Arjun Kapoor on pressures about being an actor, dressing, acting in his first home production and his bonding with his co-stars
Arjun Kapoor loves all things related to Bollywood. As a kid, he used to eat his dinner while watching Bollywood potboilers like Ram Lakhan. Having been in the industry for two years, the actor obviously enjoys being in the business. Though he is pleasantly surprised with the way things have fallen into place, he expected it to take longer. Not all his films have been successful at the box-office but he has moved ahead with each film. His first movie with his home banner — Tevar — is ready for release, he talks about family, films, fashion and friendships in B-Town. Read on…
Usually, industry kids make their debut with a home production, but you are already pretty established. Is the pressure different from what it would have been if this was your debut film?
When you do a film, you don’t think like that. When you’re shooting, it’s only about getting the work done that day. You are going day-by-day, and not thinking of the bigger picture. You are only trying to make the work happen, and that goes for every film, even if it isn’t a home production. I would consider YRF as much my home production, so I put in the same amount of effort. The excitement, the nervousness… all those emotions are the same, but now that I sit down and talk to people there’s that realisation that there is certain perception that comes with working in a home production, and I am very okay with that baggage. I am very proud of my home production, I am very proud of my father and I want the film to do very well.
Was it easier then to work in a home production?
No, because there are a lot more emotions off-camera. You feel lots of things… I had my father on the sets for the very first time. I mean, he has always seen my films before they release, but that’s the final product. He got to see my process as an actor for the very first time and that’s a different feeling. Waking up on an outdoor and knowing your dad’s staying in the next room, you can meet him before you go… I have not had that all my life… I mean for as long as I can remember. It’s always been that you meet him at some point in the day or talk to him over the phone, but to wake up in the morning and share a meal with him or to meet him on the set for lunch, those are things I have not experienced before. So there were those emotions.
Looking back, any regrets it wasn’t your first film?
I didn’t do my first film with the home banner because I wanted to be worth something so that my dad could make his kind of film. But on the sets, I like to be his reality check, his mirror. When we were shooting for the Superman song. We’d wake up early in the morning and wait for the fog to clear. Then we would keep shooting till we could. The song was scheduled for five days, but we finished it in four, so on the fifth day we didn’t know what to do. I told Remo (D’Souza), let’s just shoot the song everywhere once again. In the trailer, you see so many places because we were pushing the unit and we got better output. But there was no pressure, ki yaar kya hoga, because nobody can control the fate of the film. But I am happy that I have worked with dad at this point. Maybe if it was my first film, I wouldn’t have been able to handle it. Having this little experience of two years keeps me sane and calm and doesn’t let me feel the burden of pressure.
You’ve always been close to Salman Khan. The Superman song’s an ode to him…
I was quite surprised when I heard the song because I never thought Amit, our director, will get such a commercial hook line for the song. I thought he would have that montage kind of a song, establishing Agra ka character. Remember that song, Dhakka Laga Buka in Yuva? This song was supposed to be like that…a journey in the alleys of Agra. But suddenly they found this hook and they realised that it works very well with my character Pintu. He genuinely believes he is a superhero because he helps people all the time, and he is a fan of Salman in the film, so it made sense. I told him to be prepared because it will never be Pintu’s song, it will be Arjun’s song for Salman. Hum kitne baar bhi bol de key eh Pintu ke liye likha hai, but people are going to say nahi yeh Arjun ne Salman ke liye kiya hai. It came from an organic-ness in the film and then you realise it fits with the film’s perception too, and the fact that I am doing it. So, two plus two became four in a very nice way. It wasn’t manipulated. I loved it and I was looking forward to doing a song where I get to dance after Chokra Jawaan.
Yes, that was the first time you showcased your dancing skills.
Chokra jawaan was an acid test to prove to Aditya Chopra that I coul dance. He thought I had two left feet — Everyone at Yash Raj because of my body structure and by body language — thought I was a very laidback, lazy guy with two left feet. For Chokra jawaan, I rehearsed for five days then I performed for Adi in the studio in the rehearsal hall for five-and-a-half minutes like a stage show. And then Adi said, ‘Okay you can do it’. He had said that if I hadnt proved to him then they would have shot the song differently. With Gauhar dancing and me just watching it. But I refused to accept it, and wanted to prove myself. 2 States had little dancing, Gunday was more free styling and less dancing. But with the Tevar song, I can say people haven’t seen me dancing like this.
