Telly Tadka - An Actor Par Excellence : Kunal Karan Kapoor

As a writer when i sat down to write this article I had no idea how or where I was going to start. In the back of my head I wanted this to be PERFECT' and the very thought was making it harder for me to write. After a few hours I realized that if I was going to think and write this one, i would never be able to even pen the introductory paragraph, so i decided to take Bappa's name, simply start writing and go with the flow !

An extraordinary actor is one who transcends into the skin of the character he plays, leaving the audience dazzled with his brilliant performance and impeccable emoting. They say an actor who can breath life into the character that he plays, making it hard for all who see and differentiate if he is simply acting or truly living the role is definitely "An Actor Par Excellence". It's not every actors cup of tea to make the audience connect with a fictional character that he or she plays... some miserably fail at it, some do an average or above average job and some manage to touch a chord deep within the audience. The actor featuring in this article is one of the few, who has managed to touch that chord with his portrayal of perhaps one of the most brilliantly written characters on Television making it an Iconic. Today as the actor and the character he played, bid adieu we know for sure that this is one void that can never be filled.

The actor is none other than Kunal Karan Kapoor who essayed the role of Mohan Bhatanagar and Vasu Bhau in the NBT Series. Kunal undoubtedly is one of the most supremely talented actors we have today and his portrayal of Mohan/Vasu has been superlative. Right from the moment the Director of NBT said "GO" Kunal has been a delight to watch. His carefully mussed hair, swagger, lazy- unfinished smile and eyes that speak volumes leave nothing but a contented smile on your face. You see Kunal and you immediately connect it with quality work and realize that this is what it feels like, to watch a flawless performance. The way he emotes, expresses, his body language and his innate ability to live the character is what gives him an edge over his contemporaries. He is one of the few actors who can bring about the varied nuances of the character he plays or should I say live?

If an actor can capture the attention and interest of the audience, in other words make a connect with them, without letting it drop even for a second the task assigned to him/her as an actor is accomplished. Every time Kunal donned the role of Mohan or of Vasu he managed to skilfully accomplish this task. Like said above Kunal does not essay his character, he lives them and while doing so he does not let even a random moment pass by, without grabbing it and bringing it to life. Sometimes it makes you voice out loud that "Hey it's just a TV series for God's sakes" but that's Kunal Karan Kapoor for you. One cannot help but admire and appreciate Kunal's ability to make a lasting Impact when compared to the far more promoted actors we have today. From his depiction of the slightest emotions, that glistens in his eyes , to the facial expressions , dialogue delivery with perfect voice modulations, the various gestures...in short everything about Mohan and Vasu just leaves you or left you spellbound.

Mohan a reporter/editor in chief and Vasu a local don were shining examples of the word "Imperfectly-Perfect". Both these characters were flawed yet perfect...they messed up things in their own ways yet there was something heroic about them. To write a character on paper is one thing, to bring it alive on screen is another and as an actor what Kunal has done, they way he has interpreted and given varied dimensions to the characters he portrayed is indescribable.

Kunal's scenes with everybody be it with Dushyant (Guru), Akanksha (Megha), Ashnoor/Jayshree (Nanhi) etc had a life of its own. Scenes like the one where Mohan gets to do the Spiderman-Chavanni Special on Holi after the two apply color on each other, you can see the happiness break through from within him after 12 Years. When Megha accuses Mohan of moving on in life, getting married to RJ's Mom you can feel the anger and hurt because of what she said seeping through. While screaming at Guru because the latter stopped him from drinking (Excessively) you know why he has resorted to such bitterness. In short Kunal is can pull of any scene effortlessly, but he is simply phenomenal in emotional scenes and manages to leave a lasting Impression every time.

