Budding actor Vardhan Puri says his stint as an assistant director helped him a lot in his acting career.
Vardhan is the grandson of late actor Amrish Puri. He made his acting debut with the 2019 film “Yeh Saali Aashiqui”. Before his debut film, he was involved in theatre, and he also worked as an assistant director in films like “Daawat-e-Ishq”, “Ishaqzaade” and “Shudh Desi Romance”.
“I was a theatre actor and I never went on a film set before that. I used to watch films but I didn’t know much about filmmaking. When I started working on a film set as an assistant director, I interacted with producers, directors and heads of various departments, and I worked on film scripts, involved myself in readings, casting process and production design. It gave me immense amount of knowledge about filmmaking,” said Vardhan.
He added: “I would urge anyone who wants to become a writer, a director or an actor to become an assistant director in films first, and then follow your path.”
Vardhan notes that exhibition of films is going through a change, with the advent of the custom of releasing films on OTT, during the lockdown. “I think it’s great to release your film on an OTT platform. If you can reach people’s houses with your content then there is nothing better than that, because it increases your audience base. People can watch your film as per their convenience and comfort, so I feel it’s a fantastic thing,” he said.
Vardhan said that in future, people will only watch big events films on big screens, for a larger-than-life cinematic experience. “I am someone who has romanticised the idea of theatre, cinema and the big screen but I think it’s the time to change our mind. I feel very soon the theatre-going experience will only be restricted to big event films like ‘Baahubali’, ‘Avatar’ and the ‘Avenger’ films. I think people will prefer to watch content-driven films in their houses because to go out and to watch a movie is an expensive proposition, which includes tickets, food and travelling expenses, and plus it is time-consuming. It is a lot for normal middle-class families,” he noted.
