Mumbai Nov 29 Actor Siddhant Chaturvedi on November 29 spoke at a session at the recent IFP season 15. The session titled ‘Rooted in Reality’ saw the actor in an unfiltered session where he broke down the ‘spiritual truth’ in filmmaking, his acting process, and the importance of heartland stories. He also spoke about his favourite Indian films and actors, and much more.
Siddhant Chaturvedi, while talking about the category of roles he definitely wants to explore, said, “If I had to pick, I would always pick the grey character zone. I feel like I like unpredictability, where you do not know what’s going to happen.”
The actor, when asked whether actors today feel competition from content creators, Siddhant didn’t dodge the point; he said, “If you are saying that we have competition, yes, we do. But back in the day, we had so many leading stars – Bachchan Saab, Dharamji, Rajendra Kumar, Rajesh Khanna, Dilip Kumar, Shammi ji, Rishi ji, and Sanjeev Kumar. Even then, there was competition to hold attention. Because there was no other medium. But I feel a good film will always sustain, and good content will always stay with you.”
Siddhant then also spoke and shifted to something he believes is a deeper problem – the lack of access for writers outside Mumbai’s bubble. He shared, “The writers are not getting access – as much access as we want. We need stories from tier 2 and tier 3. And not only messy stories, but we need a lot of stories like Laapataa Ladies. Those writers are not getting access because the whole industry is concentrated in Bombay. And in Bombay also, it’s Juhu, Bandra, or max Andheri. So if a writer from Bhopal, Gwalior, Ballia, or Banaras comes here, I don't think he’ll get access. Because maybe he doesn’t know English.”
On why audiences feel disconnected from mainstream Hindi cinema today, Siddhant offered another direct, unfiltered explanation. He highlighted, “Today, Hindi actors and actresses, whenever there are interviews in Hindi – if you watch any interview – it starts in Hindi. And after saying two lines in Hindi, they don’t even realise when they subconsciously switch to English. So the audience gets disconnected. Our young audiences, Gen Z, already have access to Netflix, Korean cinema, and Hollywood. But I think they will also appreciate something like Laapataa Ladies, which shows them the culture.”
Praising Gen Z, Siddhant added, “I think Gen Z is the smartest. They can point out the truth. They know if a story is coming from the right passion or truth, or not. I feel our cinema needs to get back to its glory. We need to just have more access to the heartland of India.”
On the professional front, Siddhant is all geared up for his upcoming movie, Do Deewane Seher Mein which also stars Mrunal Thakur. The movie, helmed by Sanjay Leela Bhansali, is set to release on Valentine’s week on February 20, 2026. Last week, in a social media post, Siddhant Chaturvedi revealed that he went through a personal struggle while shooting for “Do Deewane Seher Mein.” He mentioned that the film’s journey had not only challenged him creatively but also helped him heal on a personal level.
He wrote, “Do Deewane Seher mein— A film so close to my heart. I'll be honest... I was going through something of my own while shooting for this one. And the journey somewhere healed me.... I hope it does the same to you... They say there's no such thing as perfect; all you need is someone imperfect worth fighting for... See us at our most vulnerable selves, all heart, the perfect misfits, a cute mess coming to theaters this Valentine’s.”
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