I had to think in English, translate it and deliver my performance: Aparshakti Khurana

It's been a decade since Aparshakti Khurana made his film debut in Dangal (2016) and now, the actor is entering Tamil cinema with Gautham Ram Karthik's ROOT - Running Out of Time. In an exclusive chat with us, Aparshakti says, "I saw the rushes of a web series that the film’s director, Sooriyaprathap sir, had made, and it looked promising. So, I decided to collaborate with him."

‘I had to think in English, translate it and deliver the performance’Opening up about acting in a language he doesn’t think in, Aparshakti says, “It’s difficult to enact in a language that you are not thinking in. I had to think in English, translate it and deliver the performance. It changes your impromptu behaviour and certain reflexes. Having said that, before hitting the floor, we did enough workshops to understand the world we are entering.”




Aparshakti stresses that there is no particular hack for cracking an unfamiliar language. "It's a mix and match of various processes. I’ve learnt a new language in my 30s, which is very difficult. There was extra effort put into learning the language. I’d like to believe that when the audience sees the film, it'll come out as if I know Tamil well."

‘When audiences accept all sorts of cinema, why shouldn’t artistes be cast from one world to another?’Speaking about audiences today accepting cinema irrespective of the language, the actor states, "I’m extremely happy about the blurring of boundaries between industries and artistes working across languages. We all stay in India, and when audiences have started accepting all sorts of languages and cinema, why shouldn’t we artistes also be cast from one world to another? It’s a lot of fun for the actor, writer, director, and audience to see what comes out of it. I’m looking forward to working in different languages."

‘ROOT is extremely different from what I’ve done so far’Stating that working on the film was a very "fine experience of filmmaking", he shares, "Before ROOT, there were a couple of Tamil scripts that came my way. However, the talks did not progress further. It's beautiful to be working with this amazing and talented cast and crew. We’ve made a film that all of us are very proud of. It’s extremely different from what I’ve done so far. Now, I’m already reading another Tamil script!"

‘It feels like yesterday that Dangal hit the screen’Looking back at his decade-long journey in cinema, he gets nostalgic. "It feels like yesterday that it all happened. Dangal hit the screen, and my years of hard work were finally seen by everyone. The praises I got for Dangal were overwhelming. Till today, I have picture-perfect memories of the screenings we had before the release, dubbing sessions, narration, shoot, release and all of it."

On his upcoming projects…Touching upon his other upcoming projects, he says, "I’m currently shooting my first action film, Gunmaaster G9. Another release of mine this year will be Badtameez Gill, a story of a dysfunctional Punjabi family, featuring Vaani Kapoor and me as brother and sister; Paresh Rawal and Sheeba Chadha play our parents. I’m also shooting for a cool film on friendship, titled Side Heroes, alongside Abhishek Banerjee and Varun Sharma."

‘I got hooked on Chennai’s idli and filter coffee’Talking about how Chennai has won him over, the actor shares, "I loved Chennai. I got hooked on idli and filter coffee. Now, I prefer filter coffee over any other coffee. I'm not a matcha fan at all. But I had amazing matcha from there. I know Chennai isn't known for hot dogs and burgers, but I had some good ones from the city and loved the fast food culture there."

On actors and directors from South he wants to work with…Aparshakti shares he's a big fan of South actors and filmmakers. “There are some superb actors… Raj B Shetty, Vijay Sethupathi sir, Fahadh Faasil, Dulquer Salmaan, Mohanlal sir and Mammootty sir. The list is long,” says the actor.

His wishlist of South directors he wants to work with is even longer. “Starting from Rajamouli sir. He has put Telugu cinema on the map. In Tamil cinema, of course, the legendary Mani Ratnam sir. Apart from that, Lokesh Kanagaraj… I’m in love with Kaithi and Vikram. Then, in Kannada, the Shetty trio (Rakshit, Raj and Rishab Shetty) has given a huge paradigm shift to Kannada cinema. I love Kantara and Su From So. In Malayalam, I love that everyone does everything,not limiting themselves to acting or direction," he says. Get the latest entertainment updates from the Times of India, along with the latest Hindi movies, upcoming Hindi movies in 2026 , and Telugu movies.”