Actor Sahil Salathia, who was recently seen in Amazon Prime Video’s Adhura, takes The Pioneer through the interesting dimensions of his life and career.
Shikha Duggal
Doubtless, Sahil Salathia is a versatile actor, but what else we spotted was his sartorial choices for his demeanour, often experimenting with his looks, making them edgy and inspiring! In short, he doesn’t need any societal confirmation. So in an exclusive interview with the Adhura fame, we contemplate many more interesting dimensions of his life and career. And we were only enlivened!
He shared, “I am an imminent household name that is known to be the tiny city of our country; that’s Jammu; it’s no longer a town because there is abundant development happening there. I studied at Kendriya Vidyalaya, which is also an interesting dimension of my life because my father was an IAS officer; hence, we were altering between transfers, and Kendriya Vidyalaya was always a safer bet for me to pick up my education from where I left, regardless of medium. So, I am one of those defence kids who turned into a celebrity from Jammu.”
He grew up only knowing Hindi, so with time, he taught himself different languages and accents. His tendency was to fall more for Urdu unwittingly. His sister is eleven years younger than him; that’s another interesting dimension before us, but certainly leaving us mighty impressed. We wanted to hear more, and he continued, “Cinema affords a view of entertainment in my native home — nothing more than that, and I don’t even hope for it. I can guarantee you that nine out of ten do not aspire to become actors there, and that’s the reality! Jammu and Kashmir has been a troubled state for so many years. Now we are in a safe space, but whatever happened to us back in the day was very unfortunate. For us, movies were the medium through which we could forget the pain we were suffering. But when I became an insider in the entertainment business, my perspectives changed to a great extent.”
A simple yet sober combination of ambidexterity for us, a Rajput down pat, he exemplifies, “You can still survive in this industry come rain or shine, even if you are not a star kid. Even a distant cousin or an uncle has given access to a few actors in our industry who hardly come to the limelight. I want to go through that beating, that fair casting, with no favouritism, backbiting, or politics. Honestly, this happens in the industry! We were talking through interesting dimensions, exactly. So, for my own part, a good actor doesn’t have to be the superstar of the ages — he/she could be that theatre actor working in a performing arts theatre. There was the presence of camps, often talked about, but it’s changing now! Credible casting directors are coming in.”
Blending into this movie industry so well, what we became cognizant of, he continued, “I am obsessed with folk cultures; I grew up with my grandparents and ancestors. They are very conservative, but I like it. The heritage and traditions are still being preserved, at least! Maybe that’s why I have the propensity for period dramas that I do. Beyond a point, I made contact with Barry Jones, and my deepest instinctive traits in acting come from him. His institute made me a sociable and confident man. He believes in rehearsals! He taught me how not to be camera conscious and feel anxiety, or else we wouldn’t be able to understand our characters in the films. Barry Jones never forgets his disciples: Manoj Bajpayee’s photograph is still dangling in the institute, and my mentor showered so much love on me when my recent series came out. He makes all of us, whether a Shah Rukh Khan or a Sahil Salathia, validated and loved.”
Known for so many avatars on the screen, the software engineer-turned-actor encapsulates, “I am not the always-good-looking actor in this industry—strategies keep changing. And then it was all about the movies being shot overseas! Between all of this, sometimes remarkable acting fails to be seen. We made it possible that blockbusters could come from small towns too. Ninety percent of them are hits! The themes of violence and abuse are painted in such a way that they’re not seen as ridiculous. Then I see these memes on social media being picked from these hit shows! One thing: talent should always assume control over a sob story. This is a different kind of camping that has kicked off in the industry, and it will continue to change. I am sure about this.”
The culmination of his journey led us to a lot of excerpts, in particular, “We must celebrate actors after their filmography is varied enough if they have done unconventional roles like an Aamir Khan or a Kangana Ranaut. Few of the new-generation actors are needlessly overrated for doing the same roles again and again. Where is the versatility? The same diction, same physicality, and same names are murdering complicity in movies. I stay away from television soap operas; although there is insane money in television, those scripts don’t work for me because I started with somebody like Ashutosh Gowariker.” He needs conviction.
The actor shares a fine camaraderie with the director, to which he expressed, “He’s much the same as Gautam Buddha, very peaceful, and doesn’t shout at anyone when on the sets. For him, whether it’s Sahil or a “spot dada” — all of us are one and the same because both of us are contributing to the movie. After making a movie like Lagaan, I can only address him as a magician. And when I was doing Prisoners of War, getting his phraseology and walking accurately became the boiling point of that series. He wasn’t a polished man! I can recall relating excessively to the series because I grew up in that “tension” between the countries. While I was growing up, Pakistan was celebrated, and there was so much animosity being unrolled. I took all these inferences immediately, and that’s what an actor is supposed to do.”
He clearly admits being a part of the dramatic arts is a high-pressure job, indubitably, and Sahilon, on the other hand, said, “In a corporate sector, we all know our positionings, and this is my next step. But in my industry, it’s all about timing, and every actor should continue to work on their mental health because there will be enough low moments to take them down. I meditate and work out! Workouts could be painful for others or build muscles, but to me, they’re my way of releasing pessimism. All of us as actors are bound to sustain the hype in one way or another!”
