AHAAN PANDAY THE X-FACTOR

He's had a dream debut with Saiyaara and caught the imagination of an entirely new generation of cinemagoers. His plan is working.

- SANJANA RAY

WHEN KK SLIDER appears on my Zoom screen, I’m not remotely surprised.

In my three interactions with Ahaan Panday over the past weeks—which included a warm meet-and-greet at the GQ Men of the Year party in Mumbai—I've learned that the actor is quite whimsical. He’s also a hardcore gamer. “KK Slider is one of my favourite characters from Animal Crossing. He’s a musician dog who plays the guitar, and he’s ‘KK’; very Krish-Kapoor-coded,” he explains, referring to his role in Saiyaara that gained him the kind of monstrous fame rarely afforded to a debutant.

Panday, who won hearts as a brooding artist, is wearing the same black tee ensemble that I saw him sporting in a pap video the same morning, one of the many flooding my Instagram feed. The giant (and sometimes intrusive) media spotlight’s been on him since the Mohit Suri directorial hit the screens in July, but the 27-year-old is still finding his footing. He has just become the first-ever brand ambassador of Harley-Davidson India, the latest in a month of milestones, but he won't let it get to his head. Panday is hyper-aware of the transitory nature of fame, having grown up with a half a foot in the industry, and he’d rather focus his energy on “being a part of cinema that helps people feel again”.

As we speak again for his first GQ print cover, he’s raw and unfiltered, a delightful change from PR-packaged and rehearsed celebrity exchanges that are often the norm. When the issue hits the stand, he pledges to visit the roadside magazine stall outside his house, the same one he’s been visiting since he was a child. “It'll be a full-circle moment.”

How did it feel winning Actor of the Year at the GQ Men of the Year?