“I’m a huge fan of Game Of Thrones”: Rishabh Sawhney Reveals How Jon Snow Inspired His Role As Ahmad Shah Abdali In Nagabandham

For Rishabh Sawhney, stepping into the role of Ahmad Shah Abdali in Nagabandham was not just about getting the look right. The actor also had to build a distinct physicality for the character, and interestingly, one of his biggest inspirations came from the popular American fantasy drama TV series ‘Game of Thrones’.

Rishabh, who made audience melt over him as Azhar Akhtar in Fighter, took inspiration from Jon Snow, played by Kit Harington, while developing Abdali’s stance and walk. The actor revealed that his admiration for the fantasy series played an important role in helping him understand the body language of a warrior.

“So I’m a huge, huge fan of Game of Thrones. I mean, that show has impacted me a lot. And that show has a lot of warriors in it. So I chose the stance of my favorite warrior from the show, Jon Snow. And I tried to practice that stance, that walk a lot. I literally practiced that for hours every day. And that is how I was able to get it in and make it seem authentic,” Rishabh shared.

Rather than simply watching the character for inspiration, Rishabh turned the observation into a daily exercise. He repeatedly worked on Jon Snow’s stance and walk for hours, using the movements as a starting point to develop the physical presence he wanted for Abdali.

While Fighter introduced audiences to Rishabh as Azhar Akhtar, Nagabandham gave him the opportunity to take on the much larger challenge of portraying the dual role of Ahmad Shah Abdali, a powerful historical figure and Ali, his modern reincarnation

For Rishabh, getting Abdali’s physicality right was clearly as important as his appearance or dialogue delivery. His decision to study a fictional warrior and repeatedly practise his stance shows how he approached the character through observation, repetition and physical preparation.