Sidharth Malhotra: My trajectory has taught me that my highs are short-lived and so are the lows

Sidharth Malhotra shares a rather personal connection with his “labour of love” Shershaah. Ask the actor about it and he says that the film hits home for more reasons than one. His father was in the Indian Navy and grandfather served at the Indo-China war of 1962.

“My grandfather got injured while at the war and took an early retirement. My father is an army brat and he has seen my grandfather serve. He’s just happy that one of his sons has become a pretend army soldier if not a real one and is playing this amazing heroic character,” shares Malhotra.

While feedback from the audience and the critics matter to him, what he is looking forward to the most is a positive nod from his and Captain Vikram Batra’s family: “My father knows what sacrifices one has to make to serve for their country. He’s really looking forward to the film. I also hope Captain Batra’s family thinks that I’ve done justice to his story. That’s the only review I’m waiting for and nervous about.”

Industry insiders believe that Shershaah is going to be a game-changer for him. “I don’t think one film can make or break me as an actor,” asserts the 36-year-old actor, elaborating, “My trajectory has taught me that my highs are short-lived and so are the lows. I believe in putting my best foot forward in a film. But when it comes to Shershaah, maybe I’ve given slightly more of my life to it.”

Films based on real-life stories run the risk of turning jingoistic. For Malhotra, it is the need and responsibility of makers and actors to stick to facts in such films. “We’ve taken some cinematic liberties but 90% of it is authentic. As an actor, I didn’t want to render certain dialogues in the most obvious, commercial sense. We were also very cautious about not diving into any political aspect,” he ends.