Darsheel wants to work with Alia Bhatt

Darsheel Safary

became an overnight sensation at a very young age after the super success of his debut film, '

Taare Zameen Par

' with Aamir Khan. After unknowingly inspiring millions of people with his character in the film, the young lad is continuing his journey as an actor in the industry. Today, he is all grown up and has been churning out interesting projects one after the other.

As he gears up for his next, 'Hukus Bukus' ', ETimes sat down with the actor for a freewheeling chat where he spoke about dabbling into acting, actors he looks up to in the industry and more Excerpts...
You became an overnight sensation after 'Taare Zameen Par'. How did you deal with the spotlight at such a young age?
I feel the best way to deal with it was not to deal with it. I personally was enjoying the love and the attention that I was getting. I was getting love from people I didn't even know. I was in wonderland. I have always felt great but this was an additional feather to my cap. There were also times when old people used to come and say things like 'You've changed my life' and that used to get a little intense because I could feel the genuineness of it but I could not understand as to why elders are talking to a kid like this.
However, later I understood that. I have always been very grateful and thankful for the love that I've received because for some reason there's a natural connection I have with whoever's met me, whoever's recognised me yet. It has allowed me to really strive for working in projects like this where I can give some form of a takeaway, some form of a message, some form of a relatability factor that people can take home with them from the movie screen or the TV screen, wherever they see the film.

I used to cover myself sometimes when I used to go out to play or something. I used to wear caps and goggles and stuff like that because in public places kabhi kabhi I used to get stuck in a crowd. It used to become very chaotic. But that also I used to enjoy. It was all in all a fun and life-changing experience.
Did you always want to be an actor or did you have other career plans?
Well I was 8 years old when I got the opportunity to act in a film. I was too mischievous to think about my career plans at that age. But I had a blast acting in a film. I had a blast being on that film set. I enjoyed having that space to express without any limits. It's like a mad team of these artists. Even the sound engineer, the cinematographer, the director, the writers, the actors, they are all teaming up to bring the story to life. So for me this was an absolute learning experience.

Like everyone else I too wanted to be an actor in life. I wasn't very sure as to whether I wanted to continue this. I wondered how people would receive it. And then since the reception was good and people were happy with what I did and I was also happy with what I did so I wanted to continue it. I wanted to learn further. I have always been a stage performer in school as well. I used to perform in my annual concerts, in extracurricular activities, dancing and acting. So it was somewhere in line or with alignment with what I always wanted to do. And as I grew, as I discovered, as I discovered theatre, I did theatre for the last eight years. And that's how, I studied the film industry from an outside and a bigger perspective. I was sure I wanted to be an actor. This is my number one passion, my hobby and I want to continue doing this.

Entertaining people is the bottom line. I think playing something other than yourself on screen, which entertains people, makes them smile or makes them feel any emotion was the reason why I wanted to be an actor. Of course, along with that, the perks of fame and money and everything, all the love and attention.
Apart from Aamir Khan, is there anyone you look upto in the industry?
I am not being diplomatic but everybody is an inspiration in some or the other way. Besides Aamir Khan uncle, whoever has dedicated themselves to a project, completely submitted themselves to a script of a film, with no inhibitions, completely surrendering to a concept or an idea, automatically becomes an inspiration for me. It can be Ranveer Singh, Hrithik Roshan and everybody else. I watched Shah Rukh Khan sir's '

Jawan

' recently and I was blown away because all he wants to do is entertain the audience and I think it's doing wonders in that aspect, so it automatically becomes an inspiration for me.
From today's generation of actresses, who would you love to share screen space with and why?
I think it would be Alia Bhatt because she's very enigmatic on screen. She radiates this absolute pure positivity. There's something very positive about her character when she's on screen. I have loved all her recent projects. I like the way she approaches her character. I feel that she has learnt a lot at such a young age. I would love to share screen space with her just be in her presence, even if it is not on screen. If things align, it would be great!
What kind of films are you looking forward to being a part of?
I am looking forward to being a part of films which firstly have a message where there's a definite takeaway for the audience which entertains the audience to the max. I mean there has to be some form of an emotion that has to be generated. You get that money back, that is what needs to happen. I want to be a part of that and play those kinds of characters. For me personally as an actor, I want a script or a character where I can completely surrender to things. That happens very rarely.

In my next film, 'Hukus Bukus', I'm playing a teenager who is passionately driven. He's full of positivity. There's growth, there's a journey, character development is there. So that was one thing that I felt that would be a sort of a next step after what the audience has mainly seen me in. And then there is some other work that I've done which is slightly in a darker psychological mystery space. So that has also been a lot of fun for me to do. I just completed those projects and dubbing and stuff is on. So that's why I'll of course love to experiment. But the main thing should be to generate emotions and relate to the audience. I have to relate to myself. When I'm facing the camera, I can see that so many people are going to watch the film. And I have to make them relate and make them enjoy that whatever I saw, I got my money back. So I think that's the bottomline.
What's next?
After acting for the next 10-15 years, I would love to experiment in writing or directing a film or something in the filmmaking aspect because I love telling stories.