Amit Sadh Birthday Special: 5 Times When The Talented Actor Left Us Surprised With His Performance
Amit Sadh celebrates his birthday today and on this special occasion, we bring to you a list of 5 films where the actor shone and how
Underrated, understated, gentle and affable, in spite of being a part of the entertainment industry for 19 years, Amit Sadh has not been a part of any camp in the film industry. Nor has he cleverly insinuated himself into big banners or ingratiate himself to big banners and influential producers the way younger and less talented actors have.
A self-made success-story. I have known Amit from the time he was dating actress Neeru Bajwa. When they broke up Amit was shattered. He picked up the shattered pieces of his heart and rebuilt his life and career. His work has not been consistently challenging. But whenever given a part with a heart and bite, Amit has stood his ground. Here is looking at his 5 finest:
1. Kai Po Che(2013): While Sushant Singh Rajput’s cricketer hero Ishaan Bhatt stole the show, Amit Sadh as the champion of Hindutva Om Shastri was a vivid picture of an adrift youth finding a chimerical anchoring place . Amit’s character was the most confused and conflicted protagonist of Kai Po Che. It reflected his own state of mind at time when his career was at a crossroad. Said Amit, “What 'Kai Po Che' did to my career is beyond expression. I owe the director Abhishek Kapoor this new lease of life.I know Sushant benefited the most from Kai Po Che. I don't look at my success in Kai Po Che in comparison with the other actors in the film. I look at it from the perspective of what I was going through before Kai Po Che. Amit feels he has a long way to go. “There is a hunger within me to get better. I don’t think that anxiety about whether I’ve performed well or not will ever go away. I remember seeing an interview of Johnny Depp with David Letterman where he spoke about the hunger for excellence. I want to continue feeling that hunger.”
2. Sarkar 3 (2017): In a zabardasti ka sequel to a sequel Sarkar 3 had Amit Sadh confidently playing Mr Bachchan’s volatile grandson Chiku, son of Abhishek Bachchan’s character in Sarkar 2. The last Sarkar film came 9 years ago. And the figure of Subhash Nagre is now threatened with obsolescence, if not complete irrelevance. “In order to understand politics you first need to get a hang of the politics in the family. It’s called Palace politics,” says Subhash Nagre, slurping the tea out of the plate while, please note, the grandson Shivaji alias Chiku alias Amit Sadh also slurps over his cuppa. Sarkar 3 frames the familial feud in flames of fury. Amit Sadh comes into his own as Mr Bachchan’s uncontrollable grandson. Says Amit, “I’m grateful to Ram Gopal Varma for giving me such a prominent role . Sharing screen space with Bachchan Saab was nerve wracking. But I didn’t allow myself to remain awestruck when the camera rolled. I believe once ‘action’ starts you have to forget who is with you in the frame. Just do what you have to do.I am sure Bachchan Saab felt the same when he shared screen space with the great Dilip Kumar Saab in Shakti.”
3. Guddu Rangeela(2015): Seldom does an actor get a chance to play a character as wacked out as this. Amit Sadh in and as Subhash Kapoor’s Guddu Rangeela was a riot. Says Amit, “The film was god-sent. Imagine, I got to play the title role in a film directed by Subhash Kapoor who made one my favourite films in recent times Jolly LLB. And I got to share screen space with one of my favourite actors Arshad Warsi. I couldn’t ask for more. This film is also memorable because I fractured my foot while shooting.”
4. Breathe (2018, 2020): Cinema just didn’t give Amit Sadh the space and attention he deserved. In 2020 he made a terrific impact in Breathe 2 where he played the troubled out-of-control cop with remarkable restrain. Digital audiences , now exposed to discreet acting, have zeroed in on Amit’s ability to say more by saying less. Amit Sadh as a burnt-out cop—obviously inspired by the genre’s swaggering prototype from Hollywood…you know, the cop who is grieving and drinking and sulking and abusing constantly? The last time an actor in Bollywood pulled off such an act with credible flamboyance was Randeeep Hooda in Jannat 2.Amit Sadh imparts his own individual stamp on the part.
5. Avrodh The Siege Within (2020): This web series further consolidated Amit Sadh’s position as a solid reliable digital star whom the ladies like to fantasize about. He is now one of the most in-demand OTT stars ‘Avrodh’ is inspired from the September 2016 Uri attacks and is based on a chapter from Shiv Aroor and Rahul Singh’s book ‘India’s Most Fearless,’ said Amit, “I am grateful to Sameer Nair and Applause Entertainment for giving me a chance to play a true-life war hero. It was a dream come true. And I poured my heart soul blood and sweat into it.” It showed.
Image source: SpotboyE archives