Stealing a march over some of the big releases over the last two months has been Sanam Teri Kasam. The 2016 film, a doomed romance with its roots in Erich Segal’s Love Story, has been a huge winner in its re-release run.

Released on February 7, the Harshvardhan Rane-Mawra Hocane starrer — which may not have had many takers nine years ago but has since gained popularity because of its music, story and the chemistry between its leads — earned more than ₹5-crore on Day One, surpassing the combined box-office showing of that Friday’s new releases, Loveyapa and Badass Ravi Kumar.

Since then, the Radhika Rao-Vinay Sapru directorial has only gone from strength to strength with the industry — those lending their support to the film have been Amitabh Bachchan, John Abraham and Arjun Rampal, among others — also hailing its unexpected run. Till Friday, Sanam Teri Kasam had earned ₹32.75-crore net, managing to draw crowds despite the onslaught of Vicky Kaushal’s historical biggie Chhaava. As of now, the film is the second-highest Bollywood earner on re-release, after Tumbbad. t2 caught up with the man of the moment, Harshvardhan Rane, for a heartwarming chat.

It has been a long wait for you. Does the success of Sanam Teri Kasam, nine years after its original release, feel bittersweet?

John sir (Abraham) put up a social media post addressed to me and said: ‘You have finally got your due’. He is a man of few words and for him to say something like this is awesome. I have pushed a lot to get the film re-released and I feel that this is a fight that I have to continue forever, results or no results. Working on myself without any validation is what I want to continue doing for many more years because that is what I have done for the last nine years.

This success is dedicated to all of us who have gone through a long wait without results. This is for all my fellow actors, who I may not know as friends, but I feel for all of them. The ones who work hard every day but don’t get results. Your time will come.

What made you feel that this film would have a good audience for a re-release?

My gut feeling, which has been my saviour since childhood. I won’t call it my superpower — that is too strong a word — but my gut feeling is the only thing that has helped me survive. I left my home when I was very young because of my gut feel. If somebody asks what is the logic behind that, I cannot explain and I couldn’t explain it to my parents even back then. You just know where you feel it. It is mostly above your belly and below your brain... somewhere in the chest cavity, I guess.

That is the only reason why I could do a very non-actor-like thing, which was to stand below my producer’s (Deepak Mukut) office and request for a re-release. A lot of people who love me, care about me, suggested otherwise... that actors don’t behave like this, that this is not good for my image. But I never really cared about image. I don’t come from a film family, so I don’t have any pressure of maintaining a certain kind of image. It did pay off, right? Because here we are.

Did you ever think that it would do the numbers that it has done so far and is still going strong?

Numbers are not my forte. That is why I am studying psychology honours... I am in my second year. Gratification is not always quantitative, it is also qualitative. Most psychological interviews, of course, you take numbers down, but a lot of people practise qualitative data also, where you understand the feeling.

I am a more of an instinctive person. I don’t know numbers. I just knew that the film would connect. I knew the film would make all of us smile. You could have ₹100-crore and you might still be a sad person; you may suddenly find thousand rupees in your jeans pocket and smile the whole day. Numbers don’t bring happiness... what brings happiness is smiles and emotions and connect.

You have been visiting a lot of theatres which have seen massive crowds for the film. That must be special...

When I sit in front of a God’s idol — which is maybe once or twice in a year — I find myself thanking God and never asking for anything. So honestly, when I go to theatres, I don’t go there to feel something for myself... I am predominantly going there to thank people. I run around and shake as many hands as possible, I try and talk to as many viewers as I can. I am saying ‘thank you’ hundreds of times in every theatre.

What kind of scenes are you witnessing?

In one theatre, I was waiting for the show to get over. I was hidden in the dark and I could hear a few girls not just sobbing, but howling! That was very confusing for me because somewhere I wanted to go and comfort them, but then I had to tell myself that it is a movie and that they have to experience it. My first instinct was to stop the film but I realised that would be wrong because this is a film and if it is supposed to make somebody go through that emotion, then it might as well.

During these visits, you have been wearing the jacket that you wore in the film. Why has it been important for you to do that?

The journey, how I got the film, was very special. The performance, the process of performance, the shooting, everything was very special for me. I even made a tattoo permanent which he (Inder) had on his hand. I preserved some of the costumes. I have changed houses and given away a lot of stuff. But there is this one bag which I had kept very safely. And just like all mothers do, every year I would take out those clothes, get them dry cleaned and keep them back. Now, finally after nine years, I have been able to use it.

That is the only jacket in my wardrobe, I don’t wear suits in my personal life. I wear it only for professional purposes or when somebody is paying me to perform. So it was a very special moment to pull out the hanger which had this jacket after nine years from my wardrobe.

Isn’t there a sequel in the works?

Deepak Mukut, the producer of the film, is the official authority to announce the sequel or a prequel or anything parallel. With this exercise of putting my weight behind this, I have only connected the audience to the person who has the power and the rights to this title. If there is a delay, my next step will be an 11-day water fast below his office.

Are you serious?!

I am very serious. And honestly, I was going to do the same for the
re-release also. But things didn’t need to get to that point. Films is what I came to Mumbai for. I ran away from home to make a career in this world. And I am not embarrassed to say that I can do anything for my film... be it a water fast, walking on my hands, diving into the ocean... I want to make sure that what is fair should come out. And I will fight this fight until my last day.

What made you want to go back to studying?

I feel our behaviour, all our actions are due to some kind of a void inside us. And they all stem from our childhood and some kind of a pain or the lack of validation. I feel I missed out on a validating nod from my parents when I ran away and didn’t complete my studies. Though my father is no more and my mom and dad were separated when I was really young, I always craved to make them proud. And that is why two years ago, I jumped into studying psychology honours. Thankfully, I scored high last year — I got 81.5 per cent — and that makes me very happy.

How do you plan to apply it in life and work?

What better can an actor study than human beings and their behaviour? And the most important thing is to understand the self. That is where this will come handy.