Sidhant Gupta on Jubilee: Jay Khanna consumed me so much that I became this other person | Exclusive

In his canary yellow co-ord set and beaming eyes, Sidhant Gupta was evidently enjoying every bit of media interactions in Kolkata on Wednesday. In Amazon Prime web series Jubilee, the actor paints Jay Khanna delectably with snapping fingers, sparkly eyes, and a lit-up smile. After struggling for more than a decade in Mumbai, the actor bagged a meaty role in Vikramaditya Motwane’s magnum opus and left no stone unturned to craft the character with all his heart. As a result, his acting is being lauded ever since the drop of the first five episodes on Amazon Prime. Along with Vikramaditya and Aparshakti Khurana, the actor was in town for a day-long press meet and party hosted by Prosenjit Chatterjee, aka Srikant Roy. In a candid chat with OTTplay, the actor talked about his thoughts behind making Jay Khanna a real character. 

Sidhant is evidently busking in the glory of the success of Jubilee. Talking about the web series, the actor said, “They took six-seven years to write the script. It is literally seven years of work and 10-12 years of discussion. That’s when something like this is created. It is because art is time-consuming. People need time to create something timeless.”

According to the actor, Vikramaditya asked him to create an original character from that era. Sidhant said, “My brief was to create an original from that era. The thing is, the journey is inspired by scenes from that era. When I read the character, I felt it was the most incredible character ever written. I did not have to say it to myself, it was like a voice saying that to me. That feeling doesn’t lie and you trust your inner voice. And that voice told me that it was the most incredibly and honestly written character, and I had to give it my life. It was my responsibility. That Jay Khanna was created. And the thing is, when writing is so honest, you want to get lost. We all look for such characters that act like free breath. We watch cinema to watch a story that’s not ours and through the characters, we live the story. Jay Khanna consumed me and it consumed me so much that I became this other person. There was no looking back. That’s the most beautiful part you feel as an artist. All his pain, fears, and joy become yours. All you feel is to share because you feel responsible for this. We all have a journey. I kept giving this character everything I could and he kept healing me. My anxiety before my first project was coming out, and the fact that it did not do well – has been something very painful to live with. It was in 2015.”

Also read: Jubilee co-creator Soumik Sen: When we pitched the show to Amazon Prime, they did not have their current office in India 

Is there a connection between Jay Khanna and Sidhant? The actor said, “The one thing that connected me with Jay Khanna is you don’t want to give up. I have not known how to give up. I just did not know how to give up. We all have something inside of us. Here I am with years of struggle and when I see inside me I feel there is something that kept me going. I came from a small town up north to Bombay – lost like everyone else, auditioning like everyone else, getting rejections like everyone else, and so on. And suddenly something comes your way.”

It was a bit of luck that Sidhant got the chance to audition for the role. He was supposed to work on a big project on Netflix. The project got postponed just before the shooting was supposed to start. “It was put on hold for some reason and I was heartbroken. And suddenly this came along. I was like, ‘Gosh, what am I reading’. Then I was called for an audition. I went for that and got selected. And I read the character. I told myself, ‘Thank God, if I have done the other show then I couldn’t have done this. And if I had lost this I would not be able to forgive myself. That made me believe that what happens, happens for a reason. We lose when we run around with doubts and insecurities. You got to trust life,” recalled the actor.  

Throughout the Amazon Prime series, Sidhant portrayed Jay Khanna through a number of unmistakable traits – snapping fingers, a warm smile, and an indomitable spirit. Were those part of Vikramaditya’s brief? Answering this, Sidhant said that the traits show how the character Jay Khanna impacted him as an actor. “It happens when you try to create a 360-degree character and not in parts. You create a human being not just through his dialogues but also through how he walks, how he makes himself comfortable, and so on. When you create someone from scratch on screen is when you feel like Picasso in front of a blank canvas (laughs). It is the intention of that painter to become Picasso or an actor’s intention to become like Meryl Streep… I kept playing with myself and after a while, these things came out on their own (and snaps his fingers like Jay Khanna). You just go on the set and something comes up. All I knew is I needed one gesture that will speak about that character. I wanted to know this guy who lost everything, takes refuge in a refugee camp, and becomes what he becomes. What does he have that one thing that makes him what he becomes? It was that one thing: he knows he would make it. He is certain, like, “Karunga main”,” said the actor with a broad smile. 

From Dev Anand to Raj Kapoor and Chetan Anand – Sidhant’s character in Jubilee is an amalgamation of multiple stars of the ’40s. Who was his inspiration? “When I was doing my research it was all about the time and culture, how they spoke, and so on. I wanted to find out what did these people have and create something original. It was not about one person. It is not a biography so my idea was I don’t want to chase anyone. I needed everyone to create one character,” the actor said. 

Sidhant started his career in television. Now that Jubille happened, will he think of going back to television again? “Not television. If I had to go back to television I would have gone back long ago. It's about loving what I am doing and being creatively satisfied. In television, there is no end. You start in the morning and you keep on working throughout the day. I left it because I did not come here for that. I think arts take time. It has a flow that you need to find,” he signed off.