Mumbai: Actor Abhilash Thapliyal, who is known for his work in streaming vertical with ‘Faadu’, ‘Blurr’, ‘Aspirants’ and ‘SK Sir Ki Class’, is currently on cloud nine as his film ‘Kennedy’, directed by the poster boy of Indian indie cinema – Anurag Kashyap, is set to head to the prestigious Cannes Film Festival.
The actor shared that he had preconceived notions about Kashyap being intimidating as a director but he was pleasantly surprised to find him very welcoming and warm.
Abhilash told IANS: “I met Anurag Sir for the first time in Pune, he was shooting for ‘Dobaaraa’. And I was really intimidated because I was meeting one of the best filmmakers our country has. So you want to behave yourself and you don’t want to be overly friendly. But he was extremely welcoming and he shared so many stories from his life, his journey, his interests and more.”
Kashyap and Abhilash have a common friend in actress Taapsee with whom both of them have worked. He further mentioned: “Eventually when I got to work with him, again I was very scared and I was thinking a lot of things like my performance on an Anurag Kashyap set but again I think Anurag Kashyap is extremely lovable. He is so loving, he is so caring and he takes care of his actors. He also gives freedom to his actors to explore the characters and to bring in our own nuances. I never wanted to become an actor and now the film “Kennedy has reached Cannes which is a dream come true.”
The actor also shared that ‘Kennedy, which also stars Rahul Bhatt and Sunny Leone, will hold a special place in his heart as it has been selected for the Cannes.
On doing versatile roles in very different projects, Abhilash said: “I think all my recent projects: ‘Faadu’, ‘Blurr’, ‘Aspirants’ are very close to my heart. But I think ‘Kennedy’ will hold a very special place in my heart because, when I came to Mumbai, I never thought I would become an actor, I actually wanted to become a part of the Kapil Sharma show.”
“And now my film has reached Cannes, this is definitely going to be a big milestone. 10 years down the line when I turn back and look at my journey I think I will talk about ‘Kennedy’ with a lot of pride and with a lot of love,” he concluded.
–IANS