Kiss & Tell

KISS & TELL

About ten years ago, a young and very successful executive named Josh was traveling down a Chicago neighborhood street. He was going a bit too fast in his sleek, black, 12 cylinder Jaguar XKE, which was only two months old.

He was watching for kids darting out from between parked cars, and slowed down when he thought he saw something. As his car passed, no child darted out, but a brick sailed out and - WHUMP! - it smashed into the Jag's shiny black side door! SCREECH..!!!! Brakes slammed! Gears ground into reverse, and tires madly spun the Jaguar back to the spot from where the brick had been thrown. Josh jumped out of the car, grabbed the kid and pushed him up against a parked car. He shouted at the kid, "What was that all about and who are you? Just what the heck are you doing?!" Building up a head of steam, he went on. "That's my new Jag, that brick you threw is gonna cost you a lot of money. Why did you throw it?" "Please, mister, please. . . I'm sorry! I didn't know what else to do!" Pleaded the youngster. "I threw the brick because no one else would stop!" Tears were dripping down the boy's chin as he pointed around the parked car. "It's my brother, mister," he said. "He rolled off the curb and fell out of his wheelchair and I can't lift him up." Sobbing, the boy asked the executive, "Would you please help me get him back into his wheelchair? He's hurt and he's too heavy for me."

Moved beyond words, the young executive tried desperately to swallow the rapidly swelling lump in his throat. Straining, he lifted the young man back into the wheelchair and took out his handkerchief and wiped the scrapes and cuts, checking to see that everything was going to be OK. He then watched the younger brother push him down the sidewalk toward their home.

It was a long walk back to the sleek, black, shining, 12 cylinder Jaguar XKE -a long and slow walk. Josh never did fix the side door of his Jaguar. He kept the dent to remind him not to go through life so fast that someone has to throw a brick at him to get his attention. . . Some bricks are softer than others. Feel for the bricks of life coming at you. For all the negative things we have to say to ourselves, there are positive answers. Shaahid has had quiet few bricks thrown at him in the recent past, whether it was his separation from his mother, or his lover's smooch with Kareena that made it to the frontline news, or the consequent box-office no show of his last two releases. His talent is not questioned and this might be the dent in the Jaguar, but it is a jag nonetheless.

What keeps you busy?

I'm just doing these four films for now. There is 'Milenge Milenge' which is up for release in June or July. Then there is 'Life Ho To Aisi' with Sanjay Dutt and Amrita Rao. Then 'Deewane Hue Paagal', which has Akshay and Sunil also in the lead. And finally, there is John Mathew Mathan's film with Ajay Devgan, which is a Diwali release.

Would you rather have had a euphoric beginning like Hrithik that plummeted you directly into the A Plus actors league?

I cannot really say because I am not on the other side of the window. What I feel is that I got success and then I saw failure. I personally felt that my second film taught me much more than my first film. So I think success and failure need to go hand in hand, because till that happens, you don't really appreciate what you have. And secondly, till the time you don't go wrong, you don't see the need or scope for improvement. Basically, it is very important to not get
accepted because it is then that you improve. I'm sure no one could have asked for a better debut than Hrithik, his first film being a very big hit. It is actually consistency that matters.
What will tip the balance is who is where five years later. A lot of heroes have had stupendous hits and not been able to maintain their superstar status. Some people who've not really had hits have also come back and have been consistent. So I feel each actor has his own equation with success. I will take a call on where I stand three years from now.

Why has 'Milenge Milenge', your next release, been delayed for so long? Is it because of Boney Kapoor's ever increasing financial problems?

'Milenge Milenge' is one film we did not realize when we were scripting, that each shot required a different location. So even if it means that you shot three shots in one shift, it needs to be done. Then Bebo and my dates are also a problem zone. We both have been very busy and it is difficult to co-ordinate. There has never been a time that because of the producer's lack of finances, shooting was held up or got cancelled. His last film 'Bewafaa' took two and half years. This has taken one and a half year.

Your director Satish Kaushik was a man of great promise when the film began. Post 'Vaada' however, he is not in the same place. That is perhaps one of the biggest fallout that the delay has claimed?

