Mumbai, Aug 2 (IANS) Actor Vaibhav Raj Gupta is receiving a lot of praise for his powerful yet sensitive portrayal of Vikram Singh in the crime thriller “Mandala Murders”.

During an exclusive interaction with IANS, Vaibhav reflected on his most memorable moments from the show.

Speaking to IANS, Vaibhav revealed that he was on a strict diet of only boiled food, and chicken for eight months, which meant no wedding feasts despite attending close friends’ functions.

“I used to dream of food! After a tough scene at Banaras Ghat, I made a list of 24 dishes I wanted to eat—puri sabzi, chole bhature, burgers, sweets, kheer—you name it. That was a truly deserving meal, and I understood the value of food that day,” she recalled.

Talking about his experience of working with Vaani Kapoor and Surveen Chawla for the first time, Vaibhav called it “Amazing”.

He went on to add, “I’ve been a fan of Vaani since ‘Chandigarh Kare Aashiqui’. She’s beautiful, hardworking, and a dedicated co-actor. Surveen is incredibly talented, versatile, and effortless in her craft. We had great workshops together, and I learned a lot from both of them.”

During the conversation, Vaibhav was also asked, “Did you change your acting style for Vikram, or take inspiration from anyone?”

To this, he reacted, saying that he had worked closely with both his directors for months.

“Gopi sir had Vikram Singh in mind from the start. I went through six to eight months of physical transformation—training at the YRF gym, following a strict diet, and working on every detail from costume and hair to voice, posture, and relationships with other characters.”

He added that he also drew inspiration from late actor Om Puri’s portrayal in his 1983 release “Ardh Satya”, and Manoj Bajpayee’s work in “Shool”.

Vaibhav shared that he was also inspired by Amitabh Bachchan’s body of work for his character in “Mandala Murders”.

–IANS

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