Darsheel Safary says he was bullied for his teeth as a kid: ‘And yet I got Taare Zameen Par because of them’

Darsheel Safary in a romantic role. That’s what the short film Capital A, small a is about. The film, which premiered on Amazon Mini TV on November 17, stars Darsheel and Revathi Pillai as a young couple facing jibes on their height difference. In a chat with Hindustan Times, Darsheel speaks about the film, the jibes he faced in his personal life, and how Taare Zameen Par remains a big part of his life. (Also Read | Taare Zameen Par’s Darsheel Safary makes a comeback with emotional Netflix video)

Darsheel says the most challenging part of Capital A, small a was to convincingly create the height difference between him and Revathi on screen. “The makers were wondering how to make Darsheel look that shorter. Vishal (the director) kept saying ‘hunch’ and I was wondering how low I bend. Because we have to make it look natural too. It was quite stressful and fun,” he says.

The film deals with how public opinion can give one insecurity and complex about things. Having been in the public eye since he was 10, Darsheel is no stranger to public opinion. He says, “I was an extraordinarily sensitive child. Everything used to hurt me. When you become an actor, you have to mute out the noise but not all of it. You need to know what is real or not. If they say ‘Darsheel is being lazy’, that is true and I have to work on it. But if they say ‘Darsheel doesn’t like acting’, that’s untrue.”

The actor added that he faced several jibes and jokes on various things in his personal life as well. “In my personal life, away from acting too, I have had these things. I’ve been made fun of for my height, for my teeth and everything. My teeth were like 1 kilometre out. It all happens for a reason. All that happened and then I got the film because of those teeth. The way I look at it is that it is a learning thing. That is how you don’t get affected,” recalls the 25-year-old.

It’s been 15 years since Taare Zameen Par released and was a grand success. Darsheel has done a number of TV shows, music videos, and short films since then. And yet, whenever his name is mentioned, it is almost always bracketed with his debut film. “I can just tell you that I stopped thinking about it long back,” he says, adding, “Because if you think about it, then you are going to get tired, happy, sad and everything. You have done something that people have related to, which is a good thing. Half the reason why people are not willing to accept that I am 25 is because it’s so fresh in their heads. I’m always grateful that I was part of such a project. I don’t think about the age thing. My sole intent is to keep doing films because I love acting.”

But he says the film has been a blessing for him and his career as it helped him connect with the audience. He explains, “It’s a help actually because I see a lot of reactions. I observe how people are feeling. I have had people my grandparents’ age coming and crying in front of me. I can feel that emotion and that makes me cry too. It kind of fuels me. I want to keep doing this for the rest of my life, if not top it and do better. I need to give the audience something worth remembering.”