I think that is how the film industry judges people. I believe that there are a lot of people who are talented and we need to believe in them, 'cause not even greatest batsman in the world like Sachin Tendulkar has a 100 per cent success ratio. Even he gets out on a duck. I don't understand the concept of putting someone down when things are not going their way. That is the time they need support. Satishji is a great director he has had his hits and flops. If 'Milenge Milenge' is a good film, it will do well. What has his past to do with how he deals with a different subject?

Are you a better actor or a better dancer?

That is a difficult question. I think I have more knowledge of dance because I've had three years of training. But I have lead only two years of acting. Going by that logic,
I'm a better dancer than an actor, but give me a little more time.

When you meet Vikram Bhatt on the sets of 'Deewane Hue Paagal', does the continuing war between your girlfriends, Kareena and Amisha respectively, cast its shadow on the actor-director equation? What are the vibes between you two?

Since the first time we met (Vikram and myself), we were very comfortable. There have been other problems. But we are not best friends or something. He is directing and I'm acting, and that is how our relationship stands. It has nothing to do with personal problems. I have never interacted with Amisha though.

On the last outdoor of the same film, you pointedly kept away from the entire cast and crew of the film. It is believed that you were at your gym rather than at unit parties. Would you rather build your body than your PR?

I'm a person who likes my space after pack up. After that, my time is my own and I am either watching DVDs or hitting the gym. I did interact with my co-stars, but I'm someone who likes my own spare time too. I might be just looking out of the window and doing nothing, but that is my choice, and maybe, some people did feel that I was not social. I don't make a conscious effort to make or not make friends here. I do as I feel.

Are you still contracted with Tips and do you still owe them a part of your earnings?

Yes, I am still under contract with Tips. They gave me my break, so I would rather not look at it like that, but it is a rather stiff contract. It has terms of 80 –20 and it is across the board. And it applies if I do commercials as well.

In recent times, it's been heard that you have become closer to your father, Pankaj Kapoor, after your mother's remarriage. Is that your way of showing your disapproval for your mother's actions?

In the last year and a half, I have become closer to my father, period. It has nothing to do with my mom. I have been spending more quality time with dad recently.

You and your mom seem to be having differences, and rumour has it that she has moved out of your house?

My mother has gotten remarried and she has moved in with her husband. I am living independently and maybe that is why I'm getting more time to spend with dad. My mom and I shifted to Mumbai when I was 11, and that is when I came more in contact with dad.

Do you think he has gotten a raw deal from the industry?

Yes. See, actually he has chosen to be this selective and to live by his beliefs and not compromise on any grounds. When you set yourself that high a target, your choices become much more limited. Today, when I'm working, however hard I try, I do wish I hadn't taken on so many films together. Today, I realize the need to work with makers who can teach me,
banners that don't compromise, and I don't want to do more films at a time. These are my new resolutions and in six months, you can hold my collar if I don't live by this.

Did the kiss controversy change you from boy to man overnight?

I think it is unfair to put it that way. It is too trivial an issue to make such a large impact on anybody. There are much more important things that change a person from boy to man, like maybe, the past few years of my life. I have taken on major responsibilities. What the kiss controversy did too was that it brought Bebo and me closer, and it taught me one more thing. That with the media, it is the artiste who draws the line, 'cause the media never draws the line.

Somehow, a man's image, at least in our country, does not get tainted when such an expose is done, but a woman pays a heavy price.

Why should a woman's image get tainted? We are two people who are in love who have openly been in a relationship. Everybody who is seeing each other and is married and has children does it, so why shouldn't we accept these things?

You are quite a part of Bebo's family now. You even avidly participated in the celebrations post Karisma's delivery.

Basically, I want to be a part of everything that matters to Bebo. This was one of the biggest things that happened in the last two years that I have known her. I thought it was my duty to be there. Also, Karisma, Babita aunty and Bebo are three women, they needed all the external support. Sanjay, Karisma's husband, and his whole family were also there. Soon after she was born, they (the nurses) took the baby and she was kept in an incubator. And Bebo and I were trying to use our star power to get the baby out of the incubator till the hospital authorities drove us away. I will tell you what, in our profession, there are a lot of ups and downs and movement in general, and you need all the support you can get. At least, I feel that way, and Kareena has been my anchor. If somebody wants to turn a relationship into a permanent one, you need to nurture it.

Do you want to send your Enemy No 1, Fardeen, a message through this interview?

I have nothing to say to him. At all!

thanx for sharing the article
misha