Do you enjoy dancing or is it something you do like a job?
I love dancing. I know that I am not the best dancer, but I enjoy dancing. I think it shows on your face when you like dancing. We have grown up seeing people like Govinda and Madhuri Dixit who love dancing. We loved them not just because of the way they dance, but also because they could make you want to dance. I am that kind of person, when I see someone dancing well I feel like dancing. But when someone complicates it, I get scared. As long as I am comfortable with it, I enjoy it. Superman was me finding my comfort level again. There’s another song which you will see later in which I have danced again…kyunki producer papa hain toh maine pura advantage liya hai (laughs).
Tevar is a solo hero film. Apart from Gunday, most of your movies have been solo hero projects. Is it a conscious thing?
I have never perceived it that way. I think from my generation, I am one of the few actors to have done so many ensemble movies. Finding Fanny, I knew was truly one and I really enjoyed it. In Aurangzeb, Prithvi had an amazing role. 2 States is also an ensemble, without Amrita Singh and Ronit Roy that film is nothing. I have never seen it that way. In Tevar too, both Sonakshi Sinha and Manoj Bajpayee have important roles. But yes, I love doing ensemble movies. Finding Fanny was selfishly a wholesome experience for me because I got to work with Naseer, Pankaj, Dimple m’am and Deepika, and all in the same frame at the same time. It was really good fun. I would love to do a two hero-three hero film as long as it gives me something to bite into like Fanny did. In Gunday, I knew both the roles are equally fleshed out. We could’ve switched our roles and still got equal credit for it. I would love to do a movie like Ocean’s 11, but nobody is going to make it here. If I was to do that movie, I would love to do Matt Damon’s role. I would love to see more cooler, senior actors play George Clooney and Brad Pitt. In Matt Damon’s role I would observe them and blend in.
Not many upcoming actors would want to blend in; wouldn’t you want to stand out?
It’s about balancing. If I do three Tevar’s in a year, it’s great to do an Ocean’s 11. I chose to do a Finding Fanny because I knew I was going to be doing an Okkadu remake after it. That much sensibility you have to garner, ke okay you want to do this and that also for yourself. It might change in one year, you might meet me and I might say ‘Mujhe toh sirf solo hero hi karni hai’, but at this point I am open to anything.
You haven’t really done any bubble gum romance…
I’d love to do an urban romcom, but I think jab tak main daadhi shave nahi karungga tab tak mujhe koi aisa offer nahi dega.
Your female fan following sure increased after 2 States…
I sensed that change in women after 2 States, especially the younger generation. Also children, who were scared of me. I remember I was travelling for an ad shoot and a lady came up to me in hotel lobby, and said that her seven-eight year old son watches Gunday every night while eating his dinner. And I was really excited because I have done stuff like that. I used to watch Ram Lakhan while having dinner. So I went to meet him. When he saw me, he kept saying ‘Bala, Bala’. His expressions went from being taken aback to wailing loudly. He spent more than hour in the lobby of that hotel hiding from me. That’s when I thought ki yeh badlana padega.
The audience accepted you…
One thing I’ve realised is that you can’t plan all these things. I didn’t know where I was going to be after two years when Ishqzaade released. Too many factors are at play — luck, destiny, circumstances, a good director and most importantly, acceptance from the audience. You can’t plan that. You can work really hard, look your best, but if they don’t want to see you, then they don’t want to see you. And sometimes they want to see you no matter what. There’s something the audience catches and latches on to. I always wonder how it happened so quickly with Ishaqzaade. I always thought I will have to work slow and steady to get to a scenario where I can do a movie like Tevar. It’s a full-on commercial, entertaining film, which nobody from my generation has really attempted. People have done it in probably a two-hero set up like Gunday, but nobody from my generation has done a solo, typical Hindi film. If I can do it in two years, and create some buzz that will have people intrigued to go and see the film after the trailer then that’s a good sign. It means that there’s some level of acceptance from the audience.
You said that Aditya Chopra asked you to concentrate on your acting rather than your looks, but today you are constantly under the scanner for how you dress or look. Comment.
