For his role of a stuttering man in "Zubaan", Vicky Kaushal sought help from a speech therapist and the actor says he was so adamant about getting it right that the doctor warned him to go easy with the practice.
The 27-year-old actor, who shot to fame with his debut film "Masaan" last year, is gearing up for his next venture directed by debutante Mozez Singh about an ambitious young man on the rise.
Vicky said he wanted to handle the role of his speech impaired character, Dilsher with utmost care as he didn't want it to look caricaturish.
"It was important to make it very natural and real. It was a responsibility because when you are portraying a handicap then you have to be very real about it, you don't want to hurt any sentiments. It should also not look caricaturish. There was this speech therapist in Pune I used to visit. I used to interact with patients, who shared a lot of technicalities," Vicky told PTI during a visit.
"I was so desperate to get it right that I used to talk with a stutter in front of my family and friends. I just incorporated it in my real life. But then the doctor warned me that one can actually develop a stutter while imitating one and asked me to go easy on it."
Singh, who himself has a slight stammering problem, said the structuring of "Zubaan" is on stuttering, but the film has got many layers to it. He said it is his honest and personal point of view.
"I think the film has got many layers. It is more than just the stutter problem. I have a stammer issue sometimes and I used that in the film. I wanted to write something which is very personal. I don't mean it is my story but I wanted to write from my heart."
"Zubaan", which was the opening film at Busan Film Festival last year, also stars Sarah Jane Dias, who is the metaphor of music in the film. The actress is building her music career, alongside her film career, and has also released a single.
She said the film was creatively very satisfying to her as she got to play a character very close to her real self.
"'Zubaan' is a special film right from the beginning. When I met Mozez after the audition process, it dawned on me that I am going to play the personification of music in the film. As a musician it was dream come true.
"The film is like a passion coming together with what I do for a living. I think it a real blessing if you get to do that. A lot of it came effortlessly. I am happy it was entirely creatively satisfying."
Both the lead stars of the movie are coming to the film with a very successful last project - Vicky with "Masaan" and Sarah with "Angry Indian Goddesses". Singh hopes that "Zubaan" will benefit from their previous success.
"Zubaan" will release on March 4.
