Rohit Saraf has arrested attention for his pivotal part as Shatak, Vedha’s younger brother, in Vikram Vedha. t2 chatted with Rohit — the 25-year-old hearththrob who is often hailed as ‘National Crush’ — on sharing screen space with Hrithik Roshan, who plays Vedha, expanding his fab demographic and how he secretly enjoys the attention.

It’s been less than a week since Vikram Vedha released to huge praise. Your Shatak has been noticed as well. What are you hearing so far?

When I signed Vikram Vedha, I didn’t expect this to be the kind of film that the moment it comes out, I would be bombarded with calls and messages about how people want to work with me. I never had those expectations when I signed this film in the first place.

What I did want from this film was to make people see that I can be versatile and diverse in terms of my choices and the way I deliver my work. I think that has happened because one of the feedback that I have received most from a lot of people is that I didn’t look out of place in that film. It felt like I belonged to that world. They believed in Shatak and everyone felt that I embodied the character so well that they could literally see me as that boy who belongs to that world of Lucknow. That for me is extremely special. I worked really, really hard to get that right.

What was your first reaction when you came to know that you had bagged such an important role in such a huge film?

Getting a part is not an instant process. As you know, it’s not that I go and audition today and I get the part tomorrow. I first got a call that the directors (Pushkar & Gayatri) of Vikram Vedha want to meet me. I was surprised and was like, ‘They are massive directors of such a big film (Vikram Vedha in Tamil) that did so massively well in the south. Why do they want to meet me?!’ I went and met them and was very surprised that they knew both of me and my work.

They told me that they were doing a remake of Vikram Vedha and they wanted me to play Vedha’s younger brother and that Hrithik (Roshan) would play Vedha. I have been auditioning for eight years, ever since I joined the industry and in many cases, things don’t work out. That feels very disheartening. My first film as a lead never released. So I have become this person who only gets excited when I get on to the set of a project.

I remember when I got call saying I had bagged the part, but I was like, ‘Okay great, but I will wait to get on set and be in front of Hrithik Roshan to get absolutely excited.’

And that’s what happened! I remember when I landed in Abu Dhabi (that was used to depict Lucknow in the film) and I realised that I would be shooting for the film the next day, I freaked out! (Laughs) The irony is that it was a beautiful feeling. I had finished one schedule of Mismatched 2 (Rohit’s web series on Netflix) and I literally flew into Abu Dhabi and started shooting the next day.

Rohit Saraf as Shatak in Vikram Vedha, now playing in theatres

Most of your scenes are with Hrithik. What were your biggest learnings from working with him?

Everyone knows how prepared he is as an actor. When he comes on any set, he has already embodied that character so well that you can almost not tell that this is not Hrithik. He is so prepared that he actually becomes the character. I had heard about it before, but when I actually saw it, I was blown away by how he actually became Vedha.

I was so fascinated by it. It’s like witnessing a magician creating magic in front of your eyes. I can’t say that’s something that I have learnt from him because that takes years of work to do something like that.

For someone who is as big as he is, he doesn’t have to be someone who is equally concerned about his co-actors’ performance. One would imagine that he would do his scenes and leave the set, but he is so invested in his co-actors as well. He would be as excited and invested in my close-ups as well. I get very nervous looking at myself in the monitor because I only end up looking at how I am looking and not at my performance. I am always like, ‘Oh my mouth looks weird, my nose looks funny!’ (Laughs)

So I usually don’t look at myself, but after every take HR would go to the monitor and he would pay so much attention to my scenes and my close-ups also. It was so heartwarming... that he genuinely cares about his co-actors’ performance and he genuinely does all he can to elevate the film as a whole.

That’s something that I want to take to every set that I go to. That it’s always about give and take, and that’s something he does very well.

Doing this film in general has also taught me that I need to trust myself as an actor. I always wanted to do a heartland part, I always wanted to play this guy who comes from a small town. For the simple reason that the audience hadn’t seen me in that light... I have always played urban characters. Before Vikram Vedha, nobody would ever imagine that I could play a guy like Shatak. For the simple reason that I don’t look like that or talk or behave like that. That was the challenge for me because I have always wondered if I was putting myself in a box by saying I couldn’t do such parts. I was really underconfident because I had been told too many times that I couldn’t do it. And I kept thinking, ‘Maybe I can’t do it.’ But the day Vikram Vedha came out and the messages started pouring in, I started trusting myself.

Hrithik is not the only Roshan you are sharing screen space with. His cousin Pashmina makes her debut in Ishq Vishk Rebound with you....

Unfortunately I can’t talk much about the project. But Pashmina is amazing and I am so happy that we are working together. It’s been such an incredible journey so far. We are still shooting and it’s shaping up well.

Your female fan base is huge. Has that demographic expanded after Vikram Vedha?

It’s a little too soon to say (laughs). But yes, with Vikram Vedha I am happy with the newer parts of India that I have been able to tap into. Earlier, it would mostly be the metro cities because of my work in The Sky is Pink or Mismatched but now because of Vikram Vedha and Hrithik’s popularity in every part of the country, I am also being exposed to that audience. I have people messaging me from tier-II and tier-III cities and saying, ‘Aapka aur kaam dekhna hain.’ That’s really exciting. But as my viewer demographic is expanding, so is the responsibility and I know my hard work will have to increase.

Does the title of ‘National Crush’ sit easily with you or is there still some awkwardness?

(Laughs) It’s really flattering. I do enjoy it now... earlier I would get very awkward and embarrassed. There is still some awkwardness, but I feel more at ease it with. Secretly, I enjoy it!