After a slew of films — including Phir Aayi Hasseen Dillruba, Sector 36 and The Sabarmati Report last year — Vikrant Massey’s first release of 2025 is Aankhon Ki Gustaakhiyan this Friday. A rare film in the romantic genre for the versatile actor, the film has Vikrant playing a visually-challenged leading man, and marks the acting debut of Shanaya Kapoor. t2 caught up with Vikrant to talk about his new film and to clear the air about the ‘misconstrued’ announcement of his ‘retirement’.

Aankhon Ki Gustaakhiyan is a completely different terrain for you, that of romance. Was that the clinching factor?

Yes, of course. Last year, there were a lot of conversations around 12th Fail and Sector 36, both of which were in completely different genres. With Aankhon Ki Gustaakhiyan, once again, I wanted to experiment and do something different. We have been trying to make this film for a long time, around three years actually. We had Ruskin Bond’s The Eyes Have It, which is a legendary story by a legendary writer. We wanted to justify what Mr Bond had done. It is not an easy task. This is my first release of 2025, and so I wanted it to be something different. Aankhon Ki Gustaakhiyan has good music, an unconventional romance... it is a complete package.

People are very generously saying that it is wonderful to see a romantic film come out after a long time. Initially, I was a little skeptical about it. I was very nervous because I had never done something in this genre. I was like: ‘What will people think? Will they laugh?’ They have never seen me like this before. But when you are an actor, you have to do everything.

What I am glad about is that the audience is intrigued by the pair (of him and Shanaya Kapoor). She makes her debut here, so that is also a point of interest. And the genre is always a favourite. No matter what happens, music and romance will remain a staple in Hindi cinema.

You have proved your versatility in roles across genres. Why this apprehension that the audience will find it difficult to accept you in a romance?

It always happens. When you sign a film, you are so in your head, right? You are in your drawing room and you are like: ‘Okay, let’s do this, let’s do that’. But now that the film is ready to be out there, there are certain things that creep up on you. This is a completely different space for me and I am also looking different.

Romance has been immortalised by so many of our icons over the decades. I have asked myself if people will feel uncomfortable to see me in that space. It feels like an examination — will I pass or will I fail? I always believe that whatever accolades I have got till now are in the past. What matters is the here and now. One cannot deny one’s present.

The biggest challenge for me, to be honest, was to play a character who is visually impaired. I spent a lot of time in Bombay with the Blind Association of India. I worked with some people who also worked very closely with Ayushmann (Khurrana, for Andhadhun) and with Hrithik (Roshan, for Kaabil). The idea was to keep it authentic. In this film, I was also acutely aware that I was representing a section of people who are unfortunately, through the medium of cinema, not represented enough, their challenges are not represented enough.

Most importantly, we have humanised their challenges. We have given them dignity, which they deserve. The core idea has been handled sensitively. I also had to play two instruments — guitar and piano. When one of your biggest assets, which is your sight, is taken away, how do you play a musical instrument? Not just play them, but also master them, because you are supposed to be a musician. So those challenges came up. I was very lucky that I met the right people. I spent enough time with my director, Santosh Singh, as well as those who were involved with the non-conceptual aspects of the film.

Newcomers may not have experience but more often than not, they make up for it with energy and enthusiasm. Did you see that in Shanaya?

She is so hardworking! Despite being a newcomer, she has depth. She came in with a lot of preparation, she had spent a lot of time with the script and with her lines. Every year, I always try and work with new people... be they actors, directors or writers. When someone comes in with a completely clean slate, they are able to do a lot of things.

I definitely learned a lot from Shanaya. She comes from the Kapoor family. She is not just glam and pop. She is very good at watching the camera and I am sure that the audience will see that as well.

You have quite a few films lined up, including the biopic of Sri Sri Ravi Shankar. What can you tell us about them?

There are some projects which are in the pipeline, but I can’t talk much about them. The world has already seen a part of my look to play Sri Sri Ravi Shankar. It is a very daunting as well as a humbling project to be part of. Apart from that, I haven’t really shot much over the last few months... I have prioritised spending time with my family.

You made an announcement a few months ago about taking a step back, which was interpreted as you saying that you are retiring from films. Looking back, do you think you could have worded it differently?

It was majorly misconstrued. I still meet people who ask me if I have retired! Honestly, I don’t have an answer to that. I have issued a clarification after what I initially said had caused confusion. My announcement to step back a little came from the fact that I was feeling weighed down. The Sabarmati Report did well last year and after that, there was a period when it did get a little daunting for me to go out there every day and try churning out something new from my heart, something which is humanly not possible.

Hence, the idea was to sort of sit back and recalibrate... not just as an actor, but also as a person. Because you are in a creative profession, you really have to go out there and entertain people and be worthy of their time. I felt I owed a certain respect to people in the audience and not give them the kind of work I had started doing... there was a kind of monotony that had certainly crept in.

So I stepped back and wanted to unlearn certain things, ‘unlearn’ being a word I use quite economically. I realised that work-life balance is essential. A lot of people do talk about it, but very few people are able to integrate it and probably practise it. I tried to do that. I am glad I did take that time because now that I have got back in front of the camera, I have realised that I see things in a very different light.