'I have been on stage for as long as I remember'

When he started his career in the film industry six years back, he didn’t think that his debut role will bring him so much popularity and love from the audience.

With films like ‘Tere Bin Laden’, ‘Dilliwaali Zaalim Girlfriend’ and ‘Life Ki Toh Lag Gayi’, Pradhuman Singh has proved himself time and again.

In a chat with Surupasree Sarmmah, the talented actor talks about his days before his acting career began, his upcoming movie and dream role.

You started your career with the role of Osama in the movie ‘Tere Bin Laden’, which turned out to be one of the popular characters. How different is your role in the sequel ‘Tere Bin Laden: Dead or Alive’?

In the first part of the movie, I played the role of Osama’s look alike and the character’s name was Noora, but in this film I am playing a character called Paddi Singh, who is a folk singer from Punjab. He comes to Mumbai to become a singer; however, things don’t go right for him and he is seen struggling. That’s when he meets Sharma, the character played by Manish Paul, who on the other hand is a struggling director.

He promises Paddi that he will make him a star and a popular one at that, not by his voice but by his face. So basically, I am playing a fictional character of myself in the movie and Manish is playing the fictional version of Abhishek Sharma, the director of ‘Tere Bin Laden’. The film starts with a prelude of how ‘Tere bin Laden’ is being made and during that, the news of Osama being dead makes rounds and that’s when the movie starts.  

How did you get into acting? Did you always want to be an actor?

I used to act in theatres in Delhi. I met Abhishek in the theatre circuit there, when he came for a workshop. This is how I got in touch with him. I acted in one of the plays directed by him and also assisted him in a few plays that he did. Then Abhishek moved to Mumbai and unfortunately, I couldn’t as I was young and didn’t know exactly what I wanted to do.

I was working for Wipro, when one day Abhishek called me and spoke about the movie ‘Tere Bin Laden’ that he was making then. He asked me if I wanted to audition and that’s how it started. I auditioned for the part given to me and did a fairly good job (laughs). I have been on stage for as long as I remember and my parents and friends could vouch for it. Dev Anand and Johnny Depp are my favourites and I used to imitate them.

Are you still popularly recognised as Osama?

No. People never walked up to me and asked ‘Hey!
are you the guy who acted in ‘Tere Bin Laden’?’ except for Shraddha Kapoor. I remember it was back in 2010 when the first part released; she walked up to me and asked if I was the one in the movie.

The most difficult part of the film?

The film itself was difficult; it was complicated for us to pen down the characters. As I
said, Manish and I are playing the fictional roles of the two real-life characters, so yes it was difficult. Shooting for a few scenes was also difficult as we had to show different set-ups like a little bit of America or a bit of Abbottabad, constantly keeping in mind the budget.

What can people expect out of the movie?

Unreal comedy, excitement and a lot of laughter. I can just say that if you liked ‘Tere Bin Laden’, this movie is way funnier in every aspect. There are more characters, politics and more of Osama. Everything is just more. ‘Tere Bin Laden’ was an innocent movie with all heart. But the second part has passion, love and more emotions wrapped into one for the audience.

Your dream role...

‘The Riddler’ in the Batman film. I want to play the role of a mad Indian scientist.  A fact about you that people are not aware of. A lot of people don’t know that I am a hopeless romantic.  I love doing cheesy stuff for my girl and often use flowery statements or write  something which is really mushy.