Got to appear in Zombivli song ‘Angaat Aalaya’ because of my looks, says Siddharth Jadhav

Aditya Sarpotdar’s zombie-comedy Zombivli stars Amey Wagh, Lalit Prabhakar and Vaidehi Parshurami. But the promotional song of the film ‘Angaat Aalaya’ features well-known star Siddharth Jadhav as a revenant, along with the main cast. The upbeat number went viral after it was released earlier this month. 

Jadhav told Cinestaan, “We have seen zombies in a lot of English movies. This is the first time a zombie film has come out in Marathi. Aditya Sarpotdar has tried doing something new. There is a lot of interest in how this subject is treated. So through this song, they have tried showing what exactly zombies are like.”

The actor is ecstatic that the song has gone viral. “After a long time, a Marathi song has achieved this,” he said. 

Although Jadhav had to act and dance like a zombie, the song wasn’t challenging for him. “Because we don’t know how zombies are,” he said. “Foreign movies have shown them in a different way. As an actor, we strive to do different things. For me, this was very different.”

Jadhav didn’t feel like an outsider while doing the song despite him not being a part of the cast. “I have done two more films with Vaidehi, which will be released later,” he said. “I have worked with Amey in Faster Fene (2017). I was working for the first time with Lalit. All are friends, so it’s enjoyable working with them. We have tried bringing out a type of madness. They had to feel scared because of me, a zombie.” 

Jadhav believes that his looks are the reason why he got to appear in this song. “I used to look unusual earlier. Not that I look great now. But at the start of my career, my look wasn’t neat due to my hair and teeth. This used to bother me. I used to think girls didn't look at me and I was not able to make an impression on people. I used to feel that should also look good to get good roles,” he said. 

He added, “That didn’t happen but I continued doing work. But after all these years, I got to do something because of my looks and it became popular. I realized that whatever you look like, you need to love yourself; someday it will all work out. I started acting in 2000. And after all these years, someone was benefitted because of my looks. And it happened in such a way that it went viral.” 

Jadhav started off as a theatre performer and then made a foray into the world of television. His big break came in Kedar Shinde’s iconic Aga Bai Arechya (2004), where he played a supporting role. He then played comic roles in Jatra (2005) and Saade Maade Teen (2007). By the time he appeared De Dhakka (2008), Uladhal (2008), Mee Shivajiraje Bhosle Boltoy (2009), Shikshanachya Aaicha Gho (2010) and Huppa Huiya (2010), he had been quite popular. 

Looking back on his journey, he said, “I never thought all this would happen in my life; to get the love of so many people. So I have been enjoying it. I have the people’s blessings and I keep working with that. I feel happy that I am a part of the Marathi industry where experiments keep happening. Right now, my focus is to enjoy myself.” 

A cursory glance at his filmography is enough to realize that Jadhav has mostly played comical roles. “I had a caricature-ish face. I didn’t have a good-looking face, so there was more scope of humour. It became my forte and specialization. The good thing is that people have liked my comic roles. I also did plays and serials that way.”

The artiste credits Mahesh Manjrekar for looking beyond his comic star image. “Mahesh Manjrekar sir told me, ‘You are not just a comic actor. You are an actor who can do anything'. He gave me Usman Parkar [his character in Mee Shivajiraje Bhosale Boltoy, 2009] and Lalbaug Parel (2010), which had a different character [a gangster] altogether. So I kept learning this way and today I am ready to play any role,” he said. 

This helped the actor bag more serious roles. “I have done a film called Dream Mall (2015), where I played a rapist,” he said. “I asked the director [Suraj Mulekar] if he thought that I would really seem like one. He was confident that I would. I then got the Zee Gaurav Award for Best Villain for that film. The bigger reward is to know that you have the ability to do something different."

Jadhav believes theatre gave a face to people like him who had none, as he puts it. “I never used to get selected in auditions for films because of my looks,” he said. “But that isn’t the case with theatre. Over there, I openly play various characters and people like it. It gave me such confidence that today I am not bothered about how I look in movies. Only my work matters.” 

A familiar face in Hindi films, Jadhav has featured mostly in the Rohit Shetty films Golmaal: Fun Unlimited (2006), Golmaal Returns (2008), Simmba (2018) and Sooryavanshi (2021). “He is a person who gives respect to every person; going by the way he receives not only me but every actor,” said Jadhav. “He is a man with a golden heart. He always makes us feel that as humans we are valued, irrespective of whether one has a big or small one.” Jadhav is also a part of Shetty’s next Cirkus, which has Ranveer Singh in the lead. 

Coming back to Zombivli, Jadhav is sure the film will work despite the unusual and novel subject. “People have been yearning for entertainment for about two years. This is a horror-comedy. It has suspense. But above all, it has entertainment. It is not scary. It’s like horror humour,” he said. 

Produced by Yoodlee Films, Zombivli will be released in theatres on 4 February 2022.