Sid Mallya reacts to reports that he was ‘rejected’ for Priyanka Chopra’s Quantico, says he objects to such negativity

Sidhartha Mallya, the son of liquor baron Vijay Mallya, has reacted to reports that said he’d been ‘rejected’ for a role in the American series Quantico, which served as Priyanka Chopra’s first Hollywood project and ran for three seasons.

In an interview, Sidhartha Mallya said that he takes exception to the Indian media using terms like ‘rejected’ and ‘failed’ when talking about something as subjective as art. 

Asked about the Quantico stories and where he stands in his acting journey, he told Film Companion, “I never spoke about Quantico, that was written about by journalists in India. I love the way that… I remember that so clearly. You just used the word ‘rejected’ and I remember all the press around it, because Priyanka, it was her show…”

He continued, “They also used the word ‘failed’. And I just love the way that the Indian press go to these very negative terms. The fact of the matter is, you have 100 people auditioning for a role. You don’t get the role, someone gets it. That doesn’t mean you ‘failed’ or you got ‘rejected’. It’s not a test, it’s art. It’s subjective. I found that very funny… If that’s the case then I failed in over a 100 auditions. Great. But it’s different in the West. In India, we’ve seen this, there’s a much quicker route for people to go from zero to stardom and lead films than there is in the West, in that model.”

He admitted that he probably isn't as far along in his career as he thought he would’ve been when he started focussing on his acting career, but he feels that he has paid his dues by doing auditions and going to drama school. Sidhartha said that ‘there were much quicker ways’ for him to attain success ‘with the access’ that he had. 

Also read: Sidhartha Mallya denies trying to ‘reclaim image’ via ‘PR stunt’ book, says if he wanted money, he could’ve gossiped

In an earlier interview with DNA, he had also spoken about auditioning for a ‘Mexican part’ in the HBO series True Detective. “They loved my audition, but I didn’t look like a gangster from any angle,” he said.