Escaype Live: Siddharth says he doesn’t want to identify himself as a star

Siddharth, who was seen in Inmai, one of nine shorts from the Netflix anthology, Navarasa, is excited about being a part of Escapye Live, which will stream on Disney + Hotstar. What made him sign up for Escaype Live? Siddharth tells the Hindu, "It is an incredibly vast and diverse show. It shows today’s India very beautifully — not just the visuals but also the emotions. It talks about social media and how far people will go for attention, fame or money. It was touching on a lot of topics that I discuss daily. Usually, OTT shows are called ‘cerebral’ or ‘intellectual’. But this one is ‘massy’. Despite talking about real, complex issues, it will be accessible to everyone."

Speaking about his role, Siddharth, in an interview, tells the Hindu, "I, a Tamilian, will be playing a Kannadiga in a Hindi series. I play a software guy from Bangalore called Krishna Rangaswamy. He is a simple, middle-class guy, who doesn’t look like a hero. But there is a lot of heroism involved in what he does. The consequences of his decisions are tremendous. It took a lot of research and preparation to get into this character."

As a part of the prep work, Siddharth adds, "I have to speak Hindi as a Kannadiga would. A Kannadiga watching the show must believe I am a guy from Bangalore. When I am playing a Kannadiga, I don’t want to be insensitive to their sentiments, especially in an age where everyone can voice their opinion on social media. So, I spent a lot of time learning the language. And, this is just a part of the preparation."

Siddharth says he doesn't want to identify himself as a star. "I hate that word. I have friends who are big stars in the conventional sense. I know the life that they live and the work that they do. It’s very different from what I do," he tells the Hindu.

Siddharth, a fearless voice from the Indian cinema, is a reliable name in the Tamil, Telugu and Hindi film industries. When asked about his take on the emergence of pan-Indian cinema, he told the Hindu, "When I was doing Rang De Basanti, 16 years ago, I said I want actors to be able to work in multiple languages and have audiences across the country. So to see the term ‘pan-India’ being discussed now is very amusing to me. I find the term a bit silly because it is used only for regional films that go beyond its region. We still don’t call a Hindi film pan-Indian; it is called Bollywood. So, it is, in a way, different."

The actor goes on to say, "You treat one thing superior and everything other than that is given a different name. So, I would call KGF an Indian film or a Kannada film. Some people coin and give importance to these fancy terms. I don’t believe in it. Great content will be seen everywhere. My boss (Mani Ratnam) made a film called Roja 30 years ago. Everyone all over India saw it."

Created and directed by Siddharth Kumar Tewary, Escapye Live drops on Disney+ Hotstar on May 20. The series also features Shweta Tripathi Sharma, Swastika Mukherjee, Plabita Borthakur, Waluscha D'Souza, Ritvik Sahore, Sumedh Mudgalkar, Geetika Vidya Ohlyan and others. Escapye Live is co-written by Jaya Mishra.