Ankit Bathla, who is playing a cop in Savdhaan India – Apni Khaki, says he enjoys his work a lot and doesn’t believe in taking long breaks. However, if and when he wants, he takes impromptu breaks, even if it means chilling at home and watching Netflix.
“I feel there is nothing called long vacations once you grow up. There is so much work to do, you have so many responsibilities to take care of that it becomes difficult to take vacation beyond 7-10 days. But yes, I enjoy my work so much, and I am happy being on the set that going on a break beyond 3 days starts bothering me. So I don’t really need a vacation. I’m happy just working and taking little breaks in the middle,” he said.
“However, I think breaks are important. For me, just doing nothing, sitting at home, watching Netflix all day, and cooking a great meal for myself and my loved ones is itself a vacation. I love to travel and explore, but I think you don’t really need a long vacation every time. You can always break them into small ones,” he added.
Though he doesn’t believe in taking long breaks, he feels a break, even if it is for 2-3 days, is very important for someone in the creative field. “It kind of eases out the whole character and gives you time to think because it’s also very important to keep working on yourself, and when you’re on a break, it helps you unwind but also gives you a lot of time to think. And I think the best thing one can do for themselves is travel because you get to learn so much, and as an actor, there’s so much to learn, so much to embibe in different characters, and that can only happen when you actually travel,” he said.
And he is very prompt in planning short trips whenever he has a few days off. “I’m a very impromptu kind of person. So whenever I feel that I have 2 or 3 days, I kind of plan a vacation. I have a separate sheet that I maintain that says ‘Places that I want to visit’ and it also says how many days I need. So depending on how many days I have, I just pick one from the bucket and travel,” he said.
And for those who worry about getting calls on vacations, Ankit has a very good trick to be available, but only to a selected few. He said, “Well, there’s always a time when I switch off my phone, at least. I have two numbers because one number is only for my parents and loved ones. So that never goes off. The other one is basically a work contact number, which my friends and everybody else have. That goes off whenever I want. And generally, the vacations I take are in places that do not have networks. So fortunately and unfortunately, it’s a break in itself, and also, when I’m shooting, which is on Madh Island, a lot of the time, some places there do not have a network. So it’s anyway a social media detox.
