I see a great actor whose name is Vicky Kaushal. This young actor has something unique in him; he literally lives the character he plays on screen. I have seen three of his movies so far: Masaan, Razi and Sanju. He mesmerizes the audience with his performance.

He plays Deepak Kumar, a Varanasi boy from the Dom community who works with his family in cremation ghats by burning funeral pyres. Deepak wants to rise above the restrictions of a casteist society. He studies civil engineering at a polytechnic college where he meets and falls in love with Shaalu Gupta (Shweta Tripathi) who is a high caste Hindu girl. Deepak and Shweta spend a lot of time getting to know each other.   Vicky Kaushal, delivers an outstanding performance as Deepak. He is a delight to watch in his solo scenes as well as shared scenes. What wondered me about him is that he shares a fantastic rapport with the added extras that play his friends. Massan is a story of five characters; but, Deepak’s story melts your heart. Vicky is so real and engaging that you feel like watching more of the Deepak-Shaalu story.

In Razi he honestly supports the protagonist of the movie Alia Bhat. People were apprehensive about Alia’s pairing opposite Vicky, the industry felt it was an unconventional pairing. He plays a Pakistani Major in the movie. Though he has few scenes in the movie, he has left a mark in each scene of his. He steals hearts of the audience as a Pakistani Major. In most part of the film, he is wearing the uniform and he looks striking. He had to portray few vulnerable scenes in the film: as a son, a brother and a husband. Though Alia Bhat plays the protagonist of the film as an Indian spy called Sehmat, Vicky dominates the hearts of the audience as Iqbal. He plays a gentleman who does not force himself on her after they are married, he gives time to Sehmat to get familiar with him, his likes and dislikes and his house. He takes care of her needs. Vicky has played every woman’s dream man. His role as Iqbal is charismatic.  It seems Kaushal thoroughly enjoyed playing Iqbal because the character had a lot of novelty in defying the stereotypical notion of a Pakistani soldier as a crude, cruel man. Iqbal is stern as an army man, but also has a soft heart for his Indian wife. He plays the contradiction simultaneously in each scene very convincingly.

For an actor, seeming real on the screen is a vital requirement. An actor’s job is to know the breadth of emotional leeway and reaching the depths of his own acting skills. Vicky Kaushal gets deep into the skin of the roles he plays. He shares the screen with his co-stars with ease. He emotes his characters nakedly, without any guard. It is very difficult to fake emotional nakedness. In Masaan as Deepak Kumar he churns himself inside out and squeezes out all pain felt by Deepak Kumar.

I have seen this clearly in all three movies of his: he knows how to listen. It’s intriguing to watch actors when they’re not speaking, but are listening and while emoting facial expressions. He plays Kamali in Sanju and in few scenes he is just listening to the protagonist played by Ranbir Kappor who is another good actor of today. I am not a Sanjay Dutt fan, but went to watch the movie for Ranbir Kapoor. I felt that Vicky Kaushal has supported unbeatably Ranbir Kapoor in the movie. He steals every scene with Ranbir playing his best friend as Kamli. In fact, just the friendship between Sanju and his best friend Kamli would make an interesting story in itself; both Ranbir and Vicky Kaushal leave you spellbound. Ranbir is an established actor, what enlightens is Vicky Kaushal’s strong support to the central character.

A good actor is well-honed, means he knows how to use his voice and body to serve whatever role he is playing. This doesn’t necessarily mean that he should have a great physique, blond look, six packs, is tall and handsome etc, etc. In all the three movies that I watched of Vicky Kaushal, he has used his body well. He knows how to move and talk in expressive ways. I didn’t see his voice and body fighting him or holding tension that’s inapt to his role. He surprises the audience with the ease he carries. He is truthful while playing multiple and contrasting roles. He is vocally and physically gifted. He is slowly and steadily climbing the charts. I see a shining star in him.

Don’t all of us experience occurrence of lull in our lives; for some or the other reasons, our life seems to come to a standstill for a span of time. We put off things that need to be done: may be a car registration, want to see a doctor for checking eye sight, have to return a friend’s books, and need to visit dentist, having to apply for a job which is attractive, something or the else. Suddenly, we lose things, we lose track of things and can’t always remember what day it is. We get stuck in sort of desolation. The question is how to beat the blues?

