Vardhan Puri says it is too early for him to reprise any of his grandfather’s characters

Newcomer Vardhan Puri feels lucky to be born into a family of two of Bollywood’s notable character actors — Madan Puri and Amrish Puri (his grand uncle and grandfather respectively). While Madan Puri handled comedy and villainous roles with ease, Amrish Puri played several iconic characters in a career spanning almost four decades.

When we met Vardhan recently, during the course of the promotion of his debut film, Yeh Saali Aashiqui, we asked him if he would ever portray a character immortalised by his grandfather. The actor, who has also co-written his maiden outing, said that it was too early for him to think of reprising any of his grandfather’s characters. “There is one film we are thinking of remaking, but it’s too soon to name it. As for reprising one of my grandfather’s roles, well, his acting career in films started after the age of 40. So, his characters are such that I can’t play them till I reach a certain age. Having said that, I have to admit that I am in love with all of them. There were roles written for him keeping his personality in mind. At some point, I want to play Bade Raja Thakur of Virasat (1997). It’s also my dream to play his roles from Nagina (1986), Mr India (1987), Ghayal (1990), Muskurahat (1992), Gardish (1993), Damini (1993) and Ghatak (1996). Daadu was honest to the characters he played. Apart from films, I’d also like to adapt the play Sakharam Binder (1972) by Vijay Tendulkar for the big screen. It’s an inspiring piece of work, which both my grandfather and I liked,” he shared.