For example...when Mohan stayed away from Megha for 12 Long Years because of a promise he made, the Void in his life could be seen in his eyes...Yes! He did laugh, he did joke because of his Jaan (Rim Jhim) but the pain that lay hidden beneath was somehow palpable from across the screen. When Mohan sat in a corner of his room and cried out loud because of a pain that was too deep-seated and tangled all the way (After learning that Addu refused to come home because of his hatred for Mohan) living rooms were flooded with tears and audience were praying that his pain be soothed. In the scene where Vasu grabs Megha by her arm and pulls her towards him, his eyes fighting the tears that threatened to spill before her but still urging Megha to say something, ask something "Pooch na , Kuch Bhi" you can measure the turmoil going inside him who verbally asked her to leave but wished that she wouldn't. The devastated look on Vasu's face when he fails to recollect who he was even after knowing the truth and admitting it to Megha...the impact of Kunal's performance isn't something that can be described in words.

When he smiles through his tears, like for instance the Indore railway station dream seq or the Meghan first meet after 12 long years amidst the Shivratri Procession the you can see hope, joy, warmth etc mixed with the pain in his eyes and I am yet to come across an actor who can do it as effectively as Kunal. Be it Mohan or Vasu if his tears tug your heart at the same time his smile soothes that very pain. In NBT-2 last episode when he meets the other members of his Family (Video Chat) you can witness a TRAILER, yes a trailer of sorts of the acting range that this actor is capeable of. If Jiji Bua's brought a smile to his face, Nanhi's very sight and her talks paved way for tears and finally when Renu Bhabhi who was always at loggerheads with him asks him to come home and if he would if she asked him to...Vasu simply nods his head and walks away. The pain, helplessness, fear everything Vasu was going through at that particular moment and finally hugging Megha and crying his heart out was a sight to behold.

Kunal's biggest strength as an actor is that is one of the actual few who can emote amazingly well through eyes. Trust me not all can do this. I can cite a 100 examples or maybe even more where Kunal did not have a single dialogue, in perhaps some of the most crucial/life altering situations in the show and still it was always he, who made us realize and experience the gravity of the situation. One of the most beautiful sequence to cite as an example would be the classic confession scene of Megha (Season 1). The Moment she said "I Love You" he is shocked... stunned... left speechless at the latest development in his life. Somewhere he is unsure if he heard it right...the feeling does not sink inside even after she hugs him but the moment he hugs her back you know that he wants nothing more but the world to just stop right there. Kunal managed to take the viewers through the vortex of feelings that Mohan was experiencing without even uttering a Word. What he said with just his eyes could not be summed up as equivocally in a thousand lines of dialogue.

Kunal played the role of Mohan Bhatnagar with great lan, when this character was thrown off a cliff bringing it to and end viewers were left heartbroken. After two episodes, a lot of side shots and long shots, when Kunal made his come back in a brand new- never expected avatar of Vasu, someone who was the complete opposite of Mohan the viewers couldn't help but take pride in the fact that they were KKK's Fans. Eyes adorned with khol, a red tilak, a tooth pick that kept dancing in his mouth, a sleek tapori attitude and a persona that commanded respect and invoked fear. The switch was perfect and smooth but what was impressive about it was that Kunal had to be merciless as Vasu Bhau and still retain Mohan's heart with all it's goodness. For many portraying one character and making it memorable is challenging enough, Kunal went one step ahead and portrayed Vasu Bhau a local but powerful don in the same show making it equally memorable.

Only once in a while do we come across an actor who makes you cross the abyss between real and reel, makes you feel that you are a part of his story and living it with him. I am sure everybody will agree with me when I say that I am thankful to the Makers of NBT for giving us such wonderful characters (Mohan & Vasu) and somebody as talented as Kunal to do it because nobody could have done a better Job. I really don't think any adjective from the English dictionary can ever describe the standard of performance that this actor delivered episode after episode during NBT's run (1 & 2). In fact it would be simply unfair to confine his acting ability in words, as it would do no justice to it.

In the end I would simply reaffirm the quote "A good actor is one who outshines himself every time he delivers a performance" and thus there is no denying the fact that Kunal Karan Kapoor is indeed An actor par Excellence.

Author: Vijitha Rajan
Telly Tadka

Link of the article : http://goo.gl/6EQCSc