Mumbai: Actor Heital Puniwala, who has been a part of movies like Oh My God, PK, Bang Bang, Gabbar is Back, Do Lafzon Ki Kahani, Judwaa 2, Despatch, The Crew, Special OPS, Atithi Bhooto Bhava, and Rocky Aur Rani Ki Prem Kahani, among others, shares it comes to working across genres, he keeps his approach grounded in simplicity and authenticity.
He said, “When a character comes to me, or a character of any genre comes to me, my acting approach remains simple. The naturalness comes after reading that script three or four times after reading the character. If I get the full script, I read the whole script first. I read it once or twice.”
“By reading the script, you understand what that character is, what it wants to say, in which situation it’s speaking, who the person opposite is, and what the character itself is doing. Only after understanding these things does the character seem approachable. Then the acting process becomes easy for you,” he added.
Breaking down dialogue and intent becomes his next step. He said, “Secondly, after understanding the character, I understand the lines for what purpose they were spoken, how they were spoken, and why they are being spoken. After speaking and understanding all these things, it’s a simple logic: how to do it naturally.”
“In the old days, acting used to be showing some approach to the character; nowadays, in my opinion, if you watch Hollywood or Bollywood films, you’ll feel that we don’t act at all. People want absolutely natural things. People don’t want acting; they want the naturalness within you to come out,” he added.
Referencing industry greats, he highlights how performance styles vary based on character demand. He said, “I’ve also noticed sometimes that an actor overdoes it. But there should also be a demand for it.”
“If the director says there’s a demand here for the actor to overact now, if you tell Johnny Lever sir to be subtle, he won’t be able to act just with his lips without moving his face. He has to do it with his gestures, posture, and full body language; only then will people enjoy it, and only then will the character emerge. You can’t tell Johnny Lever sir to make this character subtle or very natural. They do it naturally, but you can’t constrain them. Similarly, no character should be constrained,” Heital added.
