Ammy Virk: Wish to work with SLB, Raju Hirani in Bollywood

Mumbai, Aug 18 (IANS) Even though the plan was to make his Bollywood debut with the film '83', Hindi cinemagoers saw popular Punjabi singer and actor Ammy Virk for the first time in 'Bhuj: The Pride Of India'.

As his performance is getting attention even though the film didn't work, Ammy believes that great scripts and good film directors are the star makers and in future, he wants to work with some of his favourite directors in Bollywood.

Ammy told IANS: "When I was young, in our home I would only watch films on TV. I come from a village in Punjab, so going to the theatre and watching films was not part of our daily day affair. At home we would watch all Dharmendra saab's films and Sunny Deol's films. We like watching family drama, action films etc.

"But now the whole idea of a hero and his image is changing and that is why, if and when anyone asks me, who is the hero in Bollywood I would like to work with, I do not know the answer, really. I want to work with great filmmakers, have good scripts and learn from good actors. I so wish to work with Raj Kumar Hirani, Sanjay Leela Bhansali among others, because firstly I love watching their films and also, I think they are the real star makers.

"They extract the best performance from actors, and if the film works, the actor also becomes successful! Having said that, I worked with Kabir sir and that was supposed to be my debut in Bollywood. I want to work with him again."

Ammy started his journey as a signer and made a music video 'Ikk Pal' when he was still in college. As the music video turned out to be a super hit, he went on making more music and with more than 15 music videos, Ammy is one of the popular singers in the Punjabi music industry. He also made his mark as an actor as 'Angrej' and 'Qismat' are two of his highest grossing films in Punjab.

Interestingly, the Punjabi film 'Harjeeta' that won the National Film Award, in which he played the titled role, also featured Pankaj Tripathi. In fact, that is how Ammy worked with the veteran actor even before the upcoming film '83'.

"He is such a nice person to be around. I am new in Bollywood, and when I came for the meeting and shooting for the film '83', I met him again. It feels good. Ranveer sir is such a happy guy...since I am new and still trying to know people and everything when these people make us feel comfortable, it makes my work as an actor easy. One cannot perform in nervousness," shared Ammy.

But does the endless wait for the much-anticipated '83' make him nervous?

"I think the pandemic changed our thought process. The fact that we are still working, we are healthy, safe and secure - it is big for all of us. The film will release that we all know, and the date of release is not in our hands, so no, I am not nervous. Also, I was shooting for my film. I have a lot of gratitude that two of my films were released and in September, one more film is releasing," said the actor who always played the protagonist in most of his Punjabi films.

Even though people liked his presence in 'Bhuj: The Pride Of India', the film failed to impress the critics and audience.

Ammy will be next seen in the Punjabi film 'Qismat 2' releasing on September 24.

Since the actor in both his Hindi films featured as part of an ensemble cast and not as a protagonist that happens in Punjabi cinema, does that bother him?

"Bollywood is a big dream, and when you achieve something gradually, it stays with you. If you get success overnight, you could also lose things overnight. So no, I want to grow with each film here, I want our audience to love me slowly, steadily and remain my fans forever," Ammy signed off.