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| "I was being pampered by the same people who used to fire me and shout at me when I was an assistant" - Kunal Kapoor | |
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By IndiaFM News Bureau, December 22, 2005 - 04:45 IST |
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He made his debut in the Picasso movie Meenaxi directed by M.F.
Hussain. Alongside Tabu, he showed us what he is made of with his
acting prowess. After seeking asylum from Bollywood he is back after a
short sabbatical as a part of Aamir Khan's gang in Rang De Basanti. IndiaFM presents a tte--tte with Kunal Kapoor. Why such a long break after Meenaxi ? After Meenaxi I didn't really get the kind of offers I was looking for. Also, for Rang De Basanti, the makers of the film had signed me up for two to three months at a stretch but then the movie got delayed. So there was a break in between. But the good thing that happened in the meantime was that I attended some workshops of Naseeruddin Shah and did theatre with him. So even though I didn't do a lot of work that was not very much in media but I learned a lot. Tell us about Rang De Basanti. Rang De Basanti is young film. It has a mix of fun, drama and emotions. It is also a very inspirational film. So it is very difficult to restrict it within a particular category. Tell us about your character in the film. I play the character of Aslam, a middle class boy from Chandni Chowk who is in college with the other guys in the movie. He is the rational person in the group. He never takes a hasty decision; he thinks about the situation and then convinces others as well. He is the sane voice in the group. The fascinating quality of Aslam is that though he is surrounded by people who are fanatic, he himself is very liberal. He is a poet, a writer and therefore, he thinks differently. He doesn't care about his appearance, his looks. He is ok with unmatched clothes and shabby hair. So it was a very interesting character to play. How was it working with Aamir Khan? Aamir was very much like a pal, a buddy throughout the making of the film. Many people say that the group chemistry of the boys was really great and I think the credit for that goes to Aamir. He never behaved like a big star. He was just one of the guys among us, and gave us so much liberty both on and off screen, so we were all very comfortable working together. In fact, now I can say that he is a very good friend of mine too. It's only when I see the promos of Rang De Basanti that I realize that I was working with "Aamir Khan". Tell us about the director Rakesh Mehra. Rakesh is a mad, wild, dark sort of person. He thinks in a completely different direction and that really shows it in the kind of movies he makes. Working with him was very comfortable because I was an assistant to him for his earlier film Aks. Hence I had a clear idea of what he wanted out of me. Also, I had been working with the same unit all over again, but this time as an actor, therefore, sometimes it felt kind of weird. I was being pampered by the same people who used to fire me and shout at me when I was an assistant but I used to really enjoy it then. Would you like to see Rang De Basanti as a commercial success or critically acclaimed movie? Definitely, a commercial success! I think it is very important that greater number of people watch this movie. I don't believe that a movie is a success by getting good reviews by few newspapers and a couple of awards. The movie should be appreciated of course, but also do well commercially, because there is lot of money at stake and careers of many people depend on it. So, it's important for a movie to do good business. With so many stars in the movie, don't you think your performance in this film will be overshadowed? Well, Rang De Basanti is the story of a group and each character in the group has his own track in the movie. Aamir Khan's is the lead character in the movie but then every character has his own individual story. Besides, there was no sense of competition among us at all. So, audiences will definitely notice that when they watch the film. Tell us about the music of the film. The music of the film is very situational to the film. It goes with the story of the film and hence the music will catch up when people actually see the film. My favorite tracks in the album are Rubaru and the title track Rang De Basanti. What is unique about the Rang De Basanti ? It is new story, which has been told in a new and unique manner. Even in the promos it can be noticed that the settings, the look and the backdrop of the movie is very different. Even the music is urban but not very 'metro' as such. It is a topic which has never been tackled before. What kind of films do you want to work in? I just want to do good work in films without segregating them. I am ready to work in any genre of films that interest me. | |
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