‘I felt I didn’t understand the film industry at all.’
Vipin Sharma has become a dependable actor on OTT today, featuring in impactful performances in shows like Pataal Lok, Maharani 4, The Family Man 3 and many more.
The actor started his acting career with 2007’s Taare Zameen Par and his journey since then has been anything but conventional.
Vipin grew up in a slum but carved his own destiny, which even took him to Canada for almost a decade.
“When you grow up poor, you carry a certain hesitancy inside you,” Vipin tells Patcy N/Rediff. “Even today, when I walk into a 5 star hotel, something happens to me. Where you come from stays with you; it never leaves.”
You play the prime minister in Maharani 4, and your role is getting a lot of praise.
This role is different from anything I’ve done before.
It’s unlike my previous characters, and people are really liking it. I’m very happy the hard work has paid off.
Do you follow politics?
Not really; only international politics because that impacts everything.
More than politics, I try to stay aware of global developments.
For example, I find the 3I/ATLAS extremely interesting. There’s this comet — actually, it’s not even a comet — that’s just rotating in space. It’s truly fascinating.
I recently read a book about out-of-body experiences, and I am very fascinated by such topics.
What do you think about Bihar politics?
People assume my views are linked to the release of Maharani, but actually, the release date was chosen because of my birthday on November 10.
Watch: ‘After the first day of shoot, I thought they would remove me from Maharani‘
Had you coached Huma Qureshi in her debut film, Gangs of Wasseypur 2?
I had coached everyone.
Anurag (Kashyap, Director) had asked me to conduct a 10-day workshop with the actors. Huma was part of it, along with Nawaz (Nawazuddin Siddiqui), Pankaj (Tripathi), Richa (Chadha), Vineet (Kumar Singh), and many others.
How has Huma evolved through the years?
It has been a tremendous journey for Huma. The range of characters she has played is remarkable.
I have also noticed how professional and dedicated she has become over the years.
Although we don’t have many scenes together in this season of Maharani, working closely with her again allowed me to see how beautifully she has evolved as an actor.
Vipin Sharma narrates his ‘revenge story’: ‘I was so angry, I broke someone’s gate in Delhi!’
The reason you joined the National School Of Drama was Sanjeev Kumar.
Yes. I was passing through a market in Delhi. Inside one of the shops, I could hear a radio show.
It featured Sanjeev Kumar, and he said, ‘If you want to become an actor, join theatre.’ That line stayed in my mind.
Right then, I decided I would look for a theatre. I found out that Mandi House was the place to go to in Delhi, and that NSD was located there.
That’s how I discovered NSD.
Had you started acting by then?
A little. I had done two-three Hindi plays, not much.
Your father worked in the railways in a modest position, as you said. You lived in the slums, without electricity. That phase must have been tough.
Honestly, it didn’t feel that tough. As children, we used to have fun.
How did you persuade your parents that you wanted to become an actor?
Everyone thought acting was a useless profession. But I was stubborn.
When I first started doing theatre in Delhi before NSD, I used to run away from home in the evenings.
When I got selected for NSD, I made up my mind, and no one could stop me.
My father realised it wasn’t possible to hold me back.
When children grow older, parents can’t physically control them anymore. They have to accept it.
Later, they understood that NSD is a reputable institution. That helped them accept my decision.
After completing your course at NSD, you came to Mumbai, and then moved to Canada. Why did you decide to go, and how did it happen?
I was very dissatisfied.
I felt I didn’t understand the film industry at all.
I wasn’t comfortable in Mumbai, it didn’t suit me at that time.
There was an incident when I got mugged. It made me feel like I didn’t belong in that world.
Even though I had studied in India and had been around the industry for a bit, I felt completely lost. I didn’t feel like an actor, and didn’t think I could be a filmmaker either. To become one, you have to assist and spend a lot of time learning, and I wasn’t ready for that.
I became disillusioned.
So I started travelling, and eventually left.
The main reason was that I didn’t feel I belonged in the film industry.
My upbringing also played a role. When you grow up poor, you carry a certain hesitancy inside you.
Even today, when I walk into a 5 star hotel, something happens to me.
Where you come from stays with you; it never leaves.
How did you get the opportunity to go to Canada?
While travelling, my girlfriend and I ended up in Canada. She was from Canada.
It must have been tough getting work in Canada.
I didn’t get much work initially.
Later, I worked in a call centre and did all kinds of jobs.
I didn’t even know English back then, so you have to do whatever comes your way.
I also worked in a restaurant because a friend of mine was a chef.
At that time, I was also doing an editing course in Canada, and did a video editing job for three-four years.
How many years did you stay in Canada?
About eight-10 years.
When I came back, I met Irrfan. Maqbool had just released.
I told him, ‘I haven’t given up acting. I’ll return to it someday.’
He encouraged me and said, ‘Come back, good films are being made now.’
That gave me the push I needed.
I came back, studied acting again, and that’s how I returned to the industry.
Your first film was Taare Zameen Par.
I was lucky; I got Taare Zameen Par within two-three months.
I heard they were conducting auditions for children.
My friend Amol (Gupte) was involved. I helped some children during the auditions, and whenever I read the father’s scene, I found the role very interesting.
So I asked Amol to let me audition for it.
Aamir Khan saw my audition and liked it. That’s how I got cast in Taare Zameen Par.
But this role became a kind of drawback in your career, right?
Yes, in a way. It’s about the way people perceive you.
I said no to similar projects after Taare Zameen Par. I didn’t want to repeat myself.
If you keep doing the same kind of role, you’ll go crazy.
This role was so impactful that the people started believing you were actually rude…
Not the public as much, but people within the film industry.
There is a lot of typecasting here.
If you play a goon once, everyone starts thinking you are a goon. They want you to keep playing that.
What did you do to break that typecast?
I met people, messaged people.
I decided I would only take roles that felt genuinely different, roles that I felt I had to do.
‘Some of the Indian nurses used to come into Irrfan’s hospital room and play hopscotch with him’
Has OTT opened more doors for actors like you?
For everyone, not just actors. It has opened doors for writers, art directors, costume designers, sound designers, musicians, everyone. The amount of work has increased for everyone.
I have done OTT shows like Guns & Gulaabs, Paatal Lok, Family Man, Maharani, The Final Call…
I’d like to play a spy someday.
Photographs curated by Satish Bodas/Rediff
