If I’m playing a hero, I would like to be a real one: Siddharth

Updated on: 30 Aug 2026, 12:30 am

For Siddharth, portraying a real-life hero like Squadron Leader Ajay Ahuja meant resisting the temptation to turn him into a larger-than-life figure. In Operation Safed Sagar, which revisits the Indian Air Force role in the Kargil War, he sought to bring out the humanity behind Ahuja’s heroism. In this conversation, he talks about the responsibility of playing a real-life martyr, the importance of authenticity in telling war stories, and what it feels like to act in an adaptation of Jhumpa Lahiri’s Unaccustomed Earth.

Operation Safed Sagar has struck a chord with its tone and tenor. Were you anticipating the kind of reaction it has received.

From the day I read it, I knew Operation Safed Sagar was a special project. All we had hoped and dreamt of came true. But having said that, I believe in what’s in the Gita: you don’t do things for the end result. You do it for the process.

And for me, the truth of this project is one person, and that’s Alka Ahuja ma’am, Ajay Ahuja’s wife. When I agreed to do the project, I only asked one major question: Did she give us permission to do this? Because it’s one thing to talk about a martyr, the military history and his exploits, with the permission of the Indian Air Force. The other thing is to tell the story of a person who is still very much a part of the day-to-day life of another human being, who is there forever. The review she has given me, which I will always cherish, is what I think is the reaction that I did this for.

Operation Safed Sagar’s poster

So what was the feedback she gave you?

She wanted an accurate depiction of what happened in Kargil, and she said, “You have all done that beautifully, with so much research, and it was so well made.” I still have terrible imposter syndrome when I think about it, but she simply said that she thinks God chose me to play Ajay.

There was no chest-thumping bravado or slogans in the film. Was that something you were all very conscious about?

There’s no simple way to answer this question. I take my work seriously, especially if I’m playing a real-life martyr.

So before I accepted the role, I asked them, “What are your intentions?” They said that they wanted to make a human story, and that’s the reason I said yes. Because for me, heroes don’t look like heroes. And just because they are the greatest heroes in history, when we depict them, we shouldn’t superimpose our impressions of what we think a hero should be.

The problem with India is that everybody is underrated till they are overrated. Similarly, everybody is overworshipped till they become God. So, it was also a conscious effort to be as real and human as possible. And that was only possible because the real heroes of Kargil participated in this creation.

You have always been outspoken about your views, but now one notices an almost steady calm in you as a person.

I’m just an actor, and I am sure the years have brought in maturity. So, to answer your question, I think I was the same person 20 years ago. I don’t think people change like that. You may change the volume or amplification of who you are, but you are inherently the person you have always been. Regarding my choices—maybe it has got to do with the way I have been raised. I’ve always fought for the right things in my life. I’ve got into a lot of trouble in the last two decades for my opinions, and yeah—if I’m playing a hero, I would like to be a real hero.

You are all set for your American debut in the adaptation of Jhumpa Lahiri’s Unaccustomed Earth.

Yes, it’s an adaptation being produced by John Wells. And yeah, it allows me to again be something that I’m not — somebody who’s from the US, who’s never been to India. So that’s an interesting space.