With Zoya Akhtar’s Gully Boy (2019), actor Siddhant Chaturvedi gained recognition for his character MC Sher. Chaturvedi will now be seen playing the lead in Bunty Aur Babli 2 (2020). In a group media interaction, Chaturvedi said he had never imagined this day when he first saw Bunty Aur Babli (2005).
“I remember I returned after watching the film and bought its cassette,” he said. “I danced to ‘Kajra Re’ in my house till 1 am. I have even danced like Aishwarya [Rai Bachchan] with aunties with a dupatta on!”
Asked how he landed the role in the second Bunty Aur Babli film, Chaturvedi said Aditya Chopra, head honcho of Yash Raj Films, contacted Ritesh Sidhwani of Excel Entertainment, producers of Gully Boy, and fixed a meeting with him.
“He praised me a lot,” said Chaturvedi, recalling the meeting. “He said when he saw the film he felt this guy is a hero. I told him this is also what I desire to become. He said he has something for me but didn’t say anything [more]. A month later I got a call from [casting director] Shanoo [Sharma] ma’am. She said Bunty Aur Babli 2 is being made and the director [Varun V Sharma] wants to meet me.”
Chaturvedi said he and Sharma bonded instantly, partly because both hail from Kanpur in Uttar Pradesh. But the discussion took a serious turn when Sharma wondered if Chaturvedi would like to do an out-and-out entertainer. The director believed the actor was looking out for unconventional subjects.
“I said nahin bhai [no bro]! I am a fan of Govinda,” said Chaturvedi, laughing. “Even I want to dance in the movies. Zoya noticed me when I was dancing on ‘Tujhko Mirchi Lagi Toh Main Kya Karoon’ at a party.”
When Sharma narrated the script to Chaturvedi, he went crazy laughing. “It has entertainment, mass appeal and songs and dances, but it also has content," the actor said. "The new Bunty and Babli are not like the old ones. They are the voice of today’s youth.” The film will see Chaturvedi paired with Sharvari Wagh, who is making her debut with the film.
As Chaturvedi hails from a middle-class non-film family, he was focused on becoming a chartered accountant (CA). “For someone from a middle-class family, you need a back-up. It is difficult to get launched. It takes a lot of time. And what if you don’t make it? But even then I used to take time out to meet my theatre friends and write, paint, sketch, dance and do martial arts with them. So, I was always at it. I never gave up,” he said.
Bunty Aur Babli 2 will also star Rani Mukerji and Saif Ali Khan as the older Bunty and Babli. Khan has replaced Abhishek Bachchan who played Bunty in the first movie, which was directed by Shaad Ali.