Actor Vikrant Massey, who will next be seen in Vidhu Vinod Chopra’s directorial 12th Fail, shares his experience working with such an imposing figure, relieving his college memories, and more in this exclusive chat with The Pioneer.
Shikha Duggal
In his next, Vikrant Massey is aspiring to be a civil aspirant, and oh my my, the swedges and competition he has shown in collaboration with Vidhu Vinod Chopra is something that we would like to define as implausible. Being directed by an imposing figure in this industry, Vikrant somewhere down the line felt sacred. 12th Fail for Vikrant is one of his hallowed movies. He helped and urged detaching from so many misconceptions through his on-ground research from the movie.
Beginning with seeking that refuge under, as we mentioned earlier, the helms of classics Vidhu, Balika Vadhu fame showcased, “I juiced him out. I feel we were meant to do a movie together. Like most of his fans, even I have admired his cinema all these years. He’s a true blues filmmaker; at least I have never worked with anyone like him, even after so many films. His honesty is his selling point. I was told, Oh, he’s a task master; he’s temperamental. I would like to denounce this now as one of his actors.
It’s coming from a space of sheer moral correctness. He’s someone who cannot mince words and allows himself to leave integrity in the back seat. Our industry is a make-believe world, and it’s difficult to find honorable men like him. I would like to protect and fall in love with someone like him. And he’s childlike too.”
Based on a novel, Vikrant was asked to go through the whole novel, and he did. What did he derive from the next question imposed on him? The Lootera fame revealed how the book is well-read globally; the figure is nearing almost five crore readers. And because this novel turned into an adaptation, what the actor really enjoyed on the sets of the movie was how he got to relive his college memories. He described to us in detail, “I interacted with so many of the civil aspirants. We shot at actual locations!
These students are away from entertainment; they actually have a world view and a definition of success. Even in their daily routine, they are struggling. I so wanted to stay in their locality, but due to security reasons, I wasn’t allowed to.”
At the same time, in this film, there is somebody who breaks the myth that Chambal is equal to dacoity. To know how, let’s hear it from the horse’s mouth himself with a pinch of laughter: “All along the shoot, I was only hearing ‘chambal ke daaku’, move on guys. The dacoity culture is no longer alive! To begin with, there are so many successful civil aspirants coming from there, helping to run our very own country.
They are not robbers or plunderers. Now Chambal is actually a ravine, so there is that certain temperament, not just in its topography but even in the population’s behavior. I saw them living a very tough life. With no means of agriculture and a scarcity of water, the villagers are already living a daunting life. My director chose Chambal for a reason, and it’s going to be quite evident in the film.”
Now Vikrant feels he may really not be able to stop the corruption going on in the country, but as a professional artist, through the fulfilling job that he does, he can at least raise awareness about it. Are we treading on the right path, readers? For example, he finds Vidhu Vinod Chopra, a high-profile man who is a naysayer. Kumar Mangalam Birla inspired Vikrant to make a change.
Although he had his fair share of defeats too, as he conquers them all in the film, so does he in real life. He recalled, “I was very conscious about leaving the television industry and giving myself a lifetime of risk by entering movies. Will I succeed or not? Or sometimes when my movies don’t work out! But such is life.”
