Salman bhai is a giving actor: Angad Bedi

Angad Bedi, who is a part of Tiger Zinda Hai, talks about his role and his co-star Salman Khan

Angad Bedi is playing a pivotal role in the Salman Khan and Katrina Kaif-starrer Tiger Zinda Hai. The Ali Abbas Zafar-directorial is projected to be the biggest grosser of the year, after the film got more than 29 million hits within 24 hours after the release of its trailer. Congratulate Angad on the huge response the film has received, and he replies, “Thank you so much. I am a small part of the film. It primarily belongs to Salman bhai and Katrina.”

The Pink actor says that he plays a RAW agent in the film. “I had to do workshops to get into the character. I had to do combat training, kick-boxing, explosives and guns training. We trained with Hollywood action director, Tom Struthers (known for films like The Dark Knight Rises, X-Men: First Class and Dunkirk),” he says.

He goes on to add that he also had to get into the mindset of the character. “I had to get into the character. RAW agents are mentally prepared to die anytime for the country. So they treat each moment as their last. My character is a man of action and less of words.”  

He credits his director Ali Abbas for making his character stand out in the film. “The silent, action-oriented type of characters do well in Hollywood films,” he says adding that the fact that he had to speak less in the film was a challenge.  “I had a feeling that if I am not speaking, it means that I am not working. So as an actor, I had to react most of the time, which was tougher. My character is second-in-command and he’s got Tiger’s back. After watching Pink, Ali thought that I could play the character and he got a go ahead from Adi sir and Salman bhai.”

Angad calls Tiger Zinda Hai ‘the biggest action film of Bollywood’. “Times are changing and we are seeing some great stories on screen. Tiger.. has a great story with some amazing action scenes.”

As the conversation moves towards Salman, Angad says it was great working with him. “I am lucky because first I got to work with Amitabh Bachchan in Pink and now Salman bhai. It doesn’t happen to too many people. I must have done something good in past life,” he says, adding, “Salman bhai is a very giving co-star. Sometimes he will just change the content so that your character stands out. He is Salim Khan’s son, so he has a writer within him. He also concentrates on how his co-star looks better.” The actor is equally impressed with Katrina and says that she is one of the most fittest actresses in Bollywood.

Ask Angad if there’s any difference between working on content-driven film like Pink and a high-budgeted film like Tiger..., and he says, “Pink was a big film in terms of the starcast, but it was very high on content too. Tiger..has got an amazing story and action-packed scenes. I cannot deny the fact that there’s a commercial value attached to it because of Salman bhai and Katrina. But it is also a content-driven film.”

Angad will next be seen in Shorma, directed by Shaad Ali, which stars Diljit Dosanjh and Tapsee Pannu.