‘Every rule is being broken’

“Many people have theories about what you should and shouldn’t be doing in the early stages of your career. Every rule is being broken nowadays. Even in terms of appearances. As for me, I want to do it all. I went from a buzz cut to getting a crew cut to wearing kajal. Even if it means sharing my heroine’s make-up, I am game. Also, I always wanted to wear earrings, so that was not a problem either in the case of Dawat-e-Ishq. I believe changing your look with every film can help an actor stand out.”

Before he gatecrashed into Bollywood, Aditya was a VJ on a popular music channel. The actor confesses it was not because of his love for the profession but because his mother was upset that he was whiling away his time, without any idea about what he wanted to do life. “When I got into VJ-ing I was very apprehensive. That was a time when I was not doing anything in life. So mom told me ‘do something at least’. I was a regular college boy, driving around the city with my friends, simply wasting time. Once I started off being a VJ, I began to enjoy it a lot. I discovered my love for it while I was doing it. People recognised me and I enjoyed all the fame and attention. Then I realised that may be I enjoy being in the limelight,” Aditya says.

While his mother is a choreographer, Aditya has never been proud of his dancing skills. He says he wishes he had inherited her talent. “I wish her dancing skills had rubbed off on me a little more but I know I need to work on it. I plan to take more dance classes from mom and improve. At the moment it takes me time to get complicated dance moves, they don’t come naturally to me.”

Aashiqui 2 having put him in the big league, the actor admits that he is feeling the pressure to live up to expectations. But he knows very well that it is part and parcel of filmdom. “You feel a certain kind of pressure because there is a certain kind of money invested on you and your co-star. That brings responsibility and you are obligated to do some things to promote the film. But then I also believe that I have worked hard to get here. If I start getting overwhelmed with the pressure, when am I going to enjoy it? I’m happy about where I am, I wouldn’t want it any other way, but yes, you do tend to think about the pressure once in a while,” he says with a smile.

Speaking of life off screen, Aditya admits that when the family gets together, they end up discussing films more than anything else. He says, “Every Sunday we try catching up for lunch and yes we pretty much discuss films all the time, who’s doing what and so on.” Being the youngest in the family, is Aditya the pampered one? Flashing a childish grin, he says, “I don’t think I am but my family thinks I have always been the pampered one, who gets away with everything.”

In his free time, Aditya confesses to being really lazy. “If I’m not shooting, I think sitting at home and doing nothing is a great, great thing. Otherwise, sometimes I like meeting my friends, watching movies, playing a little football and a good jam session with the guitar.”

The young star has never been far away from link-up rumours. Rumour mills have gone to town talking about his relationship with Shraddha Kapoor. Recent reports even claim he bought her a ring. The actor says he doesn’t lose sleep over such news. “When there are things written about me that aren’t true, I simply accept it. My mood shouldn’t be dictated by what I read about myself in the morning. That will just make me go into a vicious circle. Unless there is something that is really bad and would really affect me, I simply read such news and forget it. It’s entertaining and amusing.”

Aditya is surrounded by some good competition in the industry in young Turks such as Sidharth Malhotra, Varun Dhawan and Arjun Kapoor. But he doesn’t feel threatened. “It’s healthy that everyone gets along. I maintain my distance though; I’m not too friendly with any actor. Once in a while I do meet up with my contemporaries, go to a party and interact with them. But I am not close to anyone in particular, expect Ranbir Kapoor. We have done a film together and I am close to him, because you end up spending so much time together on the sets. And we also have the same interests.”

As of now, he cannot wait to start shooting for his next film Fitoor where he’ll be sharing the screen with veteran actress Rekha and Katrina Kaif. He says he has been losing weight for the film. Pointing to a huge plate of watermelon sprinkled with lemon juice, Aditya says, “I’ve been eating this for days. Being a foodie from a family of foodies, it’s tough. But sometimes you just have to do it. I’ve been working out too.”