I never thought it would be a problem, but I eventually realised that making a remake with the same director who has made the original film is very challenging. Sandeep has already made it once and Arjun Reddy as a film was so loved. It was in his language and the world he has grown up in. It was his first film and had newcomers, so those people became those characters. So, of course, it was very challenging because when you are doing it with the same filmmaker the next time, it is not as if there is a massive change in the interpretation. When a new filmmaker remakes a film, he would obviously have a different take on it, but with the same guy, he obviously wants to retain many elements of the film.

As an actor, I definitely don’t want to do a copy-paste job of someone else. I did the film because I loved it. I played the character because I loved it. Vijay Deverakonda did an amazing job with Arjun Reddy, and there were certain things that we wanted to retain. But there were also things we needed to discover in Kabir Singh. If it is just a copy-paste job, then there is no soul to it, and I am not interested in that as an actor. So, within the same universe and sometimes even similar frames, we needed to find something new.

It was very kind of him to think like that. He has seen some of my work, so he felt that it would provide him with an opportunity to have a different interpretation. It was great that he wanted to do a film with me, because when I saw Arjun Reddy I fell in love with it, and my initial response was, ‘Why should we redo it ya? It is so nice!’ But then I also wanted to take it up, however challenging it was because I think great things come with challenges. Most of the Hindi audience hasn’t see Arjun Reddy, so if they have to experience that journey, then I am happy to be that vehicle who takes them through it.

Being second at something is the worst because the surprise value is gone. Whoever is going to see the film has already had an association and connect with that character. Vijay was a newcomer, and the character has become that guy. So I knew that this was going to be difficult. But today, after the film is done and releasing, I feel very happy and proud of the fact that Kabir Singh has happened. It has been an intense journey. It has been challenging. We have had difficult days when we have tried very hard to understand how to get it right. But now when I look at this journey, I think we have found Kabir Singh.