From the grin to the grim, Kartik Aaryan is all set to make that audacious leap from the goofy in Bhool Bhulaiyaa 2 to the grisly in Freddy where he plays a scary psychopath. In a freewheeling interview with Firstpost, Kartik speaks of his goals as an actor and why it is important for him to step out of his comfort zone once in a while.
What made you choose a script like Freddy? Going by the glimpses, it doesn’t look like an easy film.
I have always picked at least one film intermittently which challenges me as an actor. I love to entertain audiences and I believe that it can be done with different genres. A comedy and a horror-comedy can entertain the audience and so does a dark thriller. So, to choose a script like Freddy is meant to not only satisfy the artist in me but also not be selfish and make sure that the film has the likeable factor for audiences, that brings them to the screen of any medium, to watch and have a good time. Freddy has that perfect blend.
Is Freddy your most challenging film to date?
Every film and genre has its challenges. It all depends on the director and actor to make the film power-packed on screen. Freddy surely was a very challenging film for me as an actor. It gave me several disturbing nights. But with all the hard work we put in, the journey on this one was smooth.
Was it very hard playing such a dark character? How far did you have to dive within yourself to play this sociopath?
I remember last year I played a complex character with Dhamaka. This time when I read Freddy’s script, I was even more excited, because the whole work and prep that goes on in playing these complex characters are fun for the actor in me.
Was it difficult getting into this character’s demented mind?
When a character is challenging, one cannot say it’s hard to play him on reel… because then you’re already setting a limitation for yourself and you have lost all the excitement already. I took onto this film with full commitment and was looking forward to every day when I was shooting for it. We shot in real locations for this, we also shot in the studio and the character Freddy is… it was like I was unpeeling every layer of him with every shot and scene.
This sounds like something we haven’t seen before.
I can’t say more about this role right now, but I did all my research, my preps with the director and writer were thorough even before we went on floors and it was completely new for me. Looking forward now to the audience’s reaction to it.
On one end we see you having a ball in the teaser of Shehzada, on the other end, we see you stifling screams in Freddy. Are you trying to shock the audience with such swift mood swings in your characters?
Shock might not be the right word but surprise perhaps. I want to surprise the audience with every film. I surprised the audience with Bhool Bhulaiyaa 2. I want to surprise them with Freddy and with Shehzada too. Masses are the judges of the showbiz world. They are the ones who give a final verdict. To get their love and affection, I am working on the surprise factor and making sure I do my work and roles with full dedication and hard work. They want to see a mass entertainer like Shehzada in theatres with a full family, but they also want to watch a dark character like Freddy doing unexpected things at home. And I am glad, I’m trying to do both of them and balancing my filmography in such a way, that it’s pure entertainment for all.
Subhash K Jha is a Patna-based film critic who has been writing about Bollywood for long enough to know the industry inside out. He tweets at @SubhashK_Jha.
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