Making waves with his performance once again with Ghoomer, actor Angad Bedi speaks to The Pioneer on standing behind or beside your woman, the film being beyond special, and more.
SHIKHA DUGGAL
In R. Balki’s Ghoomer, his magic style appeals to us to the point where we see actor Angad Bedi celebrating human resilience and impressing all of us with his winsome depiction of a supportive confidant. That makes us go awww.
As we all know, there can be hardly any preparation to play a “love interest,” yet the straight-thinking actor had some points to put across in this exclusive interview for one of the best sports dramas running successfully in theaters. His reasoning was: “There is a beautiful emotion in standing behind or beside your woman and really letting her lead from the front. Sometimes, even we can look up to our partners! I look up to Neha. I was doing this role so earnestly that there wasn’t a chance that I would have gone unnoticed. How about turning the famous saying into behind every successful woman, there is a man? Who loves her a lot! This emotion makes me stand out in both film and real life; forget about just being noticed. This is the kind of romance I believe in. I was so sincere on the sets of Ghoomer, and that’s the only reason so much love is coming my way. I am so proud of my lady love, Neha Dhupia; you’ll always see it in my eyes. I carried the same emotions to the sets!”
In regards to the film, Saiyami and he started their careers together, so even in general, he is so proud of his friend. Saiyami has seen a lot of hardships, man! She’s surviving so well in this cutthroat profession, and her sanctity is always in check. Life just came full circle for her because she always believed in cricket, she informed the co-star. Sometimes, you need to understand your woman’s needs and desires too, because it cannot always be about you in a relationship. This was his takeaway, it seems. Elaborating further, “Sometimes these senseless roles are very tough to play on-screen—the actor doesn’t understand whether he or she is able to put their emotions across. It’s never about the actor in these kinds of roles! It’s a risky choice: either you’ll win or go unnoticed. My director handled it in a very delicate way. He just asked me to inculcate empathy and love, and that hit home. Even he said he’s never done romantic movies! And I am coming from a filmography of strong roles, so going selfless all of a sudden wasn’t easy for me. In between, he asks me to be a lover-boy! I was afraid that it would throw people off because they were not used to seeing me like this. I unlearned all the edginess and learned romance! I was so apprehensive, but I was at my vulnerable best.”
You know what this film is: way more special for Angad than we can ever imagine. Let us give you some background! He’s the son of the former Indian cricketer who formed part of the famous Indian spin quartet. Even Angad played cricket up to the under-19 level for Delhi. But his excitement reached fever pitch when he heard that he was all set to star in the same film as his father, the legendary Bishan Singh Bedi, for the very first time, to which he shared such an overwhelming response: “They showed clips of him bowling when he was a cricketer, and my father was pleasantly surprised to see himself on-screen after so many decades. The film literally required him! If they talk about a spinner’s action, it has to go to my father, any day. It will not go to anyone else in the country. The director revealed he’s been an admirer of my father on the sets. I understand his sentiments so well because I used to be that person standing by in the lines, watching my father play. I didn’t watch the film as an actor; I was watching it as a fan of Bishan Singh Bedi and his son.”
But, but, but, he revealed, “I deliberately didn’t give any cricket inputs to Saiyami — because my character doesn’t follow the sport! So I didn’t want to get carried away on the sets. I had to romance her. And, he’s also her fan. I understood the sport so well that I had to restrain myself so much during the sets. We would play cricket when cameras weren’t rolling, but I would just not talk about the sport. It was Abhishek and Saiyami’s time to discuss cricket! I never let them feel that I own the sport.”
