At an age when most actors are still finding their footing Siddharth Nigam, 25, is reinventing himself, swapping the chocolate-boy image that first made him a household name for a darker character as in Kaptaan. Shooting in Chandigarh for his next OTT series, in conversation with us, the actor, who has been in the industry at the age of 10, dismisses the idea of aburnout. “I feel I have just begun,” he says, adding, “It is only now that I am getting to experiment with my talent and show my versatility. Myonly goal is to show a difference in every project. I want people to say Sidharth is a versatile actor and a youth icon.” Referencing his recent show Kaptaan,where he played a grey character, he says, “People have loved seeing me in a very different avatar. That is what an actor needs.” Close on its heels cameanother different genre in the show Headshot, centred on the world of esports and the quiet, solitary struggle of chasing a dream that the world hasnot yet learned to take seriously. “The show shows that there are dreams you have to prove alone. And once you have achieved those, only then otherswill understand what you were chasing. That can be extrapolated to real life too, I feel,” he says.With the shooting of his next series underway and some other undisclosed projects in the pipeline, his focus is firmly on OTT and films. Going back to the platform that gave him a footing, he says, “Television gave me two blockbusters, Aladdin – Naam Toh Suna Hoga and Baal Veer, and a loyal audience. But the next chapter belongs to a bigger canvas.”Among others, he feels a sports biopic would suit his personal ambitions. “Perhaps drawing on my gymnastics roots,” he says. Having started out young as a gymnast in thisgruelling entertainment industry, Siddharth attributes his resilience to gymnastics. “The discipline, the physical rigour and the mental toughness that the sport taught me, have helped me in hustle all along. Gymnastics is in my blood. Whenever I get the chance, I go back to it. I love doing gymnastics more than the gym.”However, working consistently, somewhere along the way, chose honesty over hustle. “Be kind, be honest to your work — that’s it. And I never take the credit for my work. I give it to God, to the universe,”he said.