Aparshakti Khurana plays a sign language interpreter in his latest outing, Berlin, that is streaming on Zee5. He spoke to t2 about this offbeat role but not before accepting compliments for the bumper success of Stree 2.

Congratulations! It’s ₹600 crores and counting for Stree 2.

(Laughs) Aap ne toh aise keh diya jaise 600 crore humein mil raha hai! (We are) getting a lot of love and blessings for it. That’s what matter the most.

Did you expect this humongous success?

It would be a lie if anyone — the producer, the actors, the trade analysts, the journalists — says that any of them had expected this. We made this film with a lot of love and hard work. We knew we were making a special film. We were expecting ₹100 crore, or ₹200 crore or maximum ₹250 crore, which would have been double of the last (Stree’s earning). Nothing beyond that was expected. The audience’s love overpowered everything.

What expectations do you have of your new offering Berlin?

In terms of love, we have high hopes. In terms of numbers, har ek ko pata hota hai where your film is headed. It’s not a film which has people dancing and jumping. It is a subtle, organic and pure film. It will be unfair to attach such conversations to it because yeh film woh space ki hai nahin jahan audiences are dancing in the hall, repeating dialogues… it’s not as if everyone can understand sign language.

What kind of training did you have to go through to play a sign language interpreter?

It had to be an intensive training. I trained for two months. Ishwak (Singh, who plays a hearing and speech impaired convict) had started earlier. I joined him after completing a shoot. Apart from that, we had two sign language experts always on the sets for choreographing the sign language sequences. They were keeping an extra check on the close-up shots of the hands. It became all the more difficult as when I did my sign language I also had to talk so that others could hear what I was saying to the (hearing and speech impaired) culprit in front of me. The problem was more often than not the syntax of the spoken line would not tally with the line in sign language. Main bol raha hoon “Mujhe chai pini hain” aur main dikha raha hoon “Chai pini hai mujhe”. Just as Urdu ulti likhi jati hai. It is difficult for an actor to say the line one way and sign it differently. Apart from that, it was also a challenge having to learn (the interrogated) Ishwak’s lines and signs as I had to repeat what he was saying to the interrogators.

Aparshakti Khurana and Rahul Bose in the Zee5 film Berlin

Why did you choose to learn sign language? You could simply have imitated the hand gestures of sign language experts like actors pick up dance steps from the choreographer.

It would have been difficult to imitate. It is not like a non-guitarist playing guitar on screen ki apne finger rakh li aur (camera angle se) chhupa liya usse. Also a song lasts two and half to three minutes. Of that, about 30 seconds show the guitar being strummed. This was a full-blown film where half the dialogues are in sign language. So it was difficult to fake it. It had to be learnt.

Will you be able to hold a conversation with a hearing and speech impaired person?

Not at all. This requires practice. We had shot this film two years ago. I did it then. But how could I use sign language in my day-to-day life? Sign language is not easy. New words, new signs get added daily. You can’t get it wrong as it is someone’s mother tongue. It will be disrespectful.

Aparshakti Khurana at play with his daughter Arzoie

What about your character’s name, Pushkin Verma? Is there a back story?

Of course. There are two. One influence is the Russian poet and writer Alexander Pushkin. And it goes in sync with the story. Atul Sabharwal, the film’s writer, had a classmate of that name.

How difficult was it to do scenes with an actor who could not give verbal cues?

Acting is not an easy profession. We have to be different and think differently each day. But what you are referring to was especially challenging. It is rare to get to do a film with such a requirement of holding a conversation this way. And we have done it with all our heart.

What about the film’s title Berlin? Does it have to do with the city?

We haven’t revealed that in the trailer. It is for people to watch the film and figure out. There is a reason why at the end there is a question also from Ashok (Ishwak’s character) to Pushkin: “Tumhe Berlin kya hai nahin pata na, sweet boy?”

How much of the film is in the interrogation room?

The story does revolve around the interrogation room but things also happen outside. The atmosphere is so interiorised there that the interrogated person does not produce any sound. The audience sees only his expressions. Yes, that’s the beauty of the film. When have you last seen such a film?

How is your daughter Arzoie shaping up as a cricketer? You posted a video of the two of you practising where she was kicking a cricket ball.

Yes. I took her to a cricket field that day. She is trying. We are shaping up well together. She got introduced to football earlier. So she can kick a ball. My first love is cricket.

You presented a lilting song in your new single Zaroor.

Thank you. It is very close to my heart. I am really happy to see the kind of love it is getting. The audio got launched a month-and-a-half ago. The video just got launched. Music was a part of my growing up and it brings out the best in me. It works as a stress-buster. It helps for artistes to be a bit musical as it helps to give a different arc to the character sometimes.

Pass on our compliments to your brother Ayushmann for the moving recitation he did (dedicated to the slain junior doctor at RG Kar Medical College and Hospital).

Oh my god, it was one of his most well-written pieces! He wrote it himself.

What is your next film?

It’s Badtameez Gill, the story of a dysfunctional Punjabi Gill family. From Bareilly to London, kya kya badtameezi karte hai yeh log. I think most Asian families are dysfunctional, so most people will be able to relate to it. Paresh Rawal sir and Sheeba Chaddha ma’am are our parents. Vani Kapoor and I are siblings in the film. We are trying to release it at the yearend.