‘I’m Still Struggling’

‘At
25,
there
are
no
work
offers
coming
your
way,
so
how
do
you
move
ahead
in
life?’

As
his
elder
brother
Vicky
Kaushal
flies
in
top
gear
towards
megastardom,

Sunny
Kaushal
steadily
features
in
movies
that
showcase
his
acting
talent.

Sunny
was
set
out
to
become
a
chartered
accountant
until
“epiphany”
struck
and
he
chose
to
pursue
his
career
on
screen.

Acting
seems
to
run
in
their
blood,
which
makes
sense
as
they
are
Action
Director
Sham
Kaushal’s
sons.

The
Kaushal
brothers
—
born
one
year
apart
—
have
been
inclined
towards
acting
since
young
age.
As
Sunny
says,
they
would
participate
in
annual
day
functions
in
school
and
college.

As
he
basks
in
the
compliments
for
his
new
film



Phir
Aayi
Hasseen
Dillruba,
Sunny
tells

Mayur
Sanap/Rediff.com
in
a
two-part
interview:
“The
journey
has
been,
touchwood,
really
good.
I’ve
gotten
the
chance
to
work
with
some
fantastic
talent.
I’ve
learned
a
lot.
People
have
been
kind
to
accept
me
in
whatever
I
do.”

Your
character
in

Phir
Aayi
Hasseen
Dillruba
is
a
delicious
mix
of
innocent
and
wicked,
and
you
performed
it
so
well.
What
was
the
kick
for
you
to
play
Abhimanyu?

Thank
you.
It
was
just
like
you
said,
Abhimanyu
is
such
a
delicious
character.
That’s
exactly
the
word
that
came
to
my
mind.

It
is
a
complex
role
and
has
so
many
colours
that
it
kind
of
scared
me
a
little
bit.
I
wondered
if
I
would
be
able
to
pull
it
off.

The
duality
of
this
character
is
what
drew
me
to
it.

I’ve
really
admired
Kanika
Dhillon’s
writing
and
the
way
she
writes
her
characters.
To
be
a
part
of

Haseen
Dilruba‘s
world
was
a
kick
and
also
to
collaborate
with
Jayprad
sir
(Desai,
Director)
and
Anand
L
Rai
sir
(Producer).

What
was
your
process
to
understand
the
twisted
psyche
of
this
character?
How
did
Kanika
Dhillon
explain
Abhimanyu
to
you?

I
did
not
have
many
conversations
with
Kanika
because
she
left
it
to
Jayprad
sir.
That’s
the
mark
of
a
beautiful
writer
that
they
write
the
character
and
then
leave
it
to
the
director
to
interpret
it.

I
sat
with
Jayprad
sir
and
we
cracked
the
character.
We
were
on
the
same
page
for
the
fact
that
we
never
wanted
to
play
Abhimanyu
front-footed.

A
lot
of
Abhimanyu’s
things
were
internalised.

Even
if
he
is
in
love
with
Rani
(Taapsee
Pannu’s
character),
we
wanted
to
bring
out
the
emotion
through
the
eyes.
That’s
why
his
movement
was
kept
to
a
minimum.
His
movements
are
very
minimal,
very
slow.

He’s
very
alert
about
his
surroundings
and
what
is
happening.

In
reality,
I’m
a
very
out
there
kind
of
a
guy.
I
am
very
fidgety
and
want
to
move
about.

I
had
to
cut
all
that
to
play
this
character
and
internalise
whatever
I’m
feeling.

It
was
a
challenge
to
bring

thahrav
(calmness)
to
this
role.

That
probably
heightened
the
creepy
factor
of
Abhimanyu.

While
the
performances
were
praised,
the
film
overall
was
a
mixed
bag
for
critics.

To
each
their
own.
Films
and
art
is
such
a
thing
that
you
are
bound
to
have
opinions.
It’s
okay
if
you
don’t
like
it,
or
somebody
loves
it,
or
somebody
hates
it.

There
are
so
many
films
that
have
done
so
well,
which
I
have
seen
and
said,
oh
I
don’t
vibe
with
this.
And
that
is
fine.

You
look
at
the
love
that
people
are
giving
you.
I
choose
to
look
at
constructive
criticism.

Maybe
we’ll
gain
something
out
of
feedback
and
do
better
in
the
next
installment.

At
the
end
of
the
day,
this
franchise
is
for
the
fans
because
they
want
to
see
this
world
again.

Haseen
Dillruba
was
never
meant
to
have
a
second
part.
It’s
because
the
first
part
got
so
much
love
that
the
makers
decided
to
come
out
with
a
second
part.

