When he couldn’t complete his education, Saurabh Sachdeva was expected to join the family business.
But he chose a life on stage and screen instead.
In the latest episode of The Rediff Podcast, the actor — who will be soon seen in Nitesh Tiwari’s Ramayana — and acting coach gets candid about the years of struggle and the lessons he had to unlearn to find his place in cinema.
IMAGE: Kareena Kapoor and Saurabh Sachdeva in Jaane Jaan. Photograph: Kind courtesy Netflix
Key Points
- Saurabh Sachdeva struggled with dyslexia in school and couldn’t complete his education.
- He turned to modelling and acting after breaking up with a rich girlfriend.
- After training under Barry John, he became an acting coach and has trained actors Rana Daggubati, Anushka Sharma, Varun Dhawan, Dulquer Salman, Triptii Dimri among others.
“Growing up, I didn’t know I was dyslexic, and neither did my parents. I was terrible in school. I used to get spellings wrong. My mom tried to help, to some extent, by taking notes,” Saurabh Sachdeva, known for his roles in films like Animal, Dhadak 2 and Jaane Jaan, confesses to Rediff‘s Syed Firdaus Ashraf in the latest episode of The Rediff Podcast.
When Saurabh couldn’t complete his education, his parents wanted him to join the family business.
Instead, at 20, he began his journey as an actor after training under Acting Coach Barry John, who trained Shah Rukh Khan and Manoj Bajpayee among others.
Though he auditioned for serials and worked in theatre, Saurabh struggled for almost a decade before making his film debut with Maroon in 2017.
A year later, his portrayal of Suleiman Isa in Netflix’s Sacred Games finally got him attention.
IMAGE: Saurabh Sachdeva on The Rediff Podcast. Photograph: Hitesh Harisinghani/Rediff
Saurabh continues to work as an acting coach at the Barry John Acting School in Mumbai and has trained a long list of actors including Rana Daggubati, Anushka Sharma, Varun Dhawan, Dulquer Salmaan, Triptii Dimri.
He believes that comfort and consent are crucial to an actor’s performance, especially while shooting intimate or physically intense scenes.
Sharing his experience of shooting with Kareena Kapoor in Jaane Jaan, where he plays her abusive husband, Saurabh says, “I sought Kareena’s consent (before doing the scene). I told her I am going to hold you, touch you. Because I didn’t know her comfort place. I didn’t know how close I would have to get. So as an actor, I wanted her to be comfortable. (If I hadn’t discussed) I would have been reluctant, and maybe she would have felt scared. It’s something I teach actors in my class.”
How did Saurabh Sachdeva get his break in films?
Did you know Saurabh was nervous before shooting the song Jamaal Kudu in Animal?
And why is Saurabh so tight-lipped about his role in the upcoming Ramayana?
Watch Saurabh Sachdeva get candid about his fascinating acting journey and the incredible lessons he learned as an actor and coach on The Rediff Podcast.
Interview: Syed Firdaus Ashraf/Rediff
Video Production: Hitesh Harisinghani/Rediff, Rajesh Karkera/Rediff, Satish Bodas/Rediff
Editing: Saahil Acharekar/Rediff
