The Sardar soldier from Uri is all set to play Ravi Shastri

It comes as a jolting surprise to know that the young promising actor from Jaipur, Dhairya Karwa — who played the Sikh soldier Sartaj in Aditya Dhar’s Uri: The Surgical Strike — is not a Sikh in real life.

Says the method actor, “No, I am not a Sikh in real life. I prepped to play the role in Uri and did whatever I could. I spent two weeks living in a Gurdwara, learning about the way the Sikhs live, walk, talk and eat as well as their tenets and beliefs. For me, a character or a role is an opportunity to get to expand the bandwidth of my personality, to get to know other people, cultures and communities.”

Now Uri’s Sartaj will play well-known cricketer Ravi Shastri in Kabir Khan ‘83, the film about India’s victory in the 1983 Cricket World Cup. And, Dhairya is as charged-up about playing the cricketer as he was about playing the soldier.

“I have been prepping for my cricketer’s role for some time now. I’ve played cricket in school but that’s obviously not enough,” says this passionate actor who has had no formal training. Says Dhairya, “I was preparing for an MBA when the acting bug hit me. So, I kept the MBA on hold and moved to Mumbai to pursue my dream. I only did a 10-day acting workshop when I first moved to Mumbai in 2016. After that, I have been training myself.”

Dhairya would soon be meeting Ravi Shastri. “It is the logical and right thing to do. I hope he approves of the actor who’s playing him,” adds the young actor.