‘Berlin’ is close to Aparshakti Khurana’s heart

New Delhi: For Aparshakti Khurana, ‘Berlin’ holds a special place in his heart as it allowed him to explore a different facet of his personality. The actor recently attended the opening ceremony of the inaugural Indian Film Festival Germany along with Atul Sabharwal, the director of ‘Berlin’. The spy thriller was one of over 40 films that was screened at the three-day film gala.

“‘Berlin’ is one of the performances closest to my heart in my filmography so far, mainly because it truly brings out a different side of me as an actor,” the 37-year-old actor said at the festival’s red carpet.

Referring to his movies like ‘Luka Chuppi’, ‘Dangal’ and the ‘Stree’ franchise, Khurana said that ‘Berlin’ deviates from the ‘goofy’ characters he has previously played. He credited Sabharwal for pushing him to deliver his best performance in the film.

“I think it’s the purest filmmaking of Atul Sabarwal that has really brought out the best in me. And the film is a spy thriller and totally shot in India,” he added.

Set in 1990s New Delhi, ‘Berlin’ follows a deaf-mute young man, Ashok Kumar (Ishwak Singh), who is suspected of being a foreign spy. The case takes a complex turn when a skilled sign language expert, Pushkin Verma (Khurana), is brought in to interpret. Based on Sabharwal’s short story ‘The Decipherer’, the film also stars Rahul Bose, Anupriya Goenka and Deepak Qazir.

Discussing his preparation, Khurana said that the role required a unique approach. “My character does a lot of sign language, which isn’t something you are born with or you grew up into. It’s not something that is normally taught in school in India and it's a difficult language to learn as well. So, the prep was extremely different from what I’ve done so far in my career,” he added.