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A blockbuster is often expected to change the fortunes of everyone associated with it. After playing Ranbir Kapoor ’s brother-in-law in Animal (2023), Siddhant Karnick believed the film would finally mark the breakthrough he had spent two decades working towards. Instead, what followed was eight months of complete silence.

Looking back at the period after Animal, he says, “I’d had a strong year with appreciation for my performances in Adipurush, Made in Heaven and then Animal to close the year. After Animal, I expected the floodgates to open. I thought, ‘Two decades of grinding, it’s finally paying off.’ I waited eight months. Let alone offers, there weren’t even any enquiries. My phone didn’t ring at all. That’s when I realised nobody was coming to give me opportunities. That slap to my fantasy was the best thing that could have happened because it forced me to shift my approach. I stopped thinking like an actor and started thinking like a producer. The difference now is that I’m not waiting for the phone to ring. I’m the one making the calls.”



The setback also prompted Siddhant to take charge of his own career. Since then, he has acted in two French films, an English film as the lead, and has a commercial release slated for December. One of those projects, the French short film The Diggers , earned him two Best Actor awards. He says, “After two decades in this industry, I realised the best way to have control over your career is to create your own opportunities. Jean Louis Carrasco was the first filmmaker I reached out to. We’ve been creative collaborators for 18 years, ever since a passion project short film that won at the Bodega Film Festival and was selected for the Cannes Short Film Corner. Together we developed The Diggers, a 24-minute suspense thriller about an Indian immigrant in Paris who gets pulled into the Parisian underworld. What we’ve shot is essentially Act Two of a feature film, with Acts One and Three currently in development.”

While the recognition has been gratifying, Siddhant believes its true value lies in what it signals to the industry. “The awards are gratifying, but more importantly, they’re validation. They tell financiers and distributors that this team, this story and this execution have both commercial and critical viability. That’s what matters to me at this stage of my career,” he concludes.