Exclusive: Sidharth Malhotra On the Failure of Baar Baar Dekho

Q. After six films how much of an insider do you feel like in Bollywood?

Sidharth: Well, I'm more comfortable now than I was earlier. But I've always felt welcomed in this film industry. So when you say I feel like an insider', I first need to know what an outsider in this industry feels like. I've never been surrounded by too many people. So in that sense, I've not really sought a wide acceptance. But whomsoever I've met and worked with, they've been very warm. Otherwise I am consumed by my own self.

Q. You mean you enjoy your own company?

Sidharth: Maybe. But I never feel like an outsider with the people I work with. We are all thorough professionals and we are all insiders when working together. But we don't share that kind of bonding which I keep hearing about from Karan Johar in the earlier days when the whole film industry bonded. Woh culture hi badal gaya.

Q: You and Katrina promoted Baar Baar Dekho with a vengeance. A sense of disappointment at its box office outcome?

Sidharth Malhotra: You definitely question yourself when so much hard work is not rewarded. I heard a very interesting quote on marketing. Marketing is like God. If you believe in it it works for you. Even if you don't believe in it, you still hope it works for me'. Nobody knows why so much marketing is done for our movies.

Q. The fact is, audiences decide the fate of a film on the basis of the first trailer?

Q. After six films how much of an insider do you feel like in Bollywood?

Sidharth: Well, I'm more comfortable now than I was earlier. But I've always felt welcomed in this film industry. So when you say I feel like an insider', I first need to know what an outsider in this industry feels like. I've never been surrounded by too many people. So in that sense, I've not really sought a wide acceptance. But whomsoever I've met and worked with, they've been very warm. Otherwise I am consumed by my own self.

Q. You mean you enjoy your own company?

Sidharth: Maybe. But I never feel like an outsider with the people I work with. We are all thorough professionals and we are all insiders when working together. But we don't share that kind of bonding which I keep hearing about from Karan Johar in the earlier days when the whole film industry bonded. Woh culture hi badal gaya.

Q. You've made very unusual choices as an actor so far. Is there a sense of disappointment when your choice fails you?

Sidharth: I never question my choices. I only question certain methods and processes in the movie-making business. I think after failures I've come out more experienced and slightly wiser.

Q. What has the failure of Baar Baar Dekho taught you?

Sidharth: For example, one must take advice on how a film is shaping up from those who have more experience. When I heard the script for Baar Baar Dekho it was one of the most exciting ideas I had come across. What a lovely thought! The heart was in the right place.