Is
it
true
that
you
were
training
to
be
a
chartered
accountant?

Yes,
I
was
very
studious.

Dad
has
an
MA
in
English
literature
and
mom
has
done
her
BA.
The
atmosphere
at
home
was
that
you
have
to
complete
your
studies.

Dad
once
told
us
that
his
studies
probably
hasn’t
helped
him
in
terms
of
his
career
as
an
action
director
but
it
gave
him
great
communication
skills
and
discipline.

I
took
my
studies
very
seriously.

That
led
me
to
studying
for
CA
because
I
had
taken
up
commerce.

Two-and-a-half
years
into
my
internship,
there
was
an
epiphany
moment
in
my
life.

I
was
turning
21
and
realised
that
I
don’t
want
to
pursue
a
career
as
a
CA.
My
heart
was
in
the
performing
arts.

Vicky
and
I
have
been
doing
that
since
we
were
kids,
participating
in
annual
day
functions
in
schools
and
colleges.

We
had
seen
dad
do
these
things.

There
was
no
concept
of
a
9-to-5
job.

That’s
when
it
hit
me
that
I
can
probably
try
my
hand
at
acting.

But
it
was
a
very
difficult
decision
at
that
time.
I
wanted
to
do
something
which
was
completely
new
to
me
at
the
age
of
21.

I
had
to
start
from
scratch.

But
now,
I’m
glad
I
made
that
decision.

Do
you
remember
your
first
paycheck?

My
first
paycheck
was
for
an
acting
job.
I
was
paid
Rs
800
for
a
play.

It
was
a
play
called

Chaar
Small
with
Trishla
Patel
(the
play
director)
and
we
were
performing
in
Prithvi
Theatre
(the
famous
theatre
in
Juhu,
north
west
Mumbai
set
up
by
Jennifer
and
Shashi
Kapoor).

We
did
four
shows
in
two
days
on
Saturday-Sunday
and
I
got
paid
Rs
200
per
show.

I
was
really
happy.

What
were
your
struggles
when
you
decided
to
get
into
films?

I
look
back
at
my
struggling
days
with
a
lot
of
fondness.

There
were
days
when
you
want
to
give
up
but
you
still
look
back
and
say
those
days
were
for
the
good
as
they
taught
you
something.

I’m
still
struggling,
because
in
today’s
times,
the
definition
of
struggle
is
very
polarised.

People
might
ask
how
a
boy,
who
grew
up
in
a
2BHK,
struggled
in
life.
But
that’s
not
the
only
struggle
you
go
through.

The
struggle
is
also
to
get
work
because
you
put
your
everything
into
something
and
don’t
have
anything
to
fall
back
on.

At
the
age
of
25,
there
are
still
no
work
offers
coming
your
way,
so
how
do
you
move
ahead
in
life?

Waking
up
every
day,
convincing
yourself
and
still
having
the
confidence
to
put
a
smile
on
your
face
and
sat
that
today
I
will
crack
an
audition….
and
that
also
may
not
happen.

You
keep
doing
it
over
and
over
again
till
you
actually
crack
something.

Whose
work
do
you
look
up
to
among
your
contemporaries?

Not
because
he’s
my
brother,
but
I
feel
Vicky
is
very
good.
He
always
surprises
me.

He
also
kind
of
scares
me.

When
you
look
at
your
contemporaries
and
ask
yourself,
will
I
be
able
to
do
it…
That
happened
with
me
when
I
saw
Vicky
in

Sam
Bahadur
and

Sardar
Udham.

Who
else
do
you
admire
other
than
Vicky?

Vijay
Varma
is
a
fantastic
actor.

There’s
Ranbir
(Kapoor),
Ranveer
(Singh).

Adarsh
Gourav
is
a
fantastic
actor
to
look
out
for.

Abhishek
Banerjee.

Sharvari
is
a
fantastic
actor.
I
saw

Vedaa
and
she
was
really
good
in
it.

I
always
look
forward
to
watching
more
of
their
stuff.

It’s
been
six
years
since
you
debuted
in
the
film

Gold.
Are
you
happy
with
the
way
your
career
is
shaping
up?

My
debut
film
is
actually
not

Gold.

My
debut
film
is
a
film
called

Sunshine
Music
Tours
and
Travels
which
came
out
in
2016.
It
is
a
lesser
known
fact
because
the
film
did
not
do
well.

After
that,

Gold
happened.

The
journey
has
been,
touchwood,
really
good.

I’ve
gotten
the
chance
to
work
with
some
fantastic
talent.
I’ve
learned
a
lot.

People
have
been
kind
to
accept
me
in
whatever
I
do.