Bollywood didn’t happen to Siddharth’s career. Maybe he was ahead of his times. Now when Allu Arjun(Pushpa), Yash(KGF) and Prabhas(Baahubali) have become pan-India stars, Siddharth Suryanarayan seems the perfect candidate for it.
Was it his arrogance that put Bollywood off?In a throwback interview with this writer, Siddharth shrugged off the allegation. “Either I’m called honest or arrogant. I’m okay with both images. My friends and family always clip my wings. People like Karan Johar rag me about being bratty and unapproachable. But I’m not unapproachable to those I want to be close to.”
Why do we see so little of you on screen? Is it because the roles offered to you are not what you want?Siddharth had explained to me in a past interview, “It takes time to make films that satisfy me at the stage I’m in. I’d rather stay home or do something else than go to work on something I don’t enjoy. Not getting better work isn’t an excuse I can use any longer. I’ve worked on making things happen that wouldn’t have happened otherwise.I relish being a producer. It’s an extension of my natural skill set. I love making films from scratch, with a specific vision and a motivated team. Being an actor in films I produce is much easier. The expectations from me as an actor are very specific and hence easier to handle.I’ve never put enough pressure on myself in Hindi cinema for it to be a disappointment. It’s a convenient situation where I get to come test a different audience with something interesting every few years. There is no expectation of my stardom in Hindi cinema. That is a mix of my results there as an actor and the industry’s nature of being exclusive and not particularly welcoming as a permanent workplace.”
About there not being more pan-India films from the South , Siddharth had explained, “Cinema is not the problem. It’s the people and the system that runs it that’s making it difficult for films to cross over and become pan Indian winners. There is myopia, a cultural bias stemming from ignorance and a lazy approach to classifying everything in specific templates that’s stopping filmmakers from just making films that all audiences like to see. The biggest hits in Indian cinema are not even remotely the best films being made. That should make it clear who is deciding what is being seen.As an independent producer and an actor who believes in scripts over stardom, Baahubali has no impact on our way of life. It may have an impact on big-studio pictures that get fuelled by its victory. It is an important film, and needs to be respected for its success. It’s a great achievement, but I don’t think it changes the dynamics too elaborately.”
Asked why actors from the South have not been successful in Mumbai, Siddharth had said, “There’re two ways to answer that. The politically correct is most south Indian actors have a fan base in the south and don’t need to start from scratch in Hindi cinema.And if you want a cockier answer as to why south Indian actors are not successful in Hindi, at least some south actors succeeded in Hindi. No Hindi actor has succeeded in the south. We in south get paid as much money as the guys in Bollywood, if not more. If we guys haven’t made it here, you guys haven’t made it there.One more thing… I’ve the power to commission projects down south, not here.”
Asked about the numerous link-ups with actresses in Mumbai, Siddharth had said: “My mother says if rumours on my love life are to be believed, I’m the biggest Casanova ever. In ten films I’ve been linked with ten heroines. I’ve even been married to a couple of them and had babies.Either I am ‘aashiq mizaaz’ or not. I’d rather be because the image is quite helpful. I think I need to take time off to find romance in my life. Right now I see no chance to take time off.”
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