Saurabh Sachdeva The Accidental Actor

He has five back-to-back releases this year, latest being Sandeep Reddy Vanga's blockbuster, Animal. But according to the actor, who has worked as an acting coach for over two decades, he never had any burning passion for acting. All he wanted was to become famous'!

- Ananya Ghosh

He is the transgender goon Inder in Haddi, the mafia boss Suleiman 'Haji'Maqbool in Bambai Meri Jaan, Kareena Kapoor's greedy onscreen husband, Ajit Mhatre in Jaane Jaan, and Bobby Deol's onscreen brother Abid Haque in Animal. With a career graph in the movies that can be more-or-less termed as 'a study in evil', especially given his recent turns, Saurabh Sachdeva is today a man the audience loves to hate.

The 45-year-old, who has more than 2 decades of experience as an acting coach, first grabbed attention with his turn as Sulaiman Isa in Sacred Games. "Acting was never my passion but after years of living in it, teaching acting became my favourite drill. I wanted to write and direct but by chance, I got called to audition for Sacred Games and got selected. I thought it was a small character,but I didn't know it would be a game changer," quips Sachdeva.

He has trained the likes of Frieda Pinto, Varun Dhawan, Richa Chadda, Rana Daggubati, Dulquer Salmaan, Avinash Tiwary, Kubbra Sait, and Tripti Dimri-the last three have also later worked with him as co-actors.

Ask him about his much talked about character in Animal, a polarizing movie that is smashing box office records, he admits it to be a challenging one. "In Animal I'm playing Bobby Deol's brother. I grappled with the complexities of the role because I was struggling between my own values as Saurabh and the values of this extremely brutal character. Initially, I didn't understand the world of Animal. It took me multiple conversations with the director [Sandeep Reddy Vanga] to comprehend the world."

On that note, we sit down for a no-holdsbarred interview. Excerpts:

In Jaane Jaan, Bambai Meri Jaan, and Animal you play brooding villains who have a penchant for violence. What draws you towards such characters and how do you ensure each looks unique?