Kennedy Actor Aamir Dalvi on Director Anurag Kashyap’s Process: Doing Less Became Everything for This Film
For Aamir Dalvi, stepping onto the set of Kennedy meant stepping into Anurag Kashyap’s way of seeing cinema. It was a space where performance was not pushed, emotions were not explained, and silence was treated as dialogue.
Talking about working with Kashyap, Aamir says the director dismantled many of his instincts as an actor. “Anurag never wanted anything loud or dramatic from me. At first, it’s unsettling, because as actors we’re trained to fill silence, to justify emotion. Here, he was asking me to trust it.”
That trust, Aamir explains, did not come overnight. Even after Anurag sir saw the first shots of the character, the process remained about observation rather than instruction. “He wouldn’t over-explain scenes or spell out emotions. Sometimes he’d just watch and say very little, or in fact nothing. What spoke instead was his smile or a shift in energy. It was like a vibe check after each shot. With sir, you slowly realise he wants the character to exist, not perform. That kind of faith pushes you into uncomfortable territory, but it also frees you.”
It is this approach that shaped Salim Kattawala into a presence rather than a personality. Quiet, controlled, and deeply unsettling, the character never announces himself. “When you stop performing and allow stillness to take over, the character begins to breathe on its own,” Aamir shares. “That’s when it becomes dangerous, because it feels disturbingly real.”
Though Kennedy marks his first Bollywood film as an antagonist, Aamir says working with Kashyap shifted his focus away from labels. “This was my first time playing an antagonist in a Bollywood film, and it came with a certain weight. But Anurag sir never framed it as good or bad. He only spoke about honesty. I kept thinking that if I’m going to be remembered for this, it has to be honest, even the ugly parts.”
That emotional honesty followed him home. “There were days later when I felt heavy and unsettled, even though the scenes were quiet. Nothing dramatic had happened, yet something stayed with me. That’s when I realised the character had entered me quietly, the same way he enters the film.”
He ends with a thought that lingers. “If a character leaves me disturbed and unfinished, I know something has been done right. Salim didn’t leave me soon after the shoot ended. He stayed, and I think that’s exactly what Anurag sir wanted the audience to feel too.”
Starring Rahul Bhat alongside Sunny Leone, Kennedy unfolds as a bleak, immersive noir where survival comes at a cost. Directed by Anurag Kashyap, the film premieres on ZEE5 on February 20.