SCRIPTING STARDOM

Vicky Kaushal on the thrill and terror of stepping onto a Sanjay Leela Bhansali set, charting an unconventional career, and making sense of the money game.

- ANKUR PATHAK

VICKY KAUSHAL IS basking in a state of pure relief. It’s been over a week on the sets of Sanjay Leela Bhansali’s Love and War, and contrary to the wild stories of the director’s unhinged temper, Kaushal’s experience has been surprisingly calm. No walkie-talkies hurled his way. No verbal grenades lobbed at him. No drama on set. Yet, I cautiously add. Kaushal laughs.

“I’ve just been observing Sanjay sir and oh my god. He’s absolutely zoned in,” Kaushal says in between shots of GQ’s Men of the Year photoshoot in Mumbai. “He’s got his blinkers on. For him, every scene is for life. It’s immortal. In a frame, he’s not just looking at my performance, he’s looking at the shaft where the light is coming from, the manner in which the curtain is swaying, the direction in which the background is moving. I’m spell-bound watching him.”

He says that unlike popular perception, he has found Bhansali receptive to ideas and willing to experiment on set. “He’s never out of character. There’s no moment when he’s not thinking about a scene or the next one. You can’t just randomly talk about unrelated things when he’s tuned in. But if it’s a creative conversation, he’s always fully engaging with you.”

In recent years, Kaushal has charted a remarkable rise in Hindi cinema, transitioning from indie gems like Masaan, Zubaan, and Raman Raghav 2.0 to become one of its most reliable stars. Balancing solo-driven successes such as Uri: The Surgical Strike, Sardar Udham, and Sam Bahadur with ensemble films like