Siddhant Karnick, one of the most recognizable faces in Indian television, is starting to make a name for himself in Bollywood as well. In 2023, Siddhant starred in two high-profile films: Om Raut’s Adipurush and Sandee Reddy Vanga’s Animal. Now that Animal’s popularity is at an all-time high, Siddhant has revealed the real reason behind his choice to have a small but important role in the film. He also describes how to avoid being let down again, he had maintained very low expectations for Animal.
Adipurush’s backlash
The actor played Ranbir Kapoor’s brother-in-law in Sandeep Vanga’s Animal. The actor is getting a lot of accolades for his films. Adipurush didn’t go as planned but Animal has been a huge breakthrough for Siddhant. “Honestly, I had very high expectations from Adipurush, which didn’t go as planned. So, with Animal, I have decided to be neutral, keeping everything low, so that I don’t get too excited or disappointed if things don’t go my way. But having said that, having gone out there and received this crazy reaction from people, it is great. The other day at the airport, the security guy recognized me and put me into the VVIP line and got me through security quickly”, says the 40-year-old actor.
“I have been in this industry for 22 years and it taught me to be a little calmer about the ups and downs,” says Karnick, adding, . We (the team of Adipurush) did our best. If people liked the film, great, but if they didn’t, it’s alright. The controversy happened because there was a difference in opinion. But I feel it was an artistic choice, and you can disagree with someone’s artistic choice.”
When Siddhant met Vanga initially
In a rare interview with Etimes, Siddhant said he had no idea of Vanga’s background or creative output. However, after doing some investigation, he realized that he wanted to discuss his precise role with the director in person.He said, “We sat for two hours. At that time, he explained to me what my character is, and the arc it would have. He explained the scene where I am being strangled, about a year and a half before we were going to shoot that scene. He played the music and explained it to me in the shot division. He said the camera angle would be coming from up. It’ll be rotating. It’ll be a 90-second shot, etc. He had that clarity in his mind.” He added, “When I heard that scene, I wanted to do the film for only this scene. People will wonder what this protagonist of mine has done. This seems like a good guy, but he’s killed him. That means there must be something very bad about the protagonist. And then the story unravels.”
The actor also received a lot of praise for his role in Zoya Akhtar’s Made in Heaven 2.
By: Gursharan Kaur