Aarya 3: Even though I was extremely tempted to see the Dutch series Penoza... I resisted, says Vikas Kumar | EXCLUSIVE

Those who have seen Aarya series had spotted an extremely simple looking man, who went onto deliver a powerful performance in the role of ACP Khan. We are indeed talking about Vikas Kumar, who is now all excited for his role of ACP Khan in the upcoming series Aarya 3. Besides being an actor, Vikas Kumar is also a language coach for many celebrities. With the most awaited ‘Aarya 3’ up for release, OTTplay managed to catch up with the man himself Vikas Kumar, who spoke about the origin idea of ‘Aarya’ plus his interactions with the celebs as a language coach!

Aarya is basically based on Dutch drama series Penoza by Pieter Bart Korthuis
Honestly, I was very tempted to see the Dutch series. I was also sceptical that we should not land up copying him. So, I have not seen one bit of Penoza. I know nothing about it. Although, after the huge success of the first season, I was again tempted. Two of my directors told me that, my portrayal of ACP Khan was much more different than the Penoza one. To tell you the fact, I don't even know the character's name there. I haven't watched even one episode of Penoza! (smiles)

Vidya Balan makes the best masala chai while Yana Gupta used to offer awesome herbal tea
(Taken aback). Yes! That’s such an interesting piece of research! That’s true, although now, I have become more of a black tea, green tea and black coffee kind of person. I do enjoy at least one cup of chai every day. And yes, you are right. That time, Vidya Balan wasn't married, and she was shooting for ‘Ishqiya’. Trust me, one can get the best masala chai at Vidya Balan’s residence! As for Yana Gupta, she had all these exotic herbal teas as she was into yoga and fitness. Shenaz Treasurywala used to offer fruits (smiles).

Vidya Balan used to SMS me in Bhojpuri!
I was her voice and diction coach during the film shooting of ‘Ishqia’. There were times when she used to message me in Bhojpuri saying 'Bikas bhaiyaa kaisan ba, tuhar kono khabar naahee' (Vikas brother, how are you? No news from you for a long time). Even though she wanted to stay in the skin of her character from the film, she used to SMS me in Bhojpuri just for fun as well! Whenever I meet her, I fold my hands and call her ‘Maa’! (smiles).

Training session with Kalki Koechlin at a salon!
I had conducted the training session with Kalki Koechlin for her film at a salon, where she had come to style her hair. It was her last day in India during that time, because, after that, she was to fly abroad (Spain) for Zindagi Naa Milegi Dobaara!

I had slapped Rajat Barmecha during Udaan!
So, I was training a then-19-year-old Rajat Barmecha for Vikramaditya Motwane’s film ‘Udaan’. I was trying to get into his emotional well, and just dig out whatever I could. I was partly successful. But, since they had to step out to shoot, I trained him very seriously. There was one scene in the film wherein he had to have a heated argument with Ronit Roy (his onscreen father). But, during the practice he used to burst out laughing! So, I kind of started role playing and gave him a push. Even after that, when he did not get the scene right, I slapped him! Being infuriated, he then, pushed me to the cupboard, then onto the bed and then, onto the floor! We were at it for around a good 10 minutes or so! After all this, he got the emotion right which was required for the scene.