who recently
gave a remarkable performance with his character Chandi in the Sandeep Singh directorial Safed, gets candid with The Pioneer, sharing insights about getting onboard for the character, love knowing no language and boundaries, camaraderie with Meera Chopra, and more.
gave a remarkable performance with his character Chandi in the Sandeep Singh directorial Safed, gets candid with The Pioneer, sharing insights about getting onboard for the character, love knowing no language and boundaries, camaraderie with Meera Chopra, and more.
The recently released film Safed, starring Meera Chopra and Abhay Verma in the lead roles, not only marks Abhay’s debut as a lead but also producer Sandeep Singh’s debut as a director. The film has a quote that says, ‘The society we are growing up in is not growing up’. And this is true! This is not just us who are telling it up, but Abhay, whose character Chandi, who is transgender, is being named as an unusual character, says, “The fact,” he begins, “that we are calling ‘Chandi’ an unusual character tells us that we as a society are not yet that aware; this was one of the reasons that I really wanted to do Safed.”
Initially, he did feel sceptical about playing the character, as it had scared him in a lot of ways, including the process that he had to go through and, above all, the responsibility of representing a community. But little did he know that it would become ‘the most enriching and eye-opening experience of his life, in a way that it made him responsible towards society and eventually made him a better person.
Basically, Abhay wasn’t aware of Sandeep Singh’s name ever before. But, as he goes on to share about getting onboard for Safed, he says, “When I was called to meet him for a few minutes, in which he made me wear a saree, I was like, What and where is it going? But as soon as I walked a couple of steps and then read the one-pager, which I didn’t know would change my life, I got the idea that this is something that is a story of a kind that hasn’t been made ever. The pure thought of questioning society to let love be the most important feeling, giving out a message of live and let live subtly through communities we so demean, is what intrigued me. And now I’d like to believe that Safed has given me things that are beyond many small things, like money.”
Irrespective of the mixed responses that the film has received, undeniably, what Safed intends to highlight is that one of the perfect examples of love has no language and goes beyond any physical dimensions.
And so Abhay, seconding to us, shares, “Love knows no language, and love shouldn’t know any religion. It’s the most beautiful emotion that has made people cross ‘saat samundar’ as we’ve seen in films. If anyone says that they haven’t felt great when they see such things on screen, they are liars, so if they can enjoy that feeling there, then we can create a better world in reality.”
But looking at the concept and theme, the film would have brought in multiple challenges, wouldn’t it? But “‘to achieve what you never have, you have to do something that you have never done.’ This is something that keeps me going. From Safed, I got the opportunity—or rather, a blessing—to dive into emotions that I would have never known were inside me. For instance, an inbuilt ignorance towards a sector in society. I would proudly say that I am all for challenging things. I do not want the path to be easy because that would put me in a comfortable space, and I really don’t want to stop exploring myself. Comfortability gives ease in life, and the growth is stagnant, whereas I want my filmography to be like the waves of the ocean, some big, some small, and some giant.”
“Sometimes the beauty of some things is in their uncommonness, and Safed is one such story,” he shares, adding, “If a man can love a woman, a woman can love a man, and a man can love a man, and vice-versa. Then why not these two communities who are striving just for one thing, which is love at its purest form?”
The audience, or, let’s say, a major portion of the audience, has been more keen to watch commercial cinema that has action, dance, and love scenes. And with Safed not being an easy film to work on and also make, he says, “From my experience, the audience has been craving only good content. Be it commercial, a magnum opus project, a serious, intense project, or of any other genre, it has gone beyond limits since the barriers of languages have also blurred. It has given good-intentioned content a chance to flourish on its own, despite the need to have only big stars in it. Being an outsider with no Johar, Khan, or Kapoor in my surname, I’m a product of good content. I am proud to say that I was given the opportunity to do something that is uncommon but pure at the same time, which is not only what the audience is hungry for but also allows me to put a message out from my side for other actors to go beyond their comfort level and choose films that give them more than just fun.”
Another reason for him to love the profession is that every film allows him to make a new family, and with Safed, Meera has thankfully become a family member who is brutally honest and truthful, which nowadays people lack. “Meera is to me what Kaali is to Chandi. There is an unconditional bond that lies between us as characters in the film and also in life, for which I will be forever grateful for Safed. I proudly want to say that this includes each and every person who has worked in Safed and all the other projects that I have done.”
The film has seven romantic and heart-touching tracks, rendered by some of the most renowned names like Sonu Nigam, Rekha Bhardwaj, Shilpa Rao, Shail Hada, Shashi Suman, Jazim Sharma, and Suvarna Tiwari. Abhay thus believes that music is the biggest religion in the world because it allows people to connect with each other even if they don’t know the name. “Safed is a musical love story, and considering the hurdles I went through in the film, I would call it a beautifully painful experience. The beautiful part comes from the legends singing in it, and the painful part comes from the challenges I faced during the shooting of the film. It has always been a dream to first meet such legendary artists in my lifetime, and I am even grateful that I am a part of their lives now. ‘God lies in detailing’ is something that I learned from my guru, who has also been a father figure to me, who is Sonu Nigam, and that has been something that I will put very close to my heart forever.”
