I owe my career to debutant directors: Vicky Kaushal

Successive hits and a National Award later, actor Vicky Kaushal vividly remembers his time as a newcomer four years ago and says he owes his career to first-time directors. actor, who was first ticed in n debutant director Neeraj Ghaywan's 2015 social drama "Masaan", said every film is a new project for both actor and filmmaker. 

He later collaborated with a string of new directing talent like Mozez Singh for "Zubaan", Anand Tiwari for "Love Per Square Foot", and Aditya Dhar for "Uri: Surgical Strike", for which actor earned best actor National Award. "I owe my career to debutant directors, so I'm quite used to working with first timers. I just read script and if I am sold on that, I meet director to understand his vision. If I sense clarity and vision re, that's what I am sold to. 

"I was also a newcomer at one point of time, I'm only four years old here. I am veteran. Every film is a new film. I am as new as director for that film and story. We have to work with that spirit. I tried to bring out same fire in every film that I had in my first film," Vicky told PTI in an interview here. But 31-year-old actor is more excited about working with a new director as y bring a "scared energy" to film sets.

With his upcoming horror film "Bhoot: Haunted Ship" too, Vicky is joining hands with debutant director Bhanu Pratap Singh, who served as assistant director on "Humpty Sharma Ki Dulhania" (2014). "re is a different sort of enthusiasm which comes on board. That energy is t an energy which takes things for granted. It's a scared energy and that brings out something special," he said.

actor has always maintained he is horror buff but it was story, based on a true incident of a stranded cargo ship at Juhu Beach, that found him. He said unlike "Sanju" where he needed to learn a dialect for character or "Uri" which demanded physical transformation, essaying role of Prithvi was a pretty much a straight line.

"It was more about adapting to new grammar. It was something I was t so prepared for. I had underestimated horror genre before doing this film quite a lot. In horror, timing has to be correct, everything has to fall in right place at right time, all departments work in sync to make that one shot," he added.

Vicky said team has attempted to present horror genre in its truest form -- with jump scares and atmospherics. "'Bhoot' is t just about jump scares but it is also about mood that keeps you on your toes when you watch it. We have tried to stay true to genre. re are unnecessary subplots. 

"We have t tried to lure audience with making a nice musical album where people are like 'let's go to watch songs' or turning into a romantic horror or horror comedy. y have been made over years." Asked his first memory of a horror film, Vicky remembered how scared he was after watching Ram Gopal Varma's "Raat".

"I don't remember what I saw but I remember being very scared for days altoger. I used to be scared thinking that Revathy ma'am, with those glassy eyes, will come out of anywhere. It is only after I grew up, I realised that she wore lenses," he recalled. 

actor has played diverse roles in his Bollywood career, but he said re is a "certain awareness" that one has to be careful while playing real-life characters, a number of which are lined up in his future filmography. He is set to play Udham Singh in Shoojit Sircar's biopic on revolutionary, Mughal emperor Aurangzeb in Karan Johar's period drama "Takht" and 1971 war hero Field Marshal Sam Manekshaw in Meghna Gulzar's "Sam".

"You follow vision of writer and director but while playing a real character, you can't take a lot of liberties. Some of characters that I will be playing next, y were real people who existed at one point of time and you can't change history. Aurangzeb has been documented in texts and Udham Singh has been more like a legend.

"But people are much more aware about Sam Manekshaw. re are videos of man, a more recent figure. I feel more responsible towards playing him. Every person has a 'sur' (tone) so besides how he looked, walked and talked, I have to get that right. Out of all true life characters that I am playing, Manekshaw scares me most," he said.

Last two years have been a game changer for Vicky and actor is in mood to slow down. "I have spent my initial days so freely... Only kcking on so many doors, trying to make it to offices to convince people that I want to be an actor. w that God is giving me this. 

"I'm t getting time to sleep and sit with my family but my hunger has t gone, I've become more hungry. I have spent eugh time wanting this and w that it has come, I really want more of this," he said. actor will start prepping for "Takht" after "Bhoot" hits screens. Also starring Bhumi Pednekar and Ashutosh Rana, film is slated to be released on Friday.