Nikitin Dheer, who gained immense praise for his portrayal of Thangaballi in Rohit Shetty’s Chennai Express, recently opened up about his work experience with the superstar Shah Rukh Khan in the film in an interview with Siddharth Kannan. Nikitin said how Shah Rukh Khan made him comfortable on the sets and how he didn’t carry the weight of a superstar. Recalling his experience of the first-day-shoot, Nikitin told Siddharth Kannan, “On the first day, I was quite taken aback because I was an unknown. Deepika Padukone was there with her entourage, Shah sir was there with his entourage, and Rohit Shetty’s sets are huge. I would sit in the corner and do my thing, but the magnanimity of Shah Rukh Khan… Instead of calling me to him, he brought his own chair next to me and sat down. I’ll never forget it.”
Nikitin also shared vivid details of an action scene where Shah Rukh Khan encouraged him to perform without inhibitions. Nikitin said, despite having a shoulder injury, Shah Rukh Khan himself shot the action sequence. In one scene, Nikitin had to grab Shah Rukh’s cheek and say, ‘Tu apne aap ko bada hero samajhta hai kya (Who do you think you are)?” Shah Rukh Khan’s tips to Nikitin for the scene was -“Do whatever you want, however you want to do it. The more intimidating you are, the better the scene will be.”
Nikitin also recalled his fond memories of attending the promotions of Chennai Express. This was the first time when Nikitin was included in a film’s promotions. “I was totally dumbfounded by the audience’s reaction at the trailer launch, because I was a nobody. I was standing behind everybody because I didn’t want to block the crowds’ view, but then, Shah sir grabbed me by the hand and pulled me forward. He said, ‘Out of these 1000 people, even if 20 come for your character, it’s a good thing’,” he stated.
Nikitin Dheer is popular for films like Housefull 3, Jodhaa Akbar, Ready, Shershaah, Sooryavanshi. He was last seen in the Amazon Prime series Indian Police Force alongside Sidharth Malhotra, Vivek Oberoi and Shilpa Shetty.
