One of the most recognizable faces in Indian television, Siddhant Karnick has recently begun to establish himself in Bollywood as well. Siddhant had prominent parts in two big-budget films in 2023: Adipurush by Om Raut and Animal by Sandee Reddy Vanga. With Animal’s popularity at an all-time high, Siddhant has now disclosed the true rationale for his decision to play a brief but significant role in the movie. He also tells how he had kept his expectations with Animal quite neutral to not get disappointed again.
Adipurush didn’t go as planned
The actor played Ranbir Kapoor’s brother-in-law in Sandeep Vanga’s Animal. The actor is getting a lot of accolades for his films. Adipurush didn’t go as planned but Animal has been a huge breakthrough for Siddhant. “Honestly, I had very high expectations from Adipurush, which didn’t go as planned. So, with Animal, I have decided to be neutral, keeping everything low, so that I don’t get too excited or disappointed if things don’t go my way. But having said that, having gone out there and received this crazy reaction from people, it is great. The other day at the airport, the security guy recognized me and put me into the VVIP line and got me through security quickly”, says the 40-year-old actor.
“I have been in this industry for 22 years and it taught me to be a little calmer about the ups and downs,” says Karnick, adding, . We (the team of Adipurush) did our best. If people liked the film, great, but if they didn’t, it’s alright. The controversy happened because there was a difference in opinion. But I feel it was an artistic choice, and you can disagree with someone’s artistic choice.”
Siddhant’s first meeting with Vanga
In an exclusive interview with Etimes, Siddhant revealed that he was unaware of Vanga’s past and his works. But after doing his research, he realised that he wanted to speak with the director face-to-face to go over his specific job. He said, “We sat for two hours. At that time, he explained to me what my character is, and the arc it would have. He explained the scene where I am being strangled, about a year and a half before we were going to shoot that scene. He played the music and explained it to me in the shot division. He said the camera angle would be coming from up. It’ll be rotating. It’ll be a 90-second shot, etc. He had that clarity in his mind.” He added, “When I heard that scene, I wanted to do the film for only this scene. People will wonder what this protagonist of mine has done. This seems like a good guy, but he’s killed him. That means there must be something very bad about the protagonist. And then the story unravels.”
The actor also starred in Zoya Akhtar’s Made in Heaven 2 which brought him a lot of appreciation.
By: Gursharan Kaur