Seven years later, MC Sher still walks with me. He reminds me where I started, of the boy who dared to believe he belonged on that stage
Seven years ago, when Gully Boy released, none of us anticipated how deeply MC Sher would resonate with audiences. For me, Sher wasn’t just a character, he was a turning point. A moment where preparation met opportunity, and everything I had quietly worked towards found its voice.
MC Sher was written as Murad’s mentor, but I always saw him as more than that. He was secure in his space, ambitious yet grounded, someone who understood the grind but never let it harden him. Playing him taught me that strength doesn’t have to be loud. Sometimes, it’s in the stillness. Sometimes, it’s in knowing when to step back and let someone else shine.
Sharing screen space with powerhouse performers like Ranveer Singh and Alia Bhatt was intimidating at first, but it also pushed me to be sharper, more present. I knew I had one shot to make Sher memorable, not through noise, but through nuance. The walk, the pauses, the tone, everything had to feel lived-in, not performed.
When audiences began quoting Sher’s lines back to me, when “Bantai” became part of pop culture vocabulary, I realised something powerful, people connected to his integrity. They saw the loyalty, the quiet hustle, the dignity in his journey. For a debutant, that kind of love is overwhelming and deeply humbling.
But with that love also came responsibility. I didn’t want MC Sher to be my only chapter. I wanted to explore different shades, vulnerability, conflict, romance, intensity. With Dhadak 2, I consciously stepped into more layered, emotionally complex territory, challenging myself to move beyond the swagger and into something rawer.
And now, as I look ahead to Do Deewane Seher Mein, backed by Sanjay Leela Bhansali Films, I feel a similar sense of anticipation, but this time, as a leading man navigating love, vulnerability, and emotional depth. It’s a different energy, a different rhythm, but the hunger remains the same.
Seven years later, MC Sher still walks with me. He reminds me where I started, of the boy who dared to believe he belonged on that stage. If Sher was about finding my voice, the journey since then has been about expanding it.
And maybe that’s the most beautiful part of being an actor, you evolve, but you never forget the role that first made the world listen.
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