Mumbai: Sidharth Malhotra, who is thrilled with the response to his film Ek Villain, has dedicated his success to Shah Rukh Khan. The young actor reveals that his negative avatar in the film was inspired by SRK’s villainous streak in films such as Baazigar, Darr and Anjaam.
“A lot of people thought it was suicidal for me to play a dark character at such an early stage of my career. But I had a perfect example in SRK, who played negative characters in Darr, Baazigar and Anjaam towards the beginning of his career. So in a way, he inspired me to take the plunge. Back then, he was the romantic hero of Hindi cinema who managed to pull off a negative character with élan. My character in Ek Villain is my tribute to him,” says a proud Sidharth, who also admits that he watched Baazigar and Darr a few times before facing the camera for Mohit Suri’s Ek Villain.
Sidharth also says that the constant talks of comparisons between him and SRK brought out the best in him. “I have a long way to go before I dare to feel like the new age SRK. However, I have to admit that being compared to him is an all-time high,” he says.
Three films old, Sidharth is yet to come to terms with the high-profile world of Bollywood. “I find figures like 50 crores and 100 crores extremely daunting. My films may have fared well but deep down I’m still an average Delhi boy.”