With Safed being a spiritual journey, there could not have been another place than Benaras in which we could have shot this film. “I remember Sandeep Sir and I chatting and talking about the people who will connect in Safed since everything in the film that has happened seemed to have a God-sent message. Out of all the beautiful things in Benaras, the fact that you experience life and death very closely at Manikarnika Ghat gave me a reality check when I was preparing for a scene at 4 AM because, in today’s times, what we forget is that everything else is temporary and humanity is permanent.”
Initially, he did feel sceptical about playing the character, as it had scared him in a lot of ways, including the process that he had to go through and, above all, the responsibility of representing a community. But little did he know that it would become ‘the most enriching and eye-opening experience of his life, in a way that it made him responsible towards society and eventually made him a better person.
Basically, Abhay wasn’t aware of Sandeep Singh’s name ever before. But, as he goes on to share about getting onboard for Safed, he says, “When I was called to meet him for a few minutes, in which he made me wear a saree, I was like, What and where is it going? But as soon as I walked a couple of steps and then read the one-pager, which I didn’t know would change my life, I got the idea that this is something that is a story of a kind that hasn’t been made ever. The pure thought of questioning society to let love be the most important feeling, giving out a message of live and let live subtly through communities we so demean, is what intrigued me. And now I’d like to believe that Safed has given me things that are beyond many small things, like money.”
Irrespective of the mixed responses that the film has received, undeniably, what Safed intends to highlight is that one of the perfect examples of love has no language and goes beyond any physical dimensions.
And so Abhay, seconding to us, shares, “Love knows no language, and love shouldn’t know any religion. It’s the most beautiful emotion that has made people cross ‘saat samundar’ as we’ve seen in films. If anyone says that they haven’t felt great when they see such things on screen, they are liars, so if they can enjoy that feeling there, then we can create a better world in reality.”
But looking at the concept and theme, the film would have brought in multiple challenges, wouldn’t it? But “‘to achieve what you never have, you have to do something that you have never done.’ This is something that keeps me going. From Safed, I got the opportunity—or rather, a blessing—to dive into emotions that I would have never known were inside me. For instance, an inbuilt ignorance towards a sector in society. I would proudly say that I am all for challenging things. I do not want the path to be easy because that would put me in a comfortable space, and I really don’t want to stop exploring myself. Comfortability gives ease in life, and the growth is stagnant, whereas I want my filmography to be like the waves of the ocean, some big, some small, and some giant.”
“Sometimes the beauty of some things is in their uncommonness, and Safed is one such story,” he shares, adding, “If a man can love a woman, a woman can love a man, and a man can love a man, and vice-versa. Then why not these two communities who are striving just for one thing, which is love at its purest form?”
The audience, or, let’s say, a major portion of the audience, has been more keen to watch commercial cinema that has action, dance, and love scenes. And with Safed not being an easy film to work on and also make, he says, “From my experience, the audience has been craving only good content. Be it commercial, a magnum opus project, a serious, intense project, or of any other genre, it has gone beyond limits since the barriers of languages have also blurred. It has given good-intentioned content a chance to flourish on its own, despite the need to have only big stars in it. Being an outsider with no Johar, Khan, or Kapoor in my surname, I’m a product of good content. I am proud to say that I was given the opportunity to do something that is uncommon but pure at the same time, which is not only what the audience is hungry for but also allows me to put a message out from my side for other actors to go beyond their comfort level and choose films that give them more than just fun.”
Another reason for him to love the profession is that every film allows him to make a new family, and with Safed, Meera has thankfully become a family member who is brutally honest and truthful, which nowadays people lack. “Meera is to me what Kaali is to Chandi. There is an unconditional bond that lies between us as characters in the film and also in life, for which I will be forever grateful for Safed. I proudly want to say that this includes each and every person who has worked in Safed and all the other projects that I have done.”
The film has seven romantic and heart-touching tracks, rendered by some of the most renowned names like Sonu Nigam, Rekha Bhardwaj, Shilpa Rao, Shail Hada, Shashi Suman, Jazim Sharma, and Suvarna Tiwari. Abhay thus believes that music is the biggest religion in the world because it allows people to connect with each other even if they don’t know the name. “Safed is a musical love story, and considering the hurdles I went through in the film, I would call it a beautifully painful experience. The beautiful part comes from the legends singing in it, and the painful part comes from the challenges I faced during the shooting of the film. It has always been a dream to first meet such legendary artists in my lifetime, and I am even grateful that I am a part of their lives now. ‘God lies in detailing’ is something that I learned from my guru, who has also been a father figure to me, who is Sonu Nigam, and that has been something that I will put very close to my heart forever.”
With Safed being a spiritual journey, there could not have been another place than Benaras in which we could have shot this film. “I remember Sandeep Sir and I chatting and talking about the people who will connect in Safed since everything in the film that has happened seemed to have a God-sent message. Out of all the beautiful things in Benaras, the fact that you experience life and death very closely at Manikarnika Ghat gave me a reality check when I was preparing for a scene at 4 AM because, in today’s times, what we forget is that everything else is temporary and humanity is permanent.”
