I had 16 Burgers says Kunal Kapoor

Courtesy: IndiaFM
Thursday, October 11, 2007

He is an unconventional star who can act and also boasts of a huge female fan following. As Aslam in Rang De Basanti he won tremendous accolades but his next release Hattrick didn't do anything to further his career. Now, he is ready with a Yash Raj Film directed by Perfectionist Sarkar, Pradeep Sarkar. Although Laaga Chunri Mein Daag is touted to be a Rani Mukherji film, this thinking Kapoor hopes to leave a mark of his own. This is also for the first time that he gets to do song-n-dance the traditional way and yes he has also fulfilled the fantasy of singing in the Swiss Alps. In this interview, he tackles a cross section of illustrious people. There's Jaya Bachchan who brought great food, Konkona who performed brilliantly with an efficacious ease, the dance lessons from Rani Mukherji and frothy fun of Abhishek Bachchan. Of course he has peculiar tales to tell about the director too. Time to dig in guys...

What do you think about the music of Laaga Chunri Mein Daag-Journey of a woman?
What I like about the music is also what I like about the film which is that Dada has this unique quality that he brings a certain simplicity and honesty almost an innocence into the movies that he does. It's very strong in soul and I think the music is just an extension of that. The music is very simple it's very honest and different from what you get to hear nowadays because the instrumentation is very simple and there is more emphasis on the words. The words are written keeping the characters in mind they are not random words they are written keeping the story in mind so I think it's very different from any sort of music that you hear in the market now days.

What is your favourite track from Laaga Chunri Mein Daag-Journey of a woman?
My favourite track actually should be my track which is 'Ek teekhi teekhi si ladki' but it's not. My favourite track is which the sisters have 'Hum to aise Hain Bhaiya'. I love the way its shot and I love the song itself. Like I said it depicts the characters really well and its very simple, honest and it touches the heart its not gimmicky song, it's a song that's telling you a story and that's what makes it interesting and after that its my song of course.

Can you tell us something about your character in Laaga Chunri Mein Daag-Journey of a woman?
The character I play is of Vivaan. He's a creative director in an Advertising agency. He's a lazy, laid back sort of a guy and the way I look at him, he knows he's attractive so he does not make the effort. So somewhere this whole laid back, lazy attitude makes him attractive because he knows he does not have to try too hard and also he's a bit of a space cadet. He's always on his own trip so he's pretty much like me. In fact I think the first time when dada saw me I asked him what are the kinds of clothes I am suppose to wear. He said the character of Vivaan is very lazy, laid back so just be yourself, behave like yourself and wear your own personal clothes and you will be perfect so that's how Vivaan is.

I think what gets him about Konkana's character is that he's used to getting a lot of attention but he is not used to somebody coming in and being super confident and having her own mind and telling him exactly what to do. That's what attracts him to Konkana's character because he has never ever met somebody who knows her mind so well. And here's this girl from Banaras who has come into the agency and she is new to the agency and she walks into his office and she tells him that you are wrong and that's what gets him because he is so used to getting attention and so used to being right that he's never had somebody come across to him and tell him that listen you are wrong as well. I found that relationship also very interesting because it's always like a one up sort of a relationship even when they are in love they are always playful and trying to get the better of each other.

What made you decide to do this film? How did it all happen?
I think for me the deciding factor obviously was the role since it was very interesting. It was something that I had never done before. I have done Meenaxi and Rang De Basanti and both of them have been rather serious sort of characters. They both had characters which had a certain weight to them and they had certain seriousness to them. Vivaan is completely different there is nothing really dramatic or serious about him. He's a light hearted chap and secondly I have always wanted to work with Pradeep Sarkar after I had watched Parineeta. There were a couple of people who I had in mind whom I wanted to work with and Dada was one of them, so when I got a call from him I was really excited. But I don't think dada was convinced, like I said he had seen Meenakshi and Rang De Basanti and he was like I don't think this guy can be light hearted and have fun. He's good for serious roles so he did a screen test and he liked the screen test which is why I am here today and it happened rather fast. I got a call, did the screen test and the next day I was on for the film.

What was it like working with Pradeep Sarkar?
Well, different days different strokes. I will need an entire book to tell you how it is to work with Pradeep Sarkar because he's got many moods and different facets to his personality so its very difficult to describe it in couple of words. Firstly, he is extremely passionate about what he does; he is a taskmaster, he is not going to let you go till he knows he's got the shot that he wants. There was one scene in which I am supposed to eat a hamburger and there is some mayonnaise that needs to fall on my jacket and I don't think I have eaten so many burgers in my life put together because I had like some 16 Burgers and 3 bottles of mayonnaise so if somebody thinks doing an action film is risky they should actually try doing a scene which involves Pradeep Sarkar and a Ham burger because that is really risky for your health. What is really nice about working with Dada is that you know that he's not going to let you go until and unless he has got the perfect shot, so as an actor you feel very assured. You come to the set and you know that you are taken care off. There are some directors that let a lot of things pass but Dada will not let anything pass that gives you a lot of confidence as an actor because you know that you are in the right hands and you have a director that cares about every character.