Siddhant Chaturvedi, Gully Boy’s MC Sher, recently made his Bollywood debut with Zoya Akhtar’s film. Recently, in an interview, Siddhant opened about working with Ranveer Singh, the praise coming his way and the MC Shers of his own life.

Siddhant while talking revealed about the one compliment that stood out and said, “It was Deepika (Padukone) who said ‘Oh! He is just a boy. He is so cute’. People were expecting someone huge. You know like someone around 28. When people saw me in real they were quite astonished. They were like ‘Oh he is just 25! He is so cute.’ So I think that was a compliment. When people are surprised by your onscreen self and then they see you off-screen, that is actually a compliment. Also, they thought I am a real rapper .”

Many have said that Siddhant overshadowed Ranveer in the movie, on which he replied, “No, no. How is that an intention? How can anyone overshadow (Ranveer)? We come from the school of thought that we don’t think like that. We are just playing our parts. And no, I was just his mentor and that’s how I look at it. Ultimately the film is about him, the Gully Boy. Ranveer Singh in and as Gully Boy like in and as Simmba. He is the one who has contributed a huge part, he is the one who got the audience into theatres. So I don’t think anyone can (overshadow him). I was in tears watching him in the theatre. So it’s nothing like that. Puraane zamaane ki baatein hai sab (Such thoughts are now obsolete).”

On asked, on your social media we see you writing poems and in a recent interview, you said you were bullied as a child. Do you think your life story was similar to Murad in a way?

“I used to feel like apna time kab aaega. So I used to write but those were usually haikus and maybe four-liners, nothing in the long format. Those were just thoughts. So yea I could relate (to Murad). But in real life I can relate to MC Sher more. But that’s how we are, we are actors and we do things. That’s the beauty of it.”

Did you have an MC Sher in your life? He replied, “I don’t have one MC Sher, I have lots of MC Shers in my life. My dad is my MC Sher, there is Ritesh Sidhwani and Farhan Akhtar, and Zoya Akhtar was my sherni. And last but not the least, Ranveer Singh. Every time the scene would cut I would ask him ‘Baba how was it’. He would tell me ‘Bhot hard. Bhot sai karra hai tu’. So he used to give me that confidence; I am a huge fan of his work.”

Even Karan Johar praised the film and your performance in an Instagram post and you commented that your family is sharing screenshots of it on WhatsApp. On this he said, “They have been very emotional. You know I come from a very normal family. I have grown up watching Zoya Akhtar and Karan Johar. So, for him to post about me is a big deal. I am a huge fan of his direction and production. So yes, it was a big deal for my family.”

Published by Soniya Kaur on 22 Feb 2019