Actor Sidharth Malhotra beliefs that the blockbuster hit film Shershaah gave him the motivation and confidence to be a part of more such inspiring stories that will be reminisced beyond the box office sprint.
“The beauty of any piece of art is that nobody knows at what time it will resonate with the audience. But the intention, to make cinema which will be remembered, needs to be there,” Malhotra said to PTI.
“I think any actor’s profession cannot be judged at present. It’s years later, when someone comes up to me and remembers my second film, third film, some scene, some emotion… That is pure victory.” the actor added mentioning examples of mega stars Amitabh Bachchan’s Agneepath and Rajkumar Santoshi helmed Andaz Apna Apna.
“In Shershaah, I was the force behind it right from the beginning. Not to take anything away from the director and writer, but I was involved in all the processes… When something like that clicks and people resonate with your thought process… That gives confidence. This is what I was longing for, to make stories which will be inspiring and will be remembered.”
The acto will be next seen in Mission Majnu opposite Rashmika Mandanna which portrays the essence of a “true story, thrill and romance”.
“I found it fascinating that it is inspired by true events and yet it is fictionalized for obvious reasons, because we do not know about these missions. It gives an insight into how a spy works in another country on their own while on a mission in an entertaining and interesting way… So I found it a complete film, with elements of true story, thrill and romance.”
“Maybe it is because I come from an army background that I like to portray such heroic characters. But I also feel it is imperative to showcase the efforts that our forces make, whether it is the armed forces or secret service, to protect the borders of the country.”
Sidharth Malhotra claims this to be an exciting venture especially when it comes to doing action projects, he prioritizes it amongst all.
“I’ve always dived into action as a genre. Starting from Ek Villain, where he is motivated to fight for love. It is basically the emotion that I really like… I think it’s the shift of that emotion. I’m drawn to it personally and find it exciting. But it is more important that the audience find it exciting.”
Mission Majnu is helmed by Shantanu Bagchi, the trailer for which have been launched at the India Gate while the premiere is set to be on Vijay Diwas on Netflix dated January 20.
It was an enticing and interesting experience for the actor to work with first time director Bagchi, said Malhotra. “Shantanu has got a passion for sketching and he would explain the shot breakdowns to us with a lot of sketches, which was very intriguing. He also likes to dive deep into a scene and have conversations, which I like personally. So we were kind of bonding over that. I think it’s a great debut from his side, as there are so many intricate details and layers. Hopefully, people will enjoy it.”
Rashmika Mandanna portrays the role of visually challenged girl who falls for a spy played by Sidharth Malhotra.
“Rashmika has picked that innocence of a Pakistani girl very interestingly. Off the camera, her free-flowing attitude was extremely easy to work with. She never comes with solid dos’ and don’ts.”
Penned by Parveez Shaikh, Aseem Arrora and Sumit Batheja, Mission Majnu is bankrolled by RSVP and GBA.
