Playing a Dalit man in Dhadak 2, Siddhant Chaturvedi draws parallels with his life in the absence of a lived experience and about how he approached the role with empathy. The actor also revealed how it took him six months to shed the character
Siddhant Chaturvedi. Pics/Youtube, Instagram
Stepping into the world of Dhadak 2, which examines casteism in the country through the story of two lovers, can be an emotionally demanding experience. Siddhant Chaturvedi, who plays a Dalit man in Shazia Iqbal’s directorial venture, says that shedding the character was an all-consuming process as well. “It took at least six months for the character to completely leave me. In those six months, I didn’t take up any work. I was just travelling,” says the actor. “[Such stories] leave an impact on you. It pushed me to an extent where I always desired to be, as an actor. That’s why I wanted to stay with it. At the same time, when I was dubbing for it recently, it all came back and I tried to finish dubbing as soon as possible because it haunts me.”
(From left) Triptii Dimri and Siddhant Chaturvedi in Dhadak 2
Chaturvedi, who stars opposite Triptii Dimri in the love story, was aware of the emotional weight of playing a Dalit character, especially as someone who does not share that lived experience. His approach involved understanding the world and drawing parallels with his life, he says. “I won’t say there is a process to it, or try to be pseudo about it. I could say that I locked myself in the room for four days, but no, this character wouldn’t come like that. You have to understand the world first. I was not a cricketer in Inside Edge; I was not a rapper [in Gully Boy, 2019]. If it’s not a lived experience, I draw parallels. I try to go as close as possible to that in my own life, take out certain emotions, and try to match them. When I read a script, I don’t want to see the character from a lens of sympathy because then you’re adopting a third-person view. This is not a life I’ve lived, and I’ll never be able to achieve that fully. What I do is I never fall in love with my characters,” he reflects.
A still from Pariyerum Perumal
Every actor aspires to be bankable at the box office, but Chaturvedi’s metric is different. “People like us, who come from outside the industry, are grateful to be getting work. We’re always searching for stories that move us. Since we have lived a life before Bollywood happened to us, we’re drawn to stories that reflect that life. Both Triptii and I have made it here on our own, and that journey grounds you. There is always a little voice that tells us, ‘This feels right, this does not’. In the end, we follow our morals and instincts.”
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