While Vicky Kaushal made his big Bollywood debut with the critically acclaimed film Masaan, his journey in the industry actually began behind the camera — as an assistant director. He learned the ropes of filmmaking under Anurag Kashyap while assisting on the cult classic Gangs of Wasseypur. The film gained massive popularity and was even selected for the Cannes Directors` Fortnight in 2012.
Vicky Kaushal on first screen appearance in Gangs of Wasseypur
Although Masaan marked his official debut as a lead actor, Vicky had a blink-and-miss opportunity to face the camera in Gangs of Wasseypur. The chance came unexpectedly when a group of junior artists refused to be part of a particular scene at the last minute.
Vicky spoke about this during the 2021 Cannes Film Festival, where Masaan was being screened, “It`s the scene where Nagma Khatoon [Richa Chadha] goes to a brothel. At the last minute, everyone [junior artistes] we’d rounded up in Benares refused to participate in that scene once they realized it was a brothel. The entire direction team had to step in. I`m that silhouette you see behind the window grille, overacting karte hue, when Nagma Khatoon is cursing Sardar Khan [Manoj Bajpayee]! That was the first time I faced a camera,” Vicky told Mid-Day.
Although his face wasn’t visible, that moment officially marked Vicky Kaushal’s first on-camera appearance in a feature film.
Vicky Kaushal`s unreleased first film
Apart from Gangs of Wasseypur, Vicky had also shot for a film called Trishna, directed by Michael Winterbottom. While he filmed for it before Masaan, the project was never released.
Talking about it, Vicky said, “Yes, that was the first time I faced the camera, and you could actually see my face! Michael Winterbottom was making a film called Trishna, with Freida Pinto. We`d just wrapped Gangs of Wasseypur in March 2011. I had braces at the time and was still an AD. I had gone to my native place in Punjab with my family when I got a call from Anurag Kashyap. He said, ‘Item number karega (Will you do an item number)?’ I was like, what? He said it’s a Michael Winterbottom film, and Huma [Qureshi] and I will dance, and that he was acting in it too — it’ll be fun.”
Leave a Reply