Suraj Sharma: I am biased towards off-beat cinema
27/02/2017
After making his Hollywood debut with the survival drama 'Life of Pi' in 2012, nominated in 11 categories at the 85th Academy Awards and winning four Oscars including Best Director for Ang Lee, Suraj Sharma is now gearing up for the release of his upcoming romcom 'Phillauri', also featuring Anushka Sharma and Diljit Dosanjh.
"It's a beautiful and hilarious story. I got offers after 'Life of Pi', but didn't want to take up much work then as I had to get done with college first. Fortunately, I was nearing the end of my course when 'Phillauri' came to me, so I got lucky with time," informs the 23-year-old actor who plays an NRI, Kanan, who returns to Punjab to get married only to discover that he is a manglik (fault in the horoscope) and so needs to marry a tree before he can marry Anu (played by Mehreen Pirzada) to ward off any threat to his marital life. Does he believe in horoscopes and ghosts too, you wonder, and Suraj admits that he does but not because he's superstitious. "I had to google the word manglik," quips Suraj who has acted in the Hindi comedy-drama 'Umrika' which has yet to get a commercial release.
Suraj is pursuing a course in filmmaking at the The New York University Tisch School of the Arts. And while the focus will be acting for now, he also has a keen interest in direction and writing.
He misses his family and friends in India, and also the food. And he is hoping to visit in March. "I don't watch too many Hindi films, but I loved 'Udta Punjab'. I'm more biased towards off beat cinema, but am open to song-and-dance roles as long as the script is interesting and people enjoy it," says Suraj who was seen in the American TV series Homeland and is open to working on Indian TV. Meanwhile, he is rooting for Dev Patel who recently won the BAFTA Award for Best Supporting Actor for his portrayal of Saroo Brierley in Garth Davis's 'Lion' and is a favourite for the Oscars. "I really hope he wins. I have met him briefly and feel so proud of him. I've seen 'Lion' and Dev has done a fabulous job," raves Suraj who will also be seen in Bornila Chatterjee's revenge drama, 'The Hungry', an adaptation of Shakespeare's Titus Andronicus.
"It's a small part but I had a great time working with Naseer sir," he signs off.
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