As ‘Udta Punjab’ completes a decade since its release, director Abhishek Chaubey looked back on the making of the acclaimed drama and revealed that Shahid Kapoor was the very first actor to come on board. In fact, according to the filmmaker, the actor committed to the project lolp when the film was still searching for producers.Reflecting on the early days of development, Abhishek Chaubey shared that Shahid immediately connected with the story’s world and became deeply involved in shaping his character, Tommy Singh, long before cameras started rolling.
Shahid Kapoor contributed to the character’s look
Speaking to SCREEN, the director revealed that Shahid played an active role in designing several aspects of the eccentric rockstar’s appearance. While the script already required the character to eventually shave off his hair, the idea of sporting long hair before that transformation came directly from the actor.“Shahid was the first one to walk into the film, before we even had a producer. Shahid himself is very interested in that world. He played a big part in building that character. It was always written in the script that he’s going to chop off his hair.” Abhishek added, “But to have long hair before that was his idea. It’s a painful wig to wear on your head, but that was his idea.”One of the most demanding aspects of the role was convincingly portraying a man battling substance abuse. Chaubey explained that he spent considerable time researching addiction and regularly discussed the character’s mental state with Shahid.“I’d done a lot of research on substance abuse, so I could describe to him in a very prosaic way what’s happening to him. He had to be on edge all the time,” the filmmaker said. According to him, the performance required a delicate balance. While understated acting can often be easier to control, playing a character as volatile and unpredictable as Tommy Singh carried the risk of crossing into exaggeration.Chaubey recalled that conversations about performance intensity became a daily routine on set. The team constantly evaluated how far they could push the character without making him appear artificial. “I was very worried the pitch could go wrong. Internalising and playing it subtle is easy because you’re not doing much. But when you’re doing so much, if even one note goes here and there, your performance goes for a toss. So, it was a daily discussion on set that if we’re going to overdo it, then how much are we going to overdo it, so that it doesn’t become fake.”The director credited Shahid’s acting instincts for helping maintain that balance, noting that the actor often brought emotional depth to scenes without needing extensive direction.
A scene from ‘Udta Punjab’ that left a lasting impression
Among the many moments that stood out during filming, Chaubey highlighted a sequence before a concert where Tommy is reluctant to perform and is handed drugs by his cousin.“Shahid is a very accomplished actor, so he’d bring a lot of vulnerability without even me telling him to. I remember there’s a scene before the concert where he doesn’t want to perform but is being made to, and his cousin brings out some drugs and puts them in his hand.”Describing the scene further, the filmmaker said, “He looks at the drug for a long time and then looks at his cousin in a way that says, ‘I should not be doing it. It’s going to destroy me.’ He brought that out with just one expression.”
The physical transformation behind Tommy Singh
What made Shahid’s portrayal even more remarkable, according to Chaubey, was that the actor had no personal experience with substance use. Despite that, he fully immersed himself in the role, even altering his lifestyle during the shoot.The filmmaker revealed that he advised Shahid on how addiction often impacts a person’s physique and eating habits. Determined to achieve authenticity, the actor reportedly followed a restrictive diet and relied heavily on black coffee while filming.“…I also told him when you’re battling drug addiction, nutrition isn’t really your priority. So, you don’t eat. But since he’s young, his body becomes a certain kind. You become very slim, pichka hua. So, he went on that kind of a diet and was really not eating anything on set. And he was plying his body with black coffee. That ups your heart rate and makes you edgy, especially when you’re having it on an empty stomach,” the director recalled.Ten years later, Shahid Kapoor’s performance as Tommy Singh in ‘Udta Punjab’ continues to be regarded as one of the most fearless and transformative roles of his career. Go to Source
