The actor, who made his main acting debut in Eternally Confused and Eager to Love, talks about returning to India from the United States to pursue a career in Bollywood.
Actor Vihaan Samat returned to India to seek a career as an actor after finishing an acting degree at New York University. He made his lead acting debut with the web sitcom Eternally Confused and Eager to Love, which premiered last month, after participating in web series such as Mismatched and Bombay Begums.
But it was in a Hollywood picture, Worth, that he had his first taste of acting (2020). “I was studying acting, primarily method acting and later film acting,” says the actor. Following that, I wanted to polish my talents and worked in the United States for a while. He recalls, “My first role in a movie was with Michael Keaton (actor), in which I had one scene.”
“India is home, and you always want to work where your home is,” he replies when asked what made him want to return to India. I’ve never lived in a tiny village like Haryana or Jharkhand, but I’d want to portray people from there. Hollywood is fantastic, but that will have to wait. I hope to be able to work on multinational projects one day.”
Samat believes that this is the ideal time for him to further his career, given the transformative period that the Indian entertainment business is going through. “She’s a fantastic performer,” he says of star Alia Bhatt, whom he admires. I’m drawn to those who can portray a variety of roles convincingly and have the dexterity to be in a variety of settings while giving it their all.”
“I grew up watching Shah Rukh Khan, Salman Khan, and Aamir Khan,” the young actor says of the other celebrities who have influenced him. I was introduced to Hollywood as I grew older, and I saw a lot of Al Pacino, Robert De Niro, and Marlon Brando. Then I was fascinated to gorgeous and amazing performers like Philip Seymour Hoffman, Adrain Brody, Daniel Day-Lewis, and Jeremy Strong.”
So, does he have a wish list of filmmakers with whom he’d want to collaborate? “I want to collaborate with Anurag Kashyap, Vikramaditya Motwane, Karan Johar, and Rohit Shetty, in addition to Farhan (Akhtar), Zoya (Akhtar), and Reema (Kagti).” Samat concludes, “I also love the work of Advait Chauhan, Sudhir Mishra, and Hansal Mehta.”