Kabhi Kabhi lagta ki log itna kyun notice karte hain. Rhea (Kapoor) is doing my styling now. But in my personal life, I can’t think so much about these things. If I had it my way, I’d wear my favourite yellow shorts and any shirt that was lying around while stepping out. But now you realise that there’s an excitement among people to know how you are, what you are, and about your personal life. That has happened due to the success of the films. But I still can’t be dressing up and think so much. If I am growing out my hair now, I am going to be have a month of bad hair days. But I’m okay with it. You should realise that people may notice now and comment on it, but when you look fine after a month they will forget that. During Gunday, I had a quiff, which can look strange with a suit. People would say iske paas baal katne ke paise nahi hai. But how many people can I explain it to that I am doing it for a movie? Something looks good on camera, but it may not be appealing off it. Like in Tevar, I knew I wanted to look broad, because if I am beating up 10 people, I should look like someone who can pull it off. I am anyway broad, I am a kabbadi player, so I thought let me use that to my advantage and play it to the gallery. But if I am looking like that while promoting 2 States obviously I don’t look like I did in that film because I am shooting this one. I can’t help it. You can’t be worried and bogged down by who is saying what about you all the time.
You were linked to Sonakshi during Tevar and to Alia in 2 States. Why does that keep happening with you?
It’s not something that I want. It just happens. Just yesterday, I was telling someone that 22 is now 36, it’s not even 22 now. Sonakshi is my neighbour. I have known her since school days, we are acquaintances and friendly for many years. We have always met at parties and would hang around. This is the first time I’ve worked with her. And when you work with someone you get to know them better. Either you get along with them or you realise that this person cannot become a friend. In her case, I really got along with her and that just made it easy for us to be more than just social friends because we know each other’s friends too. We have stepped out for 10 films, but it’s just we have been snapped two-three times. And you can’t explain it to everyone that we had eight other people with us. It’s okay, it’s a small price to pay. The link-ups cannot be changed.
Does that make things awkward?
Not between her and me. The one thing I don’t appreciate is that sometimes people jump to the conclusion that these people are doing it for the film’s publicity.
Don’t you have people telling you to ignore it because it will benefit the movie?
Yes, I have been told that also. But I don’t agree with it. I don’t think that audiences are that stupid to go watch a movie because of a link-up story. Maybe people would come out of curiousity about the actors for the first day, but after that it’s about the film and how good it is. At least, I don’t come from that school of thought that believes you need to do all this to make your movie work. That’s the only thing that irks me a little…people shouldn’t assume that we are doing it for publicity.
There was a lot of speculation about your absence at Arpita’s wedding considering you are very close to Salman.
That’s my equation with Salman and the family…there’s nothing to speculate. I think there were far more interesting things happening like Shah Rukh and Salman bhai meeting.
Do you keep a tab on your competitors?
I am aware of the goings-on because I’ve grown up in the industry. The way people discuss things at their dinner table, this is normal conversation for us. We’d probably know if a movie is being made before many people would because we are a part of this profession. It’s not that we are dying to know, it’s just a part of our lives. It’s very matter-of-fact. I don’t need to keep a track because it automatically comes to me.
Ranveer and you…
Hum shaadi karne wale hain jis din rules badal jaayenge.
What happens to Deepika?
Deepika who? There’s only Ranveer and me (laughs).
The camaraderie obviously goes beyond just movies, how does that work when you are both competitors?
There’s something nice Akshay Kumar once said, “We are not horses who are in a race. We are not pitting against one another.” The media does that so that they can compare who they like better. But liking someone is completely subjective. There’s enough work for all of us to do…. If these factors start affecting your personal life, you’ll never be happy. You have to look beyond them.
One hasn’t seen this kind of bonding in the older generation right at the beginning of their career. You guys hang out together, party together…that’s very unique to your generation….
Maybe that’s because we all know each other before we joined the industry. Ranveer and I knew each other before we’ve became what we have become today. I know Varun (Dhawan). I knew Sid before his Student Of The Year and my Ishaqzaade released. But just because we’ve started doing well, doesn’t mean we start behaving differently with each other. Why would you change your friendships? I am genuinely very fond of the guy (Ranveer). I can be very honest with him about his films and he is equally honest about my work. He saw 2 States and he called me, I spoke to him about Ram-Leela. After watching Finding Fanny, he kept telling me, you are going to Hollywood. I told him that I can’t go to Hollywood, Anil Kapoor is already there.
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