Darsheel Safary: Dude, 10 years have passed since 'Taare Zameen Par'

Darsheel Safary: Dude, 10 years have passed since 'Taare Zameen Par'

The bunny-toothed 'Taare Zameen Par' (TZP; 2007) kid, Darsheel Safary is barely recognisable but as predicted, he is making a career in cinema. He is set to feature in debutant Pradip Atluri's coming-of-age film, 'Quickie'. Producers Amul Vikas Mohan, Tony D'Souza and Nitin Upadhyaya term it Darsheel's "relaunch". Tell him he looks all grown up and Darsheel says, "Dude, 10 years have passed since 'Taare Zameen Par'. I was in school then."

The star of Aamir Khan's film is 19, and a second year student of BMM at HR College. Our conversation is peppered with teen lingo -- dude, cool, relax and chill. He was attending a class in college when the makers announced the project on Tuesday. "I can't wait for it to roll," he says, adding, "The film is about teenagers, so I play my age. It is not headache-inducing and preachy. It's set in contemporary times; it's current and now. It's more than a coming-of-age saga."

It took him just a few minutes to say yes to the film, when he was approached in December, Darsheel shares. "This is the fastest that I have okayed a project. I then sat down with my parents and discussed it."

After 'Taare Zameen Par', he went on to do films like 'Bumm Bumm Bole' (2010), 'Zokkomon' (2011) and 'Midnight's Children' (2012). He was also part of dance reality show, 'Jhalak Dikkhla Jaa' in 2012. Darsheel also dabbled in theatre with Can I Help You? To familiarise himself with a variety of acting mediums. "I was wondering what to do next, and Quickie came my way. It was the right subject for me to take on," he says. Two years ago, Darsheel decided all he wanted to do was act.

"I have realised this is my true calling. I am an avid cinema literature reader and watch a lot of films."