How special is Koi… Mil Gaya?
No star in Bollywood has ever attempted this role. It was a big risk for me, my dad and the film industry. My character had no reference points. There was no film or novel to be inspired by. Everything had to come from within me. I had to work on my body language, speech, everything. I’ve seen mentally challenged characters played in an extreme manner, like Sridevi in Sadma. She played a complete child, and did it brilliantly. I’d have loved to do that. But Dad had something tougher in mind. He didn’t want me to regress to being a complete child nor did he want me to be autistic. He wanted me to play a normal 11 year old trying to behave like a grownup man. So, first, I had to become this 11 year old, and from there I had to look strong and capable. Do you know what I’m saying? I had to find that 11-year-old boy within me. And that was just the beginning of my problems. Then, I had to interact constantly with six other children on screen. So my performance couldn’t be judged in isolati
