Ashish Sahdev says I am happy that I could imbibe all the mannerisms of Sikh culture and portray it on screen.
Ashish who is making his Bollywood debut with the film San 84 Justice, has all the research of the entire team behind him to look like a real Sardar of that era. The actor shared how he did many things to imbibe the Sikh rituals and tradition to be a part of his life. He said, “I visited the Gurudwara regularly, did seva, washed utensils and cleaned them, sat with volunteers and understood the Sikh’s perspective and honour towards their faith.”
Stressing on the way, Sikhs wear their turban, he said, “The turban has really evolved over a period of times. Earlier the turban cloth used to be two meters or more in length with a thick fabric and now the fabric is much thinner and fine so the turbans are usually smaller. In the film audiences will see me wearing slightly bigger turban and shirts or kurtas to match the look of 80s. The entire process of transforming into a Sardar was a month long process and to portray Ajit certain mannerisms became natural as I grew confident.”
The actor also added how the turbans were made to look real. He said, “The turbans were not supposed to look very neat and pleated as in those days turban cloth was not ironed. So, the minutest details were kept in check. I am happy that I could imbibe all of it.”
Writer-director Sandeep Kumar Rana is delighted with Ashish’s casting and says “If u look the character, half the work is done, and that exactly is why we chose Ashish to play the role of a Sikh, because he looked like one easily. Once the costume trial was done complete with a turban, our character was standing in front of us. Then his dedication to grow actual beard and maintain that look for months was commendable and matched the zeal of stars of the day like Aamir khan, Ranveer Singh, Shahid Kapoor who get into their characters deeply and resonate the characters very well.