‘Ibrahim Ali Khan lacks depth,' observes Sarzameen co-star Piloo Vidyarthi; alleges her role in the actioner was reduced to less than 20 per cent

Indian Express

a day ago

Although the popular adage goes, 'third time is the charm', it's unclear how willing the audience would be to sit through one more project headlined by Ibrahim Ali Khan after two disastrous outings back-to-back. Following his catastrophic debut in director Shauna Gautam's Nadaaniyan earlier this year, Ibrahim appeared in Kayoze Irani's Sarzameen, earning far more criticism for his acting — or the lack thereof.
While the direct-to-OTT action thriller, featuring Kajol and Prithviraj Sukumaran in the lead roles, opened to largely unfavourable responses from all quarters, one of its actors herself has now come forward, expressing dissatisfaction over the work. Maintaining that her character was unfairly trimmed down, actor Piloo Vidyarthi also observed that Ibrahim should ensure depth in his performance. She, however, stated that he was nice to her in person.
During a recent interaction, Piloo revealed that after committing to the role, which she felt had as much gravitas as Farida Jalal's from Kabhi Khushi Kabhie Gham, she shot extensively for the movie in Manali and Mumbai. The impression she got following the initial narration was that her character was pivotal to a child's emotional arc and hence of great significance in the overall movie. However, it was only upon watching the film that she realised just how much her role had been edited out.
'Beech mein main phas gayi hoon, na sar hain na zameen (I am stuck in the middle, neither do I have a head nor a ground). The makers have gone wrong somewhere because the director struggled to piece together the narrative. They didn't retain even 20 per cent of what was shot. I was disappointed, so I'm not promoting the film as well,' she said during a chat with News18.
She continued, 'These things happen in our journey, so that's okay. But yes, it's disappointing when you prepare for a role and it's reduced to nothing. As actors, especially in supporting roles, we don't always have the right to question such decisions.'
Opening up about Ibrahim Ali Khan, she said, 'He was very nice to me, clicked photos. But I think he needs to have some depth. Star kids are also under a lot of pressure to live up to their parents. And Ibrahim comes from a family of big achievers. They have seen attention since forever. No one is bad.' Ibrahim is the son of actors Saif Ali Khan and Amrita Singh and the younger brother of Sara Ali Khan, who also works in the film industry as an actor.