EXCLUSIVE Interview: Vicky Kaushal on Sam Bahadur: 'It will be a great achievement for me if youngsters join...'

On a gloomy November morning, it was a pleasure catching up with Vicky Kaushal in the capital for an exclusive interview on Sam Bahadur. Dressed up in an all-black outfit, looked like both of us were colour coordinating. Well, this was not my first interview with Vicky, but this was truly special because it was about a man we all look up to, Sam Manekshaw… a soldier who had courage to stand up against all odds.

Sam Bahadur is directed by Meghna Gulzar and stars Vicky Kaushal as the field marshal. It also stars Sanya Malhotra and Fatima Sana Shaikh who plays the former Prime Minister Indira Gandhi.

Edited excerpts from the interview:

 What was the preparation for the role like from picking up the mannerism and the diction of Sam Manekshaw?

When it comes to the body language, the way of walking and talking, it was a little tricky despite having visual references, and his recorded interviews, but they were not of the age that we were trying to crack in the film. We were showing his forty years of service. All his interviews were post his retirement when he was 75 to 80 years-old then. Firstly, to understand how he spoke was a challenge and he used to speak in a clipped British accent. And his interviews are in English. Since Sam Bahadur is a Hindi film, the tricky part was how to convert that element into a Hindi conversational dialogue.

I sat with Meghna Gulzar with the script. Usually what I do is I read the script multiple times and I never mug up the script. But here I couldn’t do that till I cracked the tonality because then you start reading the character in your own way. Then a lot of ‘you’ comes into it. Here I didn’t want to set a pattern in the way that my mind was reading out the lines.

So, from the word ‘go’ I had to first crack the tonality and then get into the script. For me personally, it was a very different process in terms of approaching how to go about getting Sam and the script altogether. The body language was I think a combination of whatever videos we could get and a lot was based on his pictures that were available. With all the pictures that we got we kind of made a pattern as to how he walked, how he used to stand and sit.  To get body language, I used to practice it on a daily basis. Before starting the shoot, for good two and a half months we used to sit and discuss on how to go about it.

Not much mimicry was also done, right?

Actually you can’t and it’s not the right approach. Secondly, I can mimic something that I have seen or I have a visual reference. There was no such visual reference from his 20 to 60 years of age. And that was the age that was shown in the film. I can mimic him when he was in his seventies, for that we have references through his interviews post retirement. But that is not the age that we are showing in the film Sam Bahadur.

How relevant is Sam Bahadur for today’s generation?

The reason behind making the film is not because he is the first Field Marshal, but because of the person he was. He truly is a role model. And if anything you can draw inspiration from, I think it’s his life. He understood the social strata of the country and he has been there for the common people.

There is that song in the film. Banda… Raab ka bandaa hai, saab ka banda hai, it really puts him in the right way. He really was as simple as that.

How much do you think this movie is going to be an inspiration for the younger generation to join the Indian Army because now I don’t see many kids being interested in joining the armed forces?

I am praying that the movie does inspire people to join the forces. Because that for us is going to be a big achievement through our work as craftsmen. I do feel very honestly that its more than a film. It truly holds the capacity to inspire the youth in a very subjective way. I am also very curious to know what people take away from which incident or situation in his life. But as for me, I really fell in love with this man. I feel this is how a man should be as a father, as a husband, as a son, as a soldier and as a citizen of the country. Even if people after watching the movie, the people feel that ‘yes’ we can lead a life like him, then that too will bring about a great change!

What was the most challenging scene from the film?

There was one scene that I was performing in Hotel Ashoka and his daughter had come to visit and see that bit. That was the most challenging part not because of the scene, but because of the fact that one of his family was around and that she is watching me live.

I can’t tell you how nervous I was. I performed it and I couldn’t even see towards the monitor when they were checking the shot. Because if I even sense a hint of worry or discontentment or whatever that was, it will break my confidence for the rest of the shoot. So, I just wouldn’t look at her. Somebody came and said that she had tears in her eyes.

Sam Bahadur will be releasing in theatres on December 1