Vikrant Massey interview: Who doesn’t love money? I love money

Vikrant Massey talks about his life post-‘12th Fail’, his preparations for serial killer film ‘Sector 36’, his stand on the death penalty and more

A lot can happen in a year. Do ask Vikrant Massey. He was an untiring civil service aspirant in the 2023 sleeper hit 12th Fail, a star-crossed crime reporter in Blackout (2024), a one-armed fugitive in Phir Aayi Hasseen Dillruba (2024), and, in Sector 36, streaming on Netflix from September 13, he’s transformed into a full-blown serial killer. It’s some trajectory to be on as an actor. “It’s been a lifelong aspiration of mine to be offered diverse parts,” says Vikrant, who swerved from television to cinema over ten years ago.

Directed by debutant Aditya Nimbalkar, Sector 36 sees Vikrant in the role of Prem Singh, a cold-blooded abductor and killer of children in Delhi. While the makers haven’t made their source of inspiration explicit, the events in the film bear resemblance to the 2006 Noida serial murders, famously known as the Nithari killings.

In 2006, Nithari, a village in Sector-31 of Noida, became infamous for its missing children and women, leading to the discovery of skeletons near a large house. The house’s wealthy owner, Moninder Singh Pandher, and his domestic help, Surinder Koli, were arrested on charges of abduction, rape and murder. The accused were awarded the death penalty in 2017 but later acquitted by the Allahabad High Court in 2023, which cited a lack of sound evidence for the acquittals.

In a conversation with The Hindu, Vikrant spoke about his preparations for the role, his life post 12th Fail, his take on the death penalty in India, and more. Excerpts...

David Fincher’s Se7en (1995). It came at a time when I had just made up my mind about wanting to be an actor, and a lot of people around me were talking about that movie. Though the Kevin Spacey character comes in pretty late, we know there’s a killer on the loose. The build-up to what is going to happen is pretty intense. It’s one film that definitely had an impact on me.

This film is inspired by many true stories, so there was a lot of reference work. There’s one book that I had to read, Inside the Minds of Serial Killers: Why They Kill, which is about the psyche of some famous serial killers. I also spent time talking to my director and my writer (Bodhayan Roychaudhury). It was a complicated yet fun process that lasted 40-45 days.

Well, there is a lot more money coming in and I am certainly enjoying that (laughs). Frankly speaking, who doesn’t love money? I love money. A lot of people say that money cannot buy you happiness. I think that’s quite untrue. Money can buy you confidence and that confidence can buy you happiness. So I see it in a different way.