Angad Bedi on playing Bikramjit Singh in Soorma: Had to unlearn cricket to get the hang of hockey

Angad Bedi is in a happy space these days. His last three releases Pink, Dear Zindagi and Tiger Zinda Hai brought him both commercial and critical success. Soorma, which will see him step into the shoes of Bikramjit Singh, the man behind former Indian hockey captain Sandeep Singh’s success, has succeeded in generating substantial buzz. [caption id=“attachment_4709241” align=“alignnone” width=“825”]  Angad Bedi in a still from Soorma. Image from Twitter/@iamangadbedi[/caption] The actor believes that his marriage to actress Neha Dhupia in April was like a cherry on the cake. So has life changed after marriage and success of Tiger Zinda Hai? “Life has definitely changed for the better. People normally say that when you get married, your partner brings you luck and the precisely that is happening with me. There is a transitional phase in everyone’s life when you first try and find work and then you start looking for work which will get you noticed which may not necessarily be the best. When I was shooting for Pink, I managed to sign TZH and Inside Edge and when I was shooting for TZH, I landed Soorma.” Angad believes that back to back things have worked out well for him. “I am now being seen in bigger markets because of TZH where I was introduced properly and was almost pushed into the film as second lead. Soorma is a great space to be in as Diljit is the next rising superstar and I am also coming up.” In Soorma, Angad plays the role of Bikramjit Singh, brother of Sandeep Singh, who was almost like Sandeep’s pillar of strength. Talking about his role, he informs that Bikramjit was once the best drag flicker of the country and was almost on the verge of playing for the nation. “He had this burning desire of representing his country but a severe knee injury forced him out from hockey and was never picked again. He practiced with Sandeep and made him realize his skills and potential. He made his brother practice so much that because of his efforts, Sandeep was selected for the junior Indian team. It was during that phase that he was erroneously shot by a bullet while traveling in train and that episode shattered him.” Sandeep was paralyzed for next two years and even the hockey federation did nothing for his treatment. It was during this difficult situation that Bikram took the onus of doing two jobs. While the first salary took care of the family, he could afford his brother’s treatment in Holland with the second pay cheque. Angad informs that then Bikram took it upon himself to ensure that he played hockey again. “Bikram changed a lot of shots in his repertoire. As a player he introduced to him more shots and made him an exclusive player. He made him participate in corporate hockey tournaments and finally through his sheer hard work became captain of the national team. It was only because of Bikram’s sacrifice that Sandeep could reach where he is today.” For Angad it was not a case of the project being served to him on a platter. He became part of the film only after Shaad saw few episodes of Inside Edge and took a trip to Amritsar with him. “When I met Shaad, he told me that I had played some difficult characters in my journey which were not author-backed and a lot of work goes into such characters. He said he wanted a certain positivity in the character with equal amounts of energy and emotion. He then proposed a trip to Amritsar where he wanted to leave me alone and observe me from a distance. He basically wanted to to see my mannerism and how earthy and rooted I was by putting me in a zone.” Despite having proven his acting mettle with films like Pink, TZH and Dear Zindagi, Angad is of the view that the struggle to get the next feature is always there. According to him, the initial struggle is all about getting work and once that’s fulfilled, one has to take care of what sort of work one wants to do. Angad is someone who is not new to hockey. While playing cricket for the under-19 team in Delhi at Dhyanchand Stadium, he often witnessed players like Dhanraj Pillai, Jugraj Singh and Sardar Singh honing their skill. Even at home, Indian hockey stars like Ajit Pal Singh and Balbir Singh would often visit his father, the magnificent Bishan Singh Bedi. Having played cricket at a junior level, Angad reveals that to learn hockey, he had to unlearn cricket. “In cricket, your top hand dominates whereas in hockey it’s all about the bottom hand. I had to unlearn cricket to learn hockey and the process was very difficult. In hockey, you can only play with your right hand. It also has a different footwork system. I also had to learn drag flick which is the most difficult thing apart from scoop and slab.” Recently, Neha Dhupia in one of her interviews had revealed that Angad wanted to marry her straight as he did not believe in the concept of dating. In this day and age this surely sounds fascinating. Quiz him about his behavior and he cites his upbringing as the reason. “My parents have stuck together through thick and thin for the past 45 years. I have known Neha for the past 15 years. I only told her that if I were to date her after years of friendship then it would not reflect good on me. The current generation thinks very differently and despite being of the same generation I would like to take further the faith that my parents have shown in me. It’s important to hold onto your roots. It’s only our culture that keeps us different from the West,” he signs off.