Farhan Akhtar recently opened up about not being able to absorb the success of his directorial debut Dil Chahta Hai and having imposter syndrome. He went on to reveal that this well-known co-star actress helped you
Farhan Akhtar
For a person who always wanted to be a director, his directorial debut becoming a superhit would be a dream come true. One would soak in all the praises, compliments and all the goody stuff. But that wasn’t the case for Farhan Akhtar, whose directorial debut, Dil Chahta Hai, became a cult classic.
One would expect a 25-year-old debutant director to be on top of the moon after his first film succeeded so well, but for Farhan, it was the opposite. The decorated actor, filmmaker, and producer appeared on the latest episode of Sit With Hitlist and got candid about his relationship with success and coming to terms with it.
Farhan Akhtar on facing imposter syndrome
When asked about the aftermath of Dil Chahta Hai’s success, and the rumours about Amitabh Bachchan sending him a letter of praise, Farhan confirms it, saying, “He did actually send me a letter, I still have it. It's kept with me among many other important memories in my life. He sent me a letter.”
He added, “Naseer Sahib sent me a letter as well after the film. And that film received a lot of love from a lot of people. And it felt great.”
Just then, he makes a surprising confession, admitting, “I don't think I was ready to deal with what was going to come post that film. Because my approach to that movie was ‘I want to make this film, and that's it.’ I had no idea of a career that's going to follow or this will be my first stepping stone.”
“But it went well, and people were extremely gracious after that. But I was very lost. I didn't know what to do next because I had no plan of what to do,” he adds before continuing, “I don't think I was well prepared for its success. Not that I became arrogant or none of that stuff happened. But I didn't know how to deal with it. For the longest time, I would deflect any kind of compliment or praise or anything that kind of came my way about anything. I would always underplay it and kind of just move it and not really just take it in and be like, ‘okay, wow, something amazing has happened. Let me enjoy it’.”
Farhan reveals he didn’t quite understand that it was like that. Trying to figure out, he adds, “Maybe I don't know whether my opinion of self at that point was not that great. It took me a while to be able to really come around to beginning to enjoy the post aspects of a film if the film did well. I would just kind of dive straight back into what's next. I would find that a part of me found that frivolous. It doesn't anymore. But at that point, I felt like I didn't know if I deserved it. That's imposter syndrome slightly. So I'd be very embarrassed with that stuff.”
Farhan Akhtar reveals THIS actress helped him get over it
The 120 Bahadur actor reveals it took him over a decade to come to terms with success and that it was his co-star Vidya Balan who helped him. He shared, “You know, the person who really helped me deal with it, weirdly enough, was Vidya Balan. When I was working with her on Shadi Ke Side Effects.”
He adds, “In 2013, I started being able to deal with it properly because it was on the back of Bhaag Milkha Bhaag. And again, everybody was saying wonderful things about the film, the performance. And she noticed that I would almost do unconsciously, that if somebody started speaking to me about Bhaag Milka, I would start talking about the scene or start talking about their film.
He reveals how Vidya, after observing him, confronted him, saying, “Do you have a problem?” She questioned him, “If somebody's coming and telling you they like your film and your work is really good, why can't you just smile, say thank you, feel happy?”
Farhan reveals how the very thought of it made his toes curl, but Vidya was adamant about making him do it. He shares that while they spent more time together while working and promoting the film, he would realise she was around and accept compliments out of fear.
He then adds, “And then slowly but surely, I realised that it has a nice effect on the other person, it feels warm and it feels good. I used to come across as very snobby and cold because I used to like to be embarrassed about it.”
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