EXCLUSIVE | Vicky Kaushal on 'The Great Indian Family': 'I saw my family a lot in the film'

Vicky Kaushal is fresh off the success of Zara Hatke Zara Bachke and is now gearing up for his second release of the year The Great Indian Family, which marks his first collaboration with Yash Raj Films. In an exclusive interview with Firstpost, the actor talks about blending into the world of heartland with his characters, working with YRF and its legacy, and what he has learned from his journey so far. He also spoke about how _Dilwale Dulhania Le Jayenge_ was his first theatrical experience and meeting Shah Rukh Khan for the first time on the sets of Asoka. Edited excerpts from the interview What makes your family great in The Great Indian Family? Every Indian household and ever Indian family is great. There are many things in an Indian household that makes it very charming, and there are many things happening in a family on a daily basis that make it very entertaining. On the other side of the conflict, we are a more mature and understanding family, but our essential need for togetherness is a part of ourselves. At any age group, we depend on our family since those are our roots; and that’s what makes any Indian family a great family. There are some actors that blend into the world of heartland pretty effortlessly. You have done that with Masaan, Zara Hatke Zara Bachke, and now The Great Indian Family. What does it take as an actor to do that, to convince the audience that you belong to this world? It requires a certain sense of relatability. I belong to Punjab, it’s my native place, my mother and father belong to a very small village in Punjab. I’m brought up in Mumbai but till date, I go to my village every year. During work, you get to travel through different parts of India and that can also help sometimes. Anyone with an upbringing of a middle class family is aware of the basic reality, the ups and downs, the challenges, the aspirations. It’s also the small-town simplicity that I personally enjoy playing. The film has so many seasoned actors like Kumud Mishra and Manoj Pahwa. How are they as actors and is your and their process similar? It was incredible to do scenes with them and jam with them. Our sessions together would just be banter, we would go down the memory lane and talk about their theatre days, when they came into the industry, how it was and how the basic functioning was, there were no monitors or vans. We used to chitchat and someone used to get food from his or her home, and that energy was carried into the scene. The chemistry we formed outside the film brought a lot of warmth and genuineness in the scenes we were doing. It was also a learning experience because these are actors that have done all sorts of genres, their work experiences are equal to my age right now. It’s also a leap for the director Vijay Krishna Acharya. After making some massive films like Tashan, Dhoom 3 and _Thugs of Hindostan_ , it’s a departure for him too. How was it like working with him? This is probably his most honest film till date. When I heard the film for the first time, even I was pleasantly surprised. I was fully affected emotionally with what the film was trying to say, the characters were relatable, I saw my family a lot in that. He has directed these big scales films like Tashan, Dhoom, and Thugs for YRF, but then he told me he’s from Kanpur, he has had a theatre background in Delhi and then came to Mumbai. This film feels like pages out of his life story. Yash Raj is known for films like Daag, Darr, Lamhe, Dilwale Dulhania Le Jayenge, but at the same time they have also given films like Dum Laga Ke Haisha, Fan, Rocket Singh. What do you have to say about their 50 year legacy? It’s not just about the number of films they have done, they were initially the post card of Hindi cinema, the images from a Yash Raj Film would depict the meaning of Hindi films. From the days of Yash Chopra to now how Aditya Chopra is taking it forward, it’s incredible to build that sort of legacy. My first experience of watching a film with my family in the theatre was Dilwale Dulhania Le Jayenge, they have been pioneers in giving us family entertainers. And now for me to be cast by YRF in a family entertainer, a good and beautiful circle has been completed for me. You have always made very diverse choices as an actor, be it Raazi, Masaan, Sanju, Manmarziyaan, URI. What have you learned from your journey so far? Every character teaches you something, makes you learn something about human nature. The most important thing that happens to me after these processes come to an end is that I feel more confident in my own skin and that I can trust my instincts more. That is something that can only happen with my experience. Your father Sham Kaushal shared a picture of himself, you, and your brother Sunny Kaushal from the sets of Shah Rukh Khan’s Asoka. What memories do you have from that day?

Sunny and I were in school and that was the first time I met Shah Rukh Khan . There was Vishnu Vardhan also who was assisting Santosh Sivan at that time. My father was the action director of the film and accidentally, he was also cast in one scene as the actor who was doing that scene ditched at the last minute. We went on the sets to see him perform but also get to see Shah Rukh Khan that day, so really a memorable day.