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'I will do anything for a role'
Anil Kapoor on his career moves
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The one thing that can safely be said about Anil Kapoor is that he has withstood the test of time.
While fads and fashions have come and gone, he has maintained a rocksteady hold over audiences. Never mind if his films this year -- Satish Kaushik's Badhaai Ho Badhaai and Anupam Kher's Om Jai Jagadish --- have not made the cash counters jingle.
The actor, who still lands romantic leads after being in the industry for over two decades, awaits the release of his latest film, Indra Kumar's Rishtey, starring Karisma Kapoor and Shilpa Shetty.
An interview with Subhash K Jha.
Is Rishtey a remake of the Jon Voight starrer, The Champ?
There is an element of The Champ in Rishtey. I play a retired streetfighter. Rishtey is very important for me because it is my third release this year [after Badhaai Ho Badhaai and Om Jai Jagadish]. If it does well, the memory of the two previous flops would be wiped off. An actor is only remembered by his last film.
I think 90 per cent of the audience will identify with Rishtey. It speaks of universal emotions.
What was it like working with Karisma Kapoor and Shilpa Shetty?
To be honest, nowadays, the girls just do their work and then go their separate ways. I live with the film even after shooting is over. The girls are right in their attitude. They have so many other commitments. I am too emotional about my films.
I’ve worked with both Shilpa [most recently in Badhaai Ho Badhaai] and Karisma [David Dhawan's Biwi No 1] earlier. In Rishtey I got to sing songs with Karisma, though not too much running around trees. This time, Indra Kumar did not go to Ooty to shoot a song under his favourite tree!
Are the co-stars a problem?
India is a country of beautiful women and there are new, promising faces coming up all the time. I’m sure there is a great actress around the corner. But right now, there’s a vaccuum. I do find a tremendous potential in Kareena Kapoor. I’m doing a film with her produced by my brother, Boney Kapoor, called Bewafaa.
What role are you playing in Bewafaa?
I play a tycoon like Michael Douglas in Oliver Stone's Wall Street and Kareena’s husband. It is a strong character role and I have no hesitation in saying so. In fact, I started my career with character roles. I had a character role in Woh Saat Din.
Even Lekh Tandon's Ek Baar Kaho at the beginning of your career was a character part.
Yes, that film was a turning point for me. That’s where Javed Akhtar noticed me and recommended me to Ramesh Sippy for his Shatranj. I was to play Javed Jaffrey’s role. This film changed to Meri Jung with me in the lead, in place of Amitji [Amitabh Bachchan].
The definition of a character role has changed. I’m responsible for that, to an extent. Even today, I have played author-backed character roles in Subhash Ghai's Taal and David Dhawan's Biwi No 1. Of course, there is Amitji also. I used to wonder why he spoke about a dearth of roles for an actor of his age. I feel even today, at 60, he is one of the most comfortably placed actors in Mumbai.
Why do you think Nayak did not work at the box-office?
It did not perform as badly as it was made out to be. The people involved recovered their investments. It was sold at a very high price.
Though it may sound improbable, I feel 9/11 affected the film [Nayak released September 5]. I am not saying it would have been a superhit under normal circumstances. But if not for September 11, Nayak would have been a plus film. After the terrorist attacks, people were glued to the television.
Also, I feel the fantasy element in Nayak disappointed audiences. The Telugu version, Hindustani, which was a big hit, came a couple of years earlier. I guess audiences' tastes change every six months now. But I enjoyed every bit of Nayak.
Are we going to see a nude Anil Kapoor again?
Good point! I loved doing the nude scene and I would not mind doing it again. Director Shankar was scared whether I would agree to do that scene. But I got into the act very naturally. In fact, it was one of the sequences I looked forward to. I will do anything for a role.
In spite of doing varied roles, why do you think your recent films did not work?
My performance in Nayak and other films did work. Maybe I chose the wrong scripts in Badhaai Ho Badhaai and Om Jai Jagadish. I am experimenting with roles, trying to upgrade them so that today’s generations can identify with them. But the films are not working in totality. In a sense, I belong to the old school of acting. I consider the director to be the boss and go with his convictions and instincts. But there are certain scripts like Raj Kumar Santoshi's Pukar which I believe in.
Aren’t you half a director yourself?
Not at all. I am petrified of direction. I am passionate about acting. That is the most exciting part of cinema.
Where would your career have been without Boney's supervision?
Boney made me commercially savvy. Otherwise, with my looks and personality, I would have been nowhere. If it wasn’t for him, I would have spent all my energy being an actor instead of a star. Commercial cinema is far more difficult than realistic films. Within every film, an actor must reach the maximum audience.
I try to do films that excite audiences on an elementary and aesthetic level. I am not crazily finicky about my roles but I am selective. Though I have to believe in a film to do it, there have been times --- like Raj Kanwar's Judaai --- when I have gone blindly with the filmmaker’s belief. But even there, I have tried to impart my own credibility to the performance. I always try to make my performance as sincere as possible. But I turn down far more roles than I accept.
Isn’t it time for actors of your generation to try another kind of cinema?
I do it all the time. If Nicolas Cage can go from an Oscar winning Leaving Las Vegas to an out-and-out commercial Face Off so can I.
But while choosing an unconventional part, one has to be very careful. I do get such offers. But often they are insignificant roles, which I would not do. For me, to put my credibility and saleability on the line, the role has to be really exciting. Given that kind of script, I am ready to do it for free. I have done many films for a reduced fee. And I will do it again because I love cinema.
Your first attempt at production, Badhaai Ho Badhaai, failed.
To be honest, I have been a producer without getting my name in the credits for a long time. In Badhaai Ho Badhaai I had no financial stake. So I did not lose money, but I lost 'face.' That was worse.
Would you like to work with filmmakers like Sanjay Leela Bhansali?
But I have worked with him! He assisted Vidhu Vinod Chopra in Parinda (1989) and 1942: A Love Story. (1998) Often Vinod would entrust the song picturisations to Sanjay. In fact, Sanjay choreographed Kuch na kaho with Farah Khan. The other day I was going through my list of films. From 1983 to 2003, I have done at least one substantial unconventional role every year.
So you are a great strategist...
I just go with my gut feeling. Failure does not scare me. I am ready to be called a flop actor for six or eight months. After that everyone changes his or her mind.
Does failure make you insecure?
It makes me angry when I work so hard on a film and it does not work. But I also like to rectify the mistakes. The reputation I have earned for taking myself too seriously comes from my complete commitment to the job. Ten years back, this reputation made me unique. Today, all the actors are doing it. Some of today’s actors take themselves ten times more seriously than me. When some of them come to me with their inputs, I simply smile at them and say, 'I've been there!'
What’s the most exciting project you have on hand?
Right now, I looking forward to Sudhir Mishra’s Waapsi. It’s an emotional thriller about a man’s search which brings him to Kolkata. What I like about this film is that I do not play a super-hero, just an ordinary man. Sudhir has his own unique vision. He is one of our most under-estimated directors. I would rate him on par with Shekhar Kapur. I had done a guest appearance in Sudhir Mishra’s Dharavi. And then there’s Honey Irani’s Armaan.
Tell us about Armaan.
Besides me, there's Amitji, Preity Zinta and Gracy Singh in the film. I love the way it has been made. The unit was wonderful. We wrapped up Armaan in just three months. I am playing a doctor for the first time. It has been done authentically with a doctor constantly present during the shooting. It is so real you will be able to smell the ether!