Exclusive Interview: Sharad Malhotra speaks on his debut film From Sydney With Love

The name 'Sharad Malhotra' needs no introduction. He went on to win a million hearts with his hit show Banoo Mein Teri Dulhan. Having proved his acting mettle on the small screen, Sharad is all set to take the silver screen by storm. He is making his debut in Bollywood with the movie From Sydney With Love. The chocolate boy of TV is full of life and is totally unstoppable in conversation. In an exclusive tête-à-tête with Tarneet Puri, Sharad Malhotra talks about his debut film, casting couch, his rumoured girlfriend Divyanka Tripathi, and more...

How would you describe your debut film From Sydney With Love?

One of my designer friends got to know about this production house called Pramod Films. They are the people who have launched Akshay Kumar in Deedar, opposite Karisma Kapoor. They have given golden jubilee hits like Love In Tokyo, Jugnuu, Dream Girl and Naya Daur. So, they were coming back after 14 years and even I was coming back in front of the camera after 3 years. It was luckily a coincidence and I just got to know about this audition happening. I met the casting director, and surprisingly everything was very clean, very safe. Practically, I auditioned for all the characters except for the lead girl. But it was not easy, even after winning almost every award on television, I had to go through auditions and the best part was that there was no script. The director told me about the character and asked me to make my own script and come back after 2-3 days. So, I went, I auditioned and honestly, for two weeks I did not get any call from them. So, I thought to give more auditions. After two weeks, I got a call from the production team saying that the producer wants to meet me. I met the producer and rest as they say is history. Now the movie is ready and it will release on 3rd August.

You just said everything was clean and safe, so what do you have to say about the casting couch?

Trust me, there is no casting couch. There is only a good casting director.

Tell us about your character in the movie From Sydney With Love.

I am playing the role of Rohit Khurrana in the movie From Sydney With Love. He is a typical Delhi da Punjabi Munda. He is just like the boy next door, full of life, masti, just the way Punjabi's are. He loves to enjoy life. He is studying at the University of new south Wales in Sydney. The story is about the journey of five friends. It's full of comedy, masti, shot in beautiful locations, got lovely songs sung by Mohit Chauhan, Mika, Neeraj Shreedhar. You will get to see so much in two hundred rupees. It's a lovely bargain. From Sydney With Love is a beautiful blend of the east and the west culture. It's also for the aspiring students who wants to study abroad. It's fresh, colourful, complete de-stresser, in one word it's a total paisa wasool movie.

Your movie is releasing on the same date as much hyped Jism 2. Do you think your movie can stand the competition in front of Sunny Leone?

Well, I can only say one thing Agar unke paas Jism hai toh hamare paas Jaan hai.

According to you how important promotions are for the movie?

Now-a-days more than shooting, it's important to promote your movie. If you make a good movie and nobody is watching it, then what's the point. Today's audiences are very intelligent, they want to spend money on a good movie. Our movie is a family comedy, everybody can watch it. It's a movie which has lots of twists and turns. When the director was narrating me the script, even I could not guess what's gonna happen next. It's like a fun filled roller coaster ride. So, watch the movie, have a good time for 2 hours 20 minutes and come out happy. And as far as promotions are concerned, now-a-days we have to be very creative in promoting a film. Even we have thought about lots of creative things to promote our film.

Like...?

You will have to wait for that. You would like it a lot and will be surprised to see it. It's something you would see next week. And you won't believe, I am promoting my film everywhere. I even told my watchman, my postman, my milkman about my movie. Whenever I get a chance, I speak to people on the road and I tell them about my movie. More than shooting marketing the product is very important.