The reluctant wicket keeper

Manpriya Singh

In ’83, Sahil Khattar comes onboard as the first reluctant, then happy and now humbled actor having gotten to play the legendary Syed Kirmani onscreen. For anyone well-acquainted with the Being Indian series will vouch perhaps the only think connecting the two personalities are their hair, or the lack of it.

Which is why Sahil admits to how at first he thought his ideal debut in Bollywood would have been, “a film like Fukrey or a Kai Po Che,” something that does justice to his quirkiness and energy. “Which is why the two times I was offered the script, I didn’t take it up,” he says admitting to partially also being substantiated by apprehensions of a debut where the limelight would have to be shared with as many as ten other characters played each by a star, no less. But then the turnaround happened and how. “Honestly, it’s not just a sports film, it’s not just a biopic. It’s an amazing story of underdogs who go to England thinking it’s going to be a holiday and it’s that once in a lifetime story, which after reading the script I just couldn’t miss,”

Being Syed Kirmani

All sports at the end of the day command similar characteristics, eye-hand co-ordination, discipline and fitness. Nevertheless, there’s a lot that divides roller hockey that he played the nationals in and cricket. Let alone the wicket keeping that he had to master. “Batting and bowling everybody has done to some extent but it’s the wicket keeping that I had to learn from the scratch.”

The biggest challenge though lay in separating the Sahil from the Syed. “I am a powerhouse of energy, while Syed Kirmani has a special pace that he walks in, the way he is. Every character has a sur, whereas the exuberant dancing guy in me would often come out of the character.” The challenge lay in not being himself.

Making bald cool

Before the ever-popular Bruce Willis, Jason Statham, Dwayne Johnson happened to baldness, there was Syed Kirmani pioneering the new cool in his own way. “I think he was the first one of his day and age to make it okay to lose hair and still be cool.” At this point there’s a little trivia that he lets us in on. “Syed Kirmani never wore a wig all his life. But suddenly they were going to meet the Queen and he wore a wig. And it’s a fact that he himself forgot and told us much later.”

From auditions to narrations

Mumbai, as he says, has been kind so far. “Bollywood I am hoping will be even kinder after this film. Which is why I haven’t signed or even considered any film till ’83 doesn’t release because I want to figure out where I stand. I am very self-critical.” But yes, it’s been a long journey since the days of queuing up in auditions. “When casting directors would just come out and single you out on the basis of certain parameters in their head and say, ‘Hey, you come,” he adds laughingly. The drive down the memory lane also goes back to his school days as a student of St. Stephen’s and later DAV College, where he was active in theatre. A medium he hasn’t been able to return to lately. “But my theatre professor from college has come to Mumbai and he wants to revive the play, Ashwathama. Then there’s the fire to do more, the desire to stay relevant. “I want to be active in all the three mediums, TV, events and digital. I like to call myself a service provider as that’s what we basically do.”