Sidharth Bhardwaj, who is now a stand-up comedian in the US, recently shared his story about feeling tired of being put into the same box in India because of his “angry young man” image from reality shows. But there’s more to the tale. In an interview with ETimes TV, Sidharth revealed that he actually walked away from the set of the movie Ek Villain, which was directed by Mohit Suri and featured actors like Sidharth Malhotra, Riteish Deshmukh, and Shraddha Kapoor. He explained that while he wasn’t getting the kind of work he wanted in India, everyone kept wanting him to be the same aggressive person he was on the reality show. He did manage to get a role in the 2014 film, but something happened that led him to leave the set.
Sidharth said, “In India, there are a few directors jinke kadh jitni chhoti hai, ego utna bada hai. They take it as, ‘Oh humko mana kar diya’. I walked out of Mohit Suri’s set. He was giving me a f*ck all role. He changed the whole script of Ek Villain. He told me a whole different script. I went to the set and it’s a different script. In the first scene, I slap myself with shoes, I pee on myself and Siddharth Malhotra burns me alive. There’s no recovery of me in the entire movie. I tried to discuss with him and I was also trying to make my name in the industry. He is this much and his ego is of 7ft. Agar mujhe chaatni hai logon ki, main Hollywood me chaant lunga. It was becoming too much for me. I am light skin and everybody typecast me as dumb or a villain. They couldn’t fit me in mainstream. I wasn’t getting meaningful roles. People who are not from the industry, are treated like dogs. Salman Bhai knows me and he loves me. He is happy for me.”
We reached out to Bollywood director Mohit Suri and this is what he had to say, “No, that’s not true. He didn’t want to get beaten or even take a punch from Sidharth Malhotra in an action scene. And he did that on the day of the shoot. Sidharth Malhotra didn’t even know about this. But it was highly unprofessional for him to create a tantrum on the eve of the shoot, when the shot had to be taken. So I made my assistant director play the part. We didn’t even have time get another actor.”
He also added, “Both the Sidharths must have known each other in the past, and they might be roommates or friends and somehow Sidharth Bhardwaj didn’t want to play the part. His words were, ‘It is not good for my image to get beaten up or get a punch from by Sidharth Malhotra’. It was uncalled for. It was the intro scene. When I was reaching the set, my asst. director called me to inform that Sidharth B. has refused to get beaten up. It was Sidharth M’s first film as an action hero and I had a shoot to complete. I had auditioned him from a part but I didn’t audition him for the scene because I don’t want to leak out. I chose him for a part but he was aware of the scene. Sidharth M’s then last release Hasee Toh Phasee didn’t do well. I don’t come from the background of who is a star and who is not. Even Sidharth Malhotra was not a star then. He was not popular then. He was surprised when he saw my chief asst Siddhanth Sachdev offered to play the part. We didn’t replace him with another actor because we were stuck in that scene. There were 200 junior artist, money spent. Sidharth came to explain to me why he couldn’t do the scene but I didn’t listen because it was an unprofessional thing to do on the day of the shoot. I can’t change anyone’s career or make anyone’s life. I want to make my film. You can’t arm-twist the director to change the scene on the day of the shoot. Riteish, who was the senior most actor in that film, got beaten up by Sidharth Malhotra throughout the film. He didn’t complain. He wanted to get hit more. But I feel there may be some history between both the Sidharths. I didn’t know about his show but when Sidharth Bharadwaj auditioned, he was brilliant. I cast him for the audition. He didn’t want to beg for his life in that scene and I felt it is better we part ways nicely. I have nothing against him.”
