Directed by Atul Sabharwal, “Berlin” (2024) is a Hindi-language spy thriller. It tells the story of a person with a speech and hearing disability who the Intelligence Bureau arrests, and a sign-language expert, Pushkin Verma, is invited to interrogate him. That is ALL you need to know before you start watching this gem of a film that will premiere on Zee5 Global on September 13th, 2024. Sabharwal takes us back to the 90s when diplomatic relations, bureaucratic systems, and talks of liberalization were in full swing, making us take off the rose-tinted nostalgia-shaped lens of the 90s and perceive it as the decade of change.
We at High on Films had the opportunity to have a quick word with Aparshakti Khurana, who plays Pushkin Verma in this gripping drama.
Ahendrila: Hello, Aparshakti! Let me begin by telling you what a fantastic film Stree 2 was. Congratulations! Absolutely loved it. But I will always be a Madan Kumar fan (laughs), which brings me to my first question – What made you pick Berlin?
Aparshakti Khurana: (laughs) Thank you so much. Thank you, so sweet of you. The world, Ahendrila, which was created by Atul Sabharwal, is so different and so unique that I just could not think of not going to it. The moment the narration got over, I was like come to me, rather let me know what you want me to do. I would like to do whatever you want me to do. I wanted to be the storyteller of the film, and I don’t know if you have seen the film…It’s, in a way, Pushkin’s story in Ashok’s language.
Sorry, it is Ashok’s story in Pushkin’s language. It’s, you know, the way I overall interpreted the case is that there is so much hatred between me and Sondhi and love between me and Ashok. It just…everything was very different. I mean, I read two scripts a day, and not very often do you find such worlds where sign language is also a tool for making the story move forward. And…I think this was one of the most beautiful worlds I have been a part of.
Ahendrila: Right, to tell you, by the way, I have actually watched the movie, and I think this is one of my favorite characters to have come out of the Indian film industry this particular year. So, I want everybody else to watch the movie and experience Pushkin’s character. Now, that brings me to the next question – What were the main challenges involved in preparing for this character?
Aparshakti Khurana: To start with, of course, learning the sign language. It’s not something that you use on an everyday basis; it’s not something that is a part of your textbooks or something you know. It’s not something you learn in school. Earlier, when I made my other films, I learned different dialects. Haryanvi for “Dangal,” Kashmiri for “Dhoka: Round D Corner,” and a little bit of Bengali for “Jubilee.” Even though it was not used much, I did learn a little bit of the ‘twang’ for Bengali. Then, I also learned Awadhi Basha and picked up some “Khari Boli – so many different dialects I had to learn. But for the first time I was supposed to enter a world where everything is supposed to be communicated through sign language. That was the first challenging part.
What made it even more challenging was that not a lot of people would know that when you sign it out, it’s not always…if I say that “Mujhe ek cup chai chahiye.” (I want a cup of tea), it can also be “Chai chahiye mujhe ek cup.” (literally translating to – tea want I one cup). So, it’s not necessary that the symmetry is the same as what you have said in speech. It can vary from line to line and a statement to statement and a situation to situation, so that became even more difficult.
I was supposed to talk and use sign language at the same time, and sometimes, I had to speak and sign not following the exact same sentence construction. sign in and then I have to speak in sign language. I had to do it all, and what made it even more challenging was learning Ashok’s signs as well. So when I received the the script for the day, I would have to go through and learn to remember all the eight pages because, now, I am not just learning my lines but also every line that Ashok is saying. I had to speak in sign language to Ashok but the actor could in reality hear me, right? He was listening to what I am saying or what me and Surbhi sir were talking about. So I think that became a little challenging.
Ahendrila: Right, you made it all look so coherent in the film! Wah! This is such an interesting range for a person, who started out as someone whose voice was out there in the world first as a radio professional first, and then you sort of came into the world of acting and now you have done these various kinds of roles, (I am of course going to highlight Madan Kumar here) including Pushkin, a sign-language expert. What would you say your larger goal is as an actor is, professionally?
Aparshakti Khurana: The larger goal is to entertain the audience and be a happy soul – these are the only two things that I remind myself of more often than not. It is very difficult in today’s day and age to…not overthink about life and career, especially in a city like Mumbai, which is so fickle, especially in our field. So my constant reminder is do films which people want to watch; do characters which will resonate with people and remain with people.
That can be anything from commercial to non-commercial films. And we are not talking about numbers here. As blessed as I feel about being a part of films like Dangal and Stree 2, which have been one of the top scorers at the box office, but the truth of the matter is that the audience will never remember the numbers; they will always remember the films, the characters, their names, and their eyes. So when I go for a commercial film, I keep thinking in my head that we can let the thought of numbers be. The thought that takes precedence is ‘How would people remember this film as?’ or ‘How would people remember me as?’ So that’s how I am wired, I would say, as an artist.
Ahendrila: You also have a brother in the same film industry, and I want to just very briefly understand whether it has been a blessing or a challenge to live up to his persona as an artist.
Aparshakti Khurana: It’s a blessing, yaar. I would not even want to say that this is a very situational factor. I will call it a blessing, and I think this problem arrives when the audience points out to you that one knows acting and the other doesn’t. Touchwood, that has not been the case with us. I have seen every comment section in YouTube and Instagram, and I have never seen such remarks. I don’t see my name being dragged into any debate on nepotism, and I only see people mentioning me in the bestest light.
And not very often does it happen to two brothers from a small town like Chandigarh (atleast, when we were growing up, it was a small town) and reaching such a big, uncertain and fickle city like Mumbai and getting so much of love and appreciation from people all around. It doesn’t happen very often. So I think it’s something very unprecedented and it’s something very special to both of us. And given a choice, we would love to do similar things in a similar way all over again in the next life as well.
Ahendrila: Perfect! So, do you want to share the same screen with your brother in a bigger context?
Aparshakti Khurana: Of course, I think we really have put our best foot forward to crack that script. There have been about 10 – 12 narrations involving various other worlds. We haven’t been able to pick up that world because, I think, we are having a great run. He is having a great run in his space, and I am having a great run in my space, and for us to get together and do something together, it has to be special, and we haven’t really gotten that script yet. The moment we have it, I mean, nobody will be able to stop us from doing it.
