Buggu, a key character in the film Dunki, adds comic relief to the proceedings, ridden with some intense emotions. His tale revolves around his desperation to become the man of the house. After Buggu's father loses his job, his mother is literally forced to wear pants to take up the job as a security guard. This doesn't sit well with her son, portrayed by Vikram Kochhar.
Kochhar, who started as a theatre actor, did his post-graduation in acting from the prestigious National School of Drama, that gave us stars like Irrfan Khan, Nasseeruddin Shah and Ratna Pathak Shah. “It's when I started my career in theatre and started reading scripts more keenly that I started understanding what exactly went into a script, the thought behind it.”
One of the first movies Kochhar did was Angry Indian Goddesses. He then went on to do a series titled Sumit Sambhal Lega; got recurring roles in Ashram, Sacred Games, Little Things, and Choona. Then came Dunki. Dunki, the actor said, happened after seven-eight auditions.
The movie, has grossed Rs 250 crore worldwide. “It's all thanks to Mukesh Chabbra (casting director) that I got a chance to share screen space with Shah Rukh Khan. And after working with him, I realised why people praise him so much. Initially, I wasn't a Shah Rukh fan, but, now I admire him a lot. Everything he does is for his audience. He was kind to me, he was kind to all of us. He is very humble, and open to suggestions from all, even from other actors, who are relatively new in the industry. He thinks about the 'why' of the film. He reads the script very thoroughly and has a very good understanding of it.”
Of the roles he's done, Kochhar said the one of Suman Basoya in Dammy, an indie film, and that of Buggu in Dunki is the closest to his heart.
“After working with Hirani sir (Rajkumar Hirani), I understand why people call him Mr. Perfect. He is very detail-oriented. At the same time, very patient. If an actor wants to try another take for a scene, he will be patient for as many takes as you'd want,” he says.
Once when the cast was at an airport in the UK, a woman walked in and presented her ticket to India. When the officer asked her where her visa was, she said, “Why do I need a visa to go to India? Her attitude was appalling.”
Talking of quality and quantity of cinema releasing each week, the actor said, “There's a lot of pressure on writers to churn out new content every week. The audience expects more and more releases each week. Writers end up taking up two to three projects at a time as opposed to one project, which was the case earlier. So, the quality of content tends to get diluted. People always expect movies and shows to begin with a bang. I would say, wait and watch what the creative artists behind them are trying to build up to; you might be surprised.”
“This is also because the attention span of the audience has reduced,” he adds.