Nandish Singh, who shot to fame as Veer Singh Bundela in Uttaran, is all set to make his Bollywood debut with Super 30 opposite Hrithik Roshan. Sangeeta Yadav chats him up

What is your role in Super 30?

It is a real life story of the founders of  Super 30 coaching institute which has been helping underprivileged students prepare for IIT JEE. I play Pranav Kumar, Anand Kumar’s (Hrithik Roshan) elder brother who has played an integral role in taking care of the management of the institute — from the selection of the students to handling its functioning. He is the backbone of Super 30. This is what has been shown in the film as well.

What took you so long to make your Bollywood debut?

Just the right project made me wait for a little longer. There were times when I did get a couple of roles but it was not something I would want to do as my debut film. The films that I wanted to do didn’t work out due to something or the other. But now with Super 30, the wait has been worth it.

What was the biggest challenge for you?

My biggest fear was whether I will be able to pull off the Bihari character. I have never imagined myself playing a person who is not so good looking, speaks Bihari and has a certain body language. I expressed my concern to the creative directors. But I was told that if Hrithik Roshan can pull it off, why can’t I? That motivated me to overcome my fear. If it was somebody else in place of Hrithik, who didn’t have to transform to come closer to Anand Kumar, then it could have been a bigger challenge for me.

How did you get into the skin of the character?

We did workshops where I learnt body language and dialects. I had to lose a lot of weight too. What really helped me was, before shifting to Mumbai, I spent 16-17 years of my life in a small town of Dhaulpur near Agra. I know the nuances of how people from UP and Bihar think, their body language and personality.  They are a little loud when it comes to talking and expressing themselves; they are not so sophisticated as well. They would hold the hand of their friends while walking. All these minute details helped me to pull of this character well.

The makers strictly forbade me to take reference from other roles. Whenever I needed help, I would call up Pranav (the real person) and ask him how he would react. That helped a lot.

How was it to share screen space with Hrithik Roshan?

Working with him was a great learning experience. As soon as he walks in to the set and till the time he leaves, he lives the character. He was speaking to everyone in Bihari. Whether it is a co-actor, junior artist or assistant directors, he is a friend to everybody. There was no tantrum throwing or airs about him because he is a star.

Was it difficult for you to make a switch from TV to films?

Initially, it was. A very common feedback that I have got during in my auditions for films was that that I was acting in TV style. I had to put a lot of effort in unlearning and relearning to be able to reinvent myself. Even for stage actors, there was a misconception that they are always loud but they had to be loud to be able to heard by the audience sitting in the last row. Similarly, there are certain things about TV that you have to do which I had to unlearn to be able to fit in films. That unlearning process was more tedious than the learning  which took time.

What difference did you find in acting for films?

Acting is the same everywhere, you have to feel the emotion and emote it.

But the treatment is different. Everything is a little stretched in TV because you have to create content on daily basis and it is impossible to shoot 12 to 18 scenes in a day for half an hour episode. There are deadlines to meet. You have to deliver on the spot. In films, you get ample of time to think and work on the character.

What are you working on next?

I have started shooting for second film in Lucknow which is tentatively titled Family of Thakurgunj.