My fiancee and I are getting married early next year: Prateik Babbar

By Subhash K Jha

Mumbai, July 26 (IANS) Actor Prateik Babbar, who has been struggling to find his bearings, is finally in a happy and peaceful space as he is all set to tie the knot with fiance Sanya Sagar.

On the professional front Prateik's cocaine-snorting bad boy act in the blockbuster "Baaghi 2" has got him back into the reckoning, although as he says a majority of his role was cut.

Prateik now has Anubhav Sinha's hard-hitting political drama "Mulk" where he plays a terror accused.

"It's the role of boy who's gone astray. When I heard it I immediately wanted to do it. There's so much pain and hurt and persecution embodied in the part. Muslims are looked on in a particular way with suspicion and distrust for no fault of theirs. It is a very frightening situation. Anubhav Sir has captured the turmoil of the community, and I was more than happy to be part of the film," says Prateik happily.

Luckily he swam through the audition. "I was in. And I was totally immersed in my character. When the role came to me I was only given my part and my lines. I didn't know the rest of the script and characters. So I focused on getting my part right before I had a chance to get familiar with the rest of the characters and the plot."

Prateik says this is the phase he had been waiting for. "I find it hard to believe that I've been working for ten years. I feel I'm starting out only now."

He is honest enough to admit he went through a period of great emotional trauma. "I lost both my grandparents. My grandmother was the mother I never had. The emptiness will never go away. But luckily I have my two aunts now to look after me. And of course there's my fianc?e."

Prateik says love has changed his life. "I am more at peace, able to focus on my work and I've someone to go back to at the end of the day. I am very clear on keeping my professional and personal lives apart. I will never allow the two to clash. Of course she is also part of cinema. She is an editor, writer and a filmmaker. But her priorities are very different from mine. We are very different people. And yet we've so much in common."

Completely besotted by love Prateik promises marriage very soon. "We are definitely getting married in the first few months of 2019. I know this is for keeps."