I suddenly woke up to find I had gone viral, says actor Olivier Lafont

Actor Olivier Lafont played the role of actor Kareena Kapoor Khan’s money-minded fiancé, Suhas Tandon, in 3 Idiots (2009). While his performance was received well, the character got a lot of hate for being materialistic. A recent tweet calling him “a good man” prompted people to re-look at his character. Some even apologised to him, and the Paris-based actor graciously responded to them. “I woke up one morning to find that people in India were suddenly sympathetic to a character I played 14 years ago. It was amusing and fascinating to receive apologies and explanations as though Suhas and I were the same person,” he tells us.

Although Lafont knew his performance was well received, he never imagined that the character “would have such a deep impact”. “To realise that people have been relating my character to the universal conflicts of money, materialism, success and image is intriguing,” shares the actor, who has appeared in cameos in other Bollywood films such as Guzaarish (2010) and Ishkq in Paris (2013).

Ask if there are indeed any similarities between him and his 3 Idiots character, and Lafont says, “They are as different as chutney and cheesecake. I consider myself reasonably materialistic (like the few million people who expressed their support this last week), and I strongly believe in values like good behavior, decency, consideration, kindness and modesty. There’s just one commonality — we both have an appreciation for luxury brands.”

Lafont was pleasantly surprised to see that fans had moved Suhas, despite his flaws, from the villain box into a more nuanced category, and even a heroic space. The actor also revealed that he had no expectations for his character until last week when he discovered that so many people found Suhas to be relatable.

The The actor hopes to make a Bollywood comeback with villainous and humorous characters in his repertoire. “I’d love to play a no-holds-barred villain, a really dark psychopathic villain who has embraced his immorality, that would be really fun, especially after having played a character like Suhas. Maybe something like Darr, where audiences really savored and delighted in Shah Rukh Khan’s take on villainy,” the actor shared.