'I Really Like This Character Because Of The Body Language': Saurabh Sachdeva On Playing A Transgender In 'Haddi'

In a chat with ABP Live over a video call, Saurabh spoke about the film 'Haddi', his experience working with Nawazuddin Siddiqui and so much more.

Saurabh Sachdeva talks about 'Haddi'

Source : PR Handout

Saurabh Sachdeva was recently seen in films like 'Haddi' and 'Bambai Meri Jaan' where he essayed the role of 'Inder' and 'Haji Maqbool' respectively. 'Haddi' which was released on ZEE 5 on Seprember 7 is a crime drama film directed by Akshat Ajay Sharma starring Nawazuddin Siddiqui, Anurag Kashyap and others in key roles.

In a chat with ABP Live over a video call, Saurabh spoke about the film 'Haddi', his experience working with Nawazuddin Siddiqui and so much more.

Opening up about his character, Saurabh said, "I really like this character because of the body language and because there is a trans-gender angle to it and he wants to be a politician. So, there are many layers of this character. I really wanted to do this kind of work. I am an actor who majorly works from my body and then reach to my mind. So, I use my body a lot and that's what I was doing in this also. When the director told me that he wanted me to be a part of this film, I was very excited."

Talking about what according to him was the difficult part of his role, Saurabh said, "The body language. Because, I didn't want to exaggerate that or make a charicature of my character. I didn't want to showcase my character in such a way that is not acceptable. And, I also had to have some feminine circular movements- that was the difficult part. Another difficult thing was about holding my voice, which I feel when we started dubbing, I missed the voice which I had while shooting."

Saurabh had worked with Nawazuddin in 'Sacred Games' and again he had the opportunity to be in 'Haddi' with him. Taling about his experience, working with Nawaz, Saurabh said, "We got connected immediately because I think we have a similar language and a similar understanding of cinema and acting. So, although we come from a different school of thought, those two meet at some point. Initially we were jamming with each other so that we could otherstand each other's energy and I have always enjoyed working with him. As an actor, I fell in love with him while working."

On being asked, if anyone else apart from Nawazuddin Siddiqui could have played the charaacter, Saurabh said, "I feel it was a very powerful and challenging work to be done. Very few actors will take that courage. Apart from him, Manoj Bajpayee could have played that character well, if Irfaan was alive, I would want to see him in that character as well."

Recently, we saw Sushmita Sen essaying the role of Gauri Sawant- a trans-gender in 'Taali' and then we see male actors playing trans-genders in 'Haddi'. On asking who plays such characters better- a man or a woman,  Saurabh said, "I think any good actor can play a transgender, that's not a problem."

"I have not seen the film, but Sushmita Sen looked very convincing from the trailers and all that I watched. I think any great actor can play a transgender. It's the intelligence and the maturity that an actor needs to play such a role. But, I still feel that men have that challenge to find their feminine side, and male actors often have a tendency to mock this kind of character, while a female has more respect towards it. When a woman is playing male, she really plays it honestly, with the sincerity. Women understand more than men," he added.

Meanwhile, Saurabh Sachdeva also has 'Jaane Jaan' in his pipeline.