In the rough waters of the acting industry, there’s clear thought involved in all the projects Shivam Patil has taken up, and despite all speculations of his deserving a better launchpad than the film Nasha, the actor seems unperturbed with his place in the glamour world.
Shivam Patil’s journey in the industry has not been a cruise.
As a member of once the biggest street dance crew in India, Street Soul Dance Crew (SSDC), he reflects on the transition to acting, “I think if you’re a dancer and if you like performing then there’s this natural inclination towards other performing arts as well, so acting had some kind of appeal to me and I wanted to explore it as a craft,” he says.
An interesting piece of insight seems to have stuck by him through his career so far.
“Before I even started the entire acting process, I was fortunate enough to get to speak to Imtiaz Ali over the phone. He gave me the most influential piece of advice, ‘Just go out there and live your life, and experience as many things as you can because at the end of the day, those experiences will give you real motivation in whatever character you play.”
He added, “I find myself looking for interesting experiences everyday of my life, since then.”
With episodic TV shows such as ‘Webbed’, ‘Rush’ and Yeh Hai Aashiqui, to his name, what excites him about acting is interesting.
“You’re genuinely testing the capacity of the human mind to lie to itself, to be someone else and to live someone else’s life. In one lifetime, you live so many others, and that’s so intriguing.
For me, who’s just started off, that’s something I definitely see on the horizon, and I’m excited.”
The question of his favourite character to portray brings forth the answer. “That’s a tough one between the roles of the vulnerable 18- year-old in Nasha, and the sexually-confused Sarthak in ‘Webbed’, but simply because of how gritty and real the role was, I’d go with the latter.”
For an actor with no connection to big banners, he reflects on the hardships he has faced, “It’s quite difficult, but it kind of makes the journey worth it because you actually feel like you’re earning every bit of success that you find,” he says.
Ask him what he’d say to the thousands lined up outside studios for auditions, hoping to make it, and he says, “Know the odds that you’re setting yourself up against.
You have five or 10 leading men and five million trying to get there, and so once you’re comfortable with that, then focus on the craft. Don’t try to be a star, try and be an actor. That makes this whole process worth going through.”
A first-time visitor to the City, he reflects on his experiences here, “It is as close as you can get to the ‘awesomeness’ of Mumbai. I like how young its energy is.”
