Kartik Aaryan: ‘I was behaving like a loner for a long time before Freddy shoot’

Kartik Aaryan as Freddy.

In a career spanning a little over a decade, Kartik Aaryan has emerged as one of the more successful actors in recent times, delivering one biggie release after the other. Just a few months ago, the comedy thriller Bhool Bhulaiyaa 2 emerged as one of the highest-grossing films of this year and now, Aaryan is hoping to surprise and shock the audience as a loner and introvert in the dark thriller Freddy releasing on Disney+ Hotstar on December 2. Edited excerpts from an interview:

A still from the film.

People generally assume darker roles are much more difficult to do than rom-coms. For someone who has done both, what do you feel about that?

I think that’s the biggest misconception. Rom-com is the toughest genre to crack, which is why you can count the number of actors who are successful in this genre on your fingers.

I liked the script of Freddy. I like watching thrillers and dark films, so I decided to go for it. I was taken by surprise from the first narration itself. I fell in love with the character and then the entire story. This is Freddy’s origin story and shows how this character becomes what he is now. He is low on confidence. He stutters and has a hunch which also shows his boredom in life. I had to gain weight for the role. Everything about Freddy was completely different from what I have done before. I enjoyed playing that character and being in his world.

After Dhamaka (2021), this is your second film to release on an OTT platform. You had such a huge theatrical hit in Bhool Bhulaiyaa 2 just a few months ago. Why, then, release this on a digital platform?  

It was a decision taken when I had signed the film a year-and-a-half ago. This is a film which was designed for OTT platforms. From Day 1, we knew it’s going on a digital platform because we wanted to be true to the story and to the idea, otherwise we would have had to change a lot of things in the film. It belongs to a platform like Disney+ Hotstar and I think it will fly there. The marketing strategy was also to release mini clips and not a trailer which works brilliantly on OTT platforms. We haven’t shown a lot about the film but there is a lot of buzz and intrigue. With this film, less is more because we are making something fresh and different for the Indian audience.

You have mentioned in a post about the physical and mental toll it took on you, including quite a few sleepless nights. Did it get too dark for you at times?

There are a few scenes which will surprise or shock a lot of people. I was internalising the character and behaving like a loner for a long time before the actual shoot began. I started thinking like Freddy who is a normal guy but he is a loner and an introvert. That behavioural pattern did rub off on me a bit and I almost became an insomniac because of that.

The audience has loved you in light-hearted films such as Luka Chuppi (2019), Pati Patni Aur Woh (2019) and Bhool Bhulaiyaa 2 (2022). Was doing films such as Dhamaka or Freddy a risk?

It’s exciting for me. I really want to entertain my audience and my fans with my films but also with my choices. This was a question that even Shashanka (Ghosh) sir, who directed Freddy, had in his mind. After the narration, he asked the producer if I had really said yes to it, because this is something no one would expect me to do. I think it took a lot of people by surprise when I said yes to doing Freddy, which I think is great. I do watch a lot of dark films and thrillers, so why not be a part of something like that?

You have done a sequel like Bhool Bhulaiyaa 2 and have another in Aashiqui 3. There is also Shehzada, which is a remake of the southern film Allu Arjun-starrer Ala Vaikunthapurramuloo (2020). Are you not apprehensive of the inevitable comparisons?

I take risks and every film is a risk for me. I have become fearless. If my gut says this is a good film, I follow my gut. I don’t question it then and till now, my choices have been given full marks by the audience. When films as big as these titles come to me, it shows the belief of producers and directors that I can carry off this movie on my shoulders. And that goes for all films, even originals.

There was a time when you were known as the ‘monologue actor’. Things have looked up for you since Sonu Ke Titu Ki Sweety (2018). You started your journey wanting to be recognised as an actor. What’s the next aim in mind now?

I want to be the No. 1 choice for every filmmaker. I want the makers to write a film thinking of me. Fingers crossed, that happens.

There is a lot of talk about you being a part of Hera Pheri 3 but there have been no official confirmation from you on it. What do you have to say about it?

I will just say that Hera Pheri is one of my favourite films (laughs).