The audience took notice of Suvinder Vicky after he played the unforgettable character of policeman Balbir Singh in Kohrra. Since then, he has taken on some challenging character roles across films and web series. However, his recent projects, Satluj and Dhurandhar 2, have placed him in two very different cinematic worlds, with the former facing a release ban and the latter emerging as a major blockbuster.
In an exclusive conversation with Hindustan Times, Suvinder opened up about his contrasting roles, the depiction of violence on screen, and the responsibility of actors and filmmakers while portraying sensitive events.
You have starred in two of the most talked-about films, Satluj and Dhurandhar 2. One has faced release issues, and the other has become one of the biggest blockbusters. What do you have to say about that?
I am lucky that I got to star in both films. Even though my character was small and I had to abuse a lot in Dhurandhar 2, but people showered me with a lot of love. I never became a meme before, but after Dhurandhar, a lot of memes were made on my character, so I was on a high.
I am playing a negative character in Satluj, and I thought that after people see me in the film, mujhe bahut galiyan padegi (Audience will abuse me), but those who have seen that era understand it.
Many people might question why I do characters like this, but today’s audience is smart, and they can differentiate between reel and real. But if actors did not play these characters as authentically as possible, many would not feel the fear of that time. Even if I talk about my kids, they don’t know what happened in 1984, and they don’t know who Jaswant Kalra was. So, maybe it is us actors and directors who are responsible for showing it as authentically as possible.
But many have not been able to watch Satluj…
We are hearing that the film’s pirated version is available. We don’t support piracy, but a film reaches the audience some way or the other. Definitely, if this film was released on 70 MM, the makers would have got their return on investment, and it would be nice to watch it on the big screen.
Talking about Dhurandhar 2, what do you have to say about the portrayal of violence in films, which more often than not tends to become gory?
There are films which are based on real life and then there are fictional films, but they are also inspired by what goes on in the society. Hum hi insaan hai, hum hi shaitan hai. It depends who takes what in what sense. It depends on your thinking and also it is your choice. Now we have options. Earlier, we only had theatres and Doordarshan. Now, we are moving with entertainment in our hands, if we don’t like something, we can go to something else. Also, it looks real on screen because everybody has done justice to their work in the film.
You have abused Arjun Rampal’s character plenty in Dhurandhar 2. How was it shooting those scenes?
I’m lucky to work with great directors. In this, the credit goes to Aditya Dhar and to me also because I also gave my hundred percent effort. Also, galiyon ka shrey hamare script writer ko bhi jayega (The credit for all the abusive language would also go our screenwriter), because I didn’t make any of those, that was all written in the script.
I told Aditya that my whole dialogue will be a big beep, he should have instead made me play a mute character in the film because I’m abusing so much. But he told me confidently that nothing will be cut. Then I thought that since nothing would be cut, I would improvise but Aditya stopped me in that moment. He said we will not go to mothers and sisters. It is also our responsibility to not hurt sentiments in films.
What was Arjun’s reaction?
We shared a equation because before Dhurandhar as we had worked in Satluj together. When I warned him about my dialogues in the film, he told me, “It is part of life, camera ke samne faad de.”
