He’s the man to hate in Pink. Angad Bedi — spin legend Bishan Singh Bedi’s son — plays the high-on-power misogynist Rajveer Singh in the Shoojit Sircar-produced film that marks the Bolly directorial debut of Calcutta’s Aniruddha Roy Chowdhury (or rather Tony). t2 caught up with Angad for a chat on being Rajveer…

Pink has released to unanimously great reviews. What’s been the standout feedback for you?

Everyone has been so kind to both the film and to me. The one consistent compliment I have been getting is: ‘Your performance is exceptional… you’ve been able to stand up to Mr Bachchan’. My courtroom scenes with Mr Bachchan are being talked about. Gauri Shinde, Dia Mirza, Balki Sir, Pooja Bhatt… these are just some of the few big names who have watched the film and praised me. I don’t come from the industry, so it’s very heartening
for me.

I feel very content all of a sudden… I have been trying for three-four years… I have done two films (F.A.L.T.U. and Ungli) till now which I didn’t get any credit for. Shoojit dada (Sircar) has helped me so much. One doesn’t get such a performance-oriented role so early in one’s career. People are saying that we love to hate Rajveer… and I take that as a compliment! (Laughs)

How tough was it playing a misogynist?

Rajveer Singh has been a character very difficult to portray. When he first met me, Tony dada told me that I am too good-hearted to play a guy like Rajveer. He helped me transform through rehearsals and workshops. Tonyda made me read a book on power just to understand how power transforms people. They were going in for someone else but they changed their minds and took me. I feel I was destined to be Rajveer and to play him has been an emotional high. I can’t relate to Rajveer at all. I have grown up in a disciplined environment of sport… unlike me, Rajveer has a certain arrogance about him… he belongs to the upper strata of society and has had a conservative and patriarchal upbringing.

When I first heard about him, I was very disturbed by Rajveer. He’s a very silent and internal guy. His silence can make people uncomfortable. ‘Less is more’ describes him best. He says and does very little, but when he’s angry he completely loses it. He’s studied at King’s College, London, but his world-view is very myopic. Tonyda changed my walk and attitude. Shoojit dada has lived in Delhi and he knows how people like Rajveer behave. I became temperamental and had to isolate myself from my family because then only could I get into the skin of this crazy guy. From his clothes to how he holds a whisky glass… I had to learn everything.

But Rajveer is also a guy who is very charming and approachable. That’s exactly why these three girls get friendly with him in the first place. So I had to bring out both sides of his personality.  

Doing those heavy-duty dramatic scenes with Amitabh Bachchan must not have been easy...

Mr Bachchan is a very giving actor. He really helped me in the courtroom scenes. He put in hours of rehearsal with me. He made me go through the grind, all for my good. Despite being in the business for 45 years, he isn’t intimidating at all, but for me, it was very tough to think of him as the lawyer in the film and forget that he’s Amitabh Bachchan! (Laughs)
Off-set, Mr Bachchan was like a father to me. I loved a pair of shoes that he wore to the shoot and I told him. He asked me, ‘They will fit you?!’ I said ‘yes’ and within an hour, the shoes came gift-wrapped to me with a hand-written note from him!

Mr Bachchan made me so comfortable… he treated all of us — me and the three girls (Taapsee Pannu, Kirti Kulhari and Andrea Tariang) —  as his own children. He loves me… and I love him!

That’s how Pink has been made… Shoojit dada and Tony dada have held our hands and made us perform. Tony dada and I used to get each other very well… we would play cricket on the sets and he would talk about his Single Malt Club in Calcutta. I just love the man… he’s won two National Awards, but is a lesson in humility.

Has your dad watched Pink yet?

He’s watching it tonight (Wednesday) with Mr Bachchan… and that’s the biggest award for me. Two men who I absolutely love and adore are going to be sitting together and watching my work…. Yes, I am nervous, but I have watched the film twice already and I know that my dad will like it (smiles).

Priyanka Roy