For now he is introduced to most as Vicky Kaushal’s brother, but Sunny Kaushal is hopeful that this will change in 2020. He started his career with the funny web series Official Chukyagiri but it was his outing as Himmat Singh in Reema Kagti’s 2018 sports drama Gold that made the industry sit up and take notice. This month, Sunny will be seen in both the dance film Bhangra Paa Le (that’s now in theatres) and in the Kabir Khan-directed web series The Forgotten Army: Azaadi Ke Liye on Amazon Prime Video. He is also shooting for two other films — Hurdang and Shiddat. A t2 chat.

Bhangra Paa Le seems to be more than just a dance film...

That’s right. It’s basically a story spanning generations. It’s about a grandfather and a grandson and how important bhangra is to the whole family. It’s also a coming-of-age story. What got me really interested was that this film has so much bhangra in it. I am a Punjabi and bhangra is something that I have grown up on.

How good a bhangra dancer were you when this film came your way?

Like I said, I have grown up watching and dancing bhangra. I never learnt it formally but I would like to think that I was quite good. I knew more than the basics. For the film, we trained for about four months. In the film, we play professional bhangra dancers and we needed to get the posture, dignity and grace right. There are also sub-genres within bhangra like luddi, giddha, dhamaal, kikli, gatka and jhumar that we learnt.

In the film you play both the grandson and grandfather. Was intimidating to attempt a double role so early in your career?

It was both challenging and amazing. The interesting thing about this double role is that I play two young men but in different time periods. Jaggi is in 2019 and Kaptaan is in 1940. Every time I watched an actor play a double role in a film, I wished that I’d have the opportunity at some point in my career. Of course, the amount of effort that goes into creating a character becomes double. You need to have a separate body language and everything. Like for Kaptaan, to change his look and posture we gave him shoulder pads. And, of course, he is also a sardar.

The age difference between Vicky and you is a little more than a year. When did the acting bug bite you?

Interesting, between the two of us, I was the first one to tell our parents that I wanted to act. I was 21 and had just finished college. Both Vicky and I were performers in school and college. We danced and acted in all the cultural events that happened. I assisted on My Friend Pinto (2011) and that’s when I decided that I wanted to give acting a serious shot.

And your father categorically told you that he wouldn’t help you?

It’s not like he didn’t want to help but he said he is just a technician (Sham Kaushal is a veteran action director). He said people might let us enter their offices if we mentioned his name, but no one was going to launch us.

Did you and Vicky start your journeys in the industry at the same time?

When I started assisting on My Friend Pinto, he started assisting on Gangs of Wasseypur (2012). When we started auditioning, we’d love to go home together and do the rounds in Aram Nagar.

I know you are incredibly close but was there ever a moment of envy when Vicky got breaks earlier?

Absolutely not! He signed Zubaan before Masaan and it was an incredibly proud moment for all of us. It was also a moment of relief that at least one of us had found a footing. It also inspired me to try harder and get more serious.

You’ve had a ringside view of Vicky’s journey into the industry. And while everyone has their own journey, what have you learnt from his?

The biggest thing I have learnt from him is to not force something on himself or others. He’s always gone with the flow. You just need to keep working hard and you will see the result when the time is right. Just because you are ambitious doesn’t mean that you kill yourself stressing about achieving your goal. You can’t just make things happen any faster than it was supposed to.

Vicky is now working with directors like Karan Johar and Shoojit Sircar. Does that help open doors for you?

Not at all! If that was the case, I should have been in a Dharma (Productions) movie right now. I auditioned for Bhangra Paa Le and everything else that I am doing. I think what opened the doors for me was my work in Gold. I think people liked my performance.