Fighter villain Rishabh Sawhney: “I’m open to playing more negative characters, but…”

Before landing the villain’s role in Fighter, actor Rishabh Sawhney was working as a model and a casting associate. While his numerous auditions were not materializing in getting roles, he was silently hoping for a film to come his way. That’s when Fighter happened where Sawhney’s Azhar plays the nemesis to Hrithik Roshan’s Patty in the aerial actioner. Fresh from the success of Fighter, the actor chatted with us about all things exciting about the movie.

What was director Siddharth Anand’s brief to you about preparing for the role of Azhar Akhtar?

Rishabh Sawhney: In terms of physicality, he just told me to go big, but he didn’t tell me when to stop. I’m a very big fan of bodybuilding. Arnold Schwarzenegger is one of my biggest role models, and I follow the current bodybuilding lot as well. So, I was very happy when I got to know that I had the opportunity to get a massive physique for this film because, in modelling, I couldn’t go that big.

I was eating 7-8 meals a day and working out for two-and-a-half hours every day. I used to go to workshops for my character. So that went on for 6-7 months. It’s not sustainable to eat 7-8 meals a day unless you’re a bodybuilder. After the film I stopped eating that much and got back into my normal size, which is still bigger than my normal size, but I really liked having that kind of a physique. So, I think I’m going to keep that.

Also read: Producers Taher Shabbir and Ashutosh Shah on Karmma Calling: “It’s a family entertainer!”

Tell me about a scene you got hurt while filming.

Rishabh Sawhney: That scene where Taj (Karan Singh Grover) was shooting bullets from the helicopter and I was running. They told me to run in one particular direction and because it was happening so fast, I couldn’t follow that. And a couple of bombs just exploded under my face. I was only concerned about my eyes. It didn’t hurt that much but was scary for a while.

Are you worried that you might be offered only negative roles after Fighter? What kind of roles do you want to do?

Rishabh Sawhney: I’m not worried about being bombarded with negative roles because I love playing the grey shade. I’m open to playing more negative characters. But I also have the versatility to offer. What you have seen on screen and what I am in real life is drastically different. I would love to explore the comedy genre. Because I feel that I can kill it. My comic timing has been good since I was a kid. I get it from my dad. I would love to do comedies such as Stree and Go Goa Gone.

Action is always there, man. Initially, I did not think that action was something that I would be good at. But after doing Fighter, I want to do more action. It’s so much fun to shoot it. An action comedy would be interesting to do.

Also read: Fighter Box Office Collection: Inches closer towards 250 Crores worldwide; surpasses 132+ Crores domestically

You have worked as a casting associate. Did that help you as an actor in any way?

Rishabh Sawhney: Biggest help. Because before casting I was doing theatre. In theatre too, the main thing is you look at people, you sit in a collective group and you understand different people’s thought processes related to a character. Then you see different people perform. So, you take notes from that. But theatre was not happening every day.

While doing casting (with casting director Kavish Sinha), I was surrounded by acting every day because I was mostly in the audition room doing lines with different actors. Even when I was not in the audition room I was talking about something related to acting with my colleagues or we were watching something related to acting. That whole thing of being in the atmosphere, surrounded by acting, was something that really helped me. Those two and a half years were like film school for me. Kavish sir is like a mentor to me.