Sahil Khattar: I’ve been body-shamed for my thin frame and no hair

With Sahil Khattar there is more than meets the eye He may appear laidback and easygoing but scratch that surface and yoursquoll find a dedicated actor trying to make his mark with each project ldquoI am the most hardworking guy on any setrdquo he begins as we dive into a conversation about his upcoming series Bajao and his prep for the comedyEdited excerpts from the interviewWhat are your expectations from BajaoWe shot the series last year The wait for the show has been a little longer than expected but after seeing the first look I thought lsquoDer aaye durust aayersquoWere you in a limbo waiting for the project announcementYes but then my life has been spent in limbo Even 83 2021 was pushed for two years Bajao is my third project and I had to wait a year for it to be announced It is a waiting game and we all have to do it Even Shah Rukh Khan waited for four years for Pathaan and its Rs 1000 crore boxoffice collectionsIn the interim did you feel nervous about your careerI am bound to but I knew that I could survive Since I shifted to Mumbai no matter how life has panned out I have always made efforts My plans B and C have always been in placeHow did you prep for BajaoI play a Haryanvi guy I had represented Haryana and then India in roller hockey I am an Asian Games bronze medalist I knew everything about how to approach a Haryanvi character but I went ahead and did my workshops sat with a diction coach and figured all my scenes in 10 ways possible When I went on set we were prepared for plans A B and C I can say my performance wonrsquot go unnoticedWhat is the show all aboutIt is an epic show revolving around three boys one of whom is my character Dhari We are set to make a music video of a popstar played by Raftaar One day the money and the rapper get lost after we get drunk It is a comedy Dhari is shorttempered but a rare combination of brains and brawn My directors Shiva and Sapta have done a fabulous job We wanted to make the character like Mahipalpur call centre guys who build bodies because they feel it will add to their personalityAlso ReadAnushka Kaushik First director to make me do workshopsSo you went through a physical transformation for this roleI have been a puny guy and have been bodyshamed all my life for having no hair or being very thin Now my body is like Jason Stathamrsquos For this character I prepped like a maniacHow was it working with debutant directors after collaborating with an experienced director like Kabir KhanI recently saw a video of Jonah Hill talking about why Martin Scorsese is the worldrsquos most special director Hill said that somebody could take 30 minutes to solve a problem in a scene but Scorsese would take five seconds He is that quick and certain in his decisionmaking and that stems from his experience The only difference between somebody doing their first project and someone doing their 20th is problemsolving and decisionmaking