Tiger Zinda Hai star Angad Bedi on working with Salman Khan, Amitabh Bachchan and life post Pink

Angad Bedi maintains that films are like Test matches where one great performance ensures opportunity for next three matches. Coming from the son of ex-Indian Test player, Bishen Singh Bedi, and the comparison sounds apt. According to him Pink was a Test match, which ensured his place in films like Tiger Zinda Hai and Soorma. He remains indebted to Shoojit Sircar for changing his life and is of the opinion that had it not been for Pink, he would have relegated to oblivion and his faith in the film industry would have shattered. [caption id=“attachment_4155891” align=“alignnone” width=“1280”]  File image of Angad Bedi[/caption] Angad is all set to play a R&AW agent, a confidante to Salman Khan’s Tiger in Tiger Zinda Hai.  So how much of life has changed post Pink? “It has only changed. My debut film was Ungli, which looked excellent on paper but got extremely delayed. When such a situation happens, it only becomes a matter of bother. In the end, when the film released, it did not do well and then it was a long struggle of almost three years when Shoojit Sircar spotted me in Filmfare magazine. It was sheer destiny that the role was initially refused by many A-listers,” informs Angad. It was only after watching Pink that director Ali Abbas Zafar called him to his office at Yash Raj Films (YRF) and handed over to him the script of Tiger Zinda Hai and sought his opinion. When similar thoughts about the character of R&AW agent Namit Khanna surfaced in both minds, the role was as good as sealed for Angad. “I play Namit Khanna in the film and he accompanies Tiger on his mission. He has Tiger’s back and Tiger knows that there is no point giving him instructions as he knows exactly what is to be done,” elaborates Angad on his character. Angad believes that the spy flick occupies the same space as The Hurt Locker —  well documented and commercial. He also reveals that it was Salman Khan who stamped his entry in the film. “Ali had forwarded my name to both Adi (Aditya Chopra) and Salman. Salman, at that time, had remarked that I fit the role and should be part of the film. He is one kind of person; if he likes you then he loves you. He then starts looking into every aspect of your professional and personal life,” accepts Angad humbly. The conversation with Angad also discloses a hitherto unknown aspect of Salman’s persona — a cricketer who was trained by none other than a star yesteryear cricketer. “Salim (Khan) uncle had sent Salman Bhai to train under Salim Durrani Saab. He is a born left-handed batsman and has a great stance. He is good at most sports I have seen him play.” The sheer passion to be a part of celluloid stories brought Angad to Bollywood despite having played Under-16 and Under-19 cricket tournaments. For him, the dream of sharing screen space with Amitabh Bachchan was much more overpowering than donning the blue cap. But like any other father, Bishen Singh Bedi, too, was apprehensive of his choice. “Initially, he thought that I have become emotional. Then he slowly started keeping a tab on my struggle and determination. He saw my struggle for four years and then in the fifth year saw Pink. He saw the film along with Mr Bachchan in Delhi at its premiere and later remarked that he is now a proud father.” But it was not exactly a cakewalk when Angad took the journey from Delhi to Mumbai. The rejections and the constant struggle for roles for four years still haunts him. “I can never forget my struggle phase. My father had told me that I should be well prepared to handle rejections. I was shortlisted for two films but was replaced at the eleventh hour. There was another film for which I did workshop for 15 days and was replaced at the last minute. Both the films were big banner films and were helmed by known filmmakers. When the tiding is against you then you have to struggle a lot.” It was finally after three years of struggle he got a call for Pink and received loads of faith from Shoojit Sircar. Ask him if he is planning to approach Kabir Khan for Balwinder Singh Sandhu’s role in his flick on 1983 World Cup victory and his face lightens up. “Apart from Balwinder Singh Sandhu’s, I am deeply fascinated by Mohinder Amarnath’s role. I would love to play him on screen. I will meet him when the casting begins. Let’s see who fits the bill and it would be great fun watching the 16-member squad,” says Angad as his parting shot.