I am sure it has happened to you some time – when you feel blank, drained – nothing seems to be happening. Yes, such times come to all of us. Why does it bother us? Going through a break in life does not necessarily mean life is come to an end. Even though it’s a bit scary when there is a pause in your otherwise hectic schedule of life. In this quiet period, you lose interest in things which otherwise you enjoy doing, you don’t want to meet up with your friends; you just want to be left alone.

 We feel dull and empty for various reasons; for some, because they feel that more could be done in job, profession, marriage, upbringing of children, in a relationship, have more money in bank, could buy a house/farm etc, etc, the list is unending. The fact is feeling full never happens to those who enjoy striving to get the best in life. Let me tell you, sometimes this lull period is good, because you know you can accomplish more or try harder. That’s what I feel anyways. I can’t always pinpoint exactly what’s missing, but I figure if I fight and try harder or put more effort into something I’ll figure it out, and every time I have bounced back.

Feeling a lull in life at some junctures is a good sign. It means change is on its way. When we see the trees are still, it’s the calm before the storm. This syndrome happens to all. I am not alone, you are not alone, he or she is not alone – it’s common. It has happened to Amitabh Bachchan, “Struggles and uncertainties, successes and disappointments, accusations and controversies, ill health and months in hospital, all such a vivid kaleidoscope of moments, events, images simply unbelievable and unimaginable” he writes on his blog. It happened to Rajesh Khanna, Kishore Kumar, Mohammed Rafi, Raja Vkramditya, every one. So no matter how humiliated or pitiable you feel about your own situation, know that there are others out there experiencing the same emotion not necessarily at the same time, but some time before or after you. When your situation changes and you talk about it to someone, you will find everybody can relate to you. Perhaps you can’t immediately talk to them, but they are out there, and that’s all you need to know.

Another view point is – sometimes you need to be alone, not to be lonely, but to enjoy a little free time just being yourself and being just with yourself. In other words, the moments you feel lonely are the moments you may most need to be by yourself.  Yes, it’s beautiful, just being all by yourself. We need to respect this solitude, because when we’re alone we’re disconnected from commitments, we don’t need to put on a show, and we can hear our own thoughts and feel what our intuition is telling us.  And the truth is, throughout our life there will be times when the world gets real quiet and the only thing left is the beat of our own heart.

I think, such feelings and situations in life which put us down break our illusions, and hurt us allow us to begin to find the best path.  The realization of being lost is the first step to living the life you want.  The next step is, making the necessary changes, making strategies and implementing them which are not easy, which not so simple, which scared us sometimes, but these breaks help us make those (unimaginable) changes.  Stop regretting. Look at so many illustrious people’s lives – some of them have lost their positions, their money, their organizations, their loved ones, they have been cheated, so on and so forth. But, the best part of all is they have struggled and found all that they had lost. So remember that everyone suffers in life at some point.  Everyone feels lost sometimes.  And, the best part is we realize this in our lean period. Later, at some point in time, when you come out of the situation, grown after this bad experience; you realize that you have moved forward not backward.  You become stronger and wiser.  It’s not easy, but it’s worth it.

Can we run away from life? We will never find peace by avoiding realities in life; so instead of avoiding it, take every change and experience as a challenge for growth. It will give you what you want or it will teach you what the next step is.  The result of your struggle might be in different shape, size, or design. In sense you will not always receive what you imagined. Don’t run away from the situation, take it head on, and fight it out. You are the master, choose the attitude. Smile at those people who are spreading rumors about you, who are ridiculing your name. Trust me, when you are back in the form, the same people will want to associate with you – then you can make the choice.

Life is too short; it brings the good, the bad and the ugly in course of time. The biggest disillusionments in our lives are often the result of our misplaced expectations.  Letting go of needless expectations is your first step to happiness.  Be at peace with yourself, and you can deal with almost anything and grow beautifully!!!

I want to share this song with you all – it’s sung by Kishore Kumar, lyrics by Anand Bakshi, the words go like this: ‘Kal tak main akela tha, aaj zamaana saath hai, waqt waqt ki baat hai, waqt waqt ki baat hai’.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kbJB4ERHE6M