“Badmaash Company is very unconventional” - Shahid
Shahid Kapoor tells this correspondent that he is happy that Paathshaala, which he did not do for commercial reasons, has recovered its cost at the box office.
Is
Badmaash
Company
a
film
on
scam
jobs?
At
the
face
of
it,
it
may
seem
to
be
a
film
on
a
con
job
scam,
where
the
protagonists
do
wrong
things
in
the
right
way,
but
in
effect
it
is
actually
a
journey
of
four
different
friends.
It
is
about
their
coming
of
age,
their
relationship,
their
understanding
of
life
etc.
A
lot
happen
to
them
fast
and
the
impact
it
has
on
their
lives
forms
the
crux
of
the
subject.
It
is
a
film
which
has
an
emotional
base.
I
feel
that
any
day
any
film
with
emotional
base
will
connect
to
people
easily.
What
is
your
role
in
Badmaash
Company?
I
play
Karan.
He
is
a
thinking
person
who
schemes
and
plans
and
has
ideas
which
do
not
appeal
to
people.
Karan
is
from
a
middle
class
background.
His
character
has
a
four
or
five
years
graph
to
it.
It
was
quite
challenging
to
portray
the
graphical
changes
in
the
character.
I
loved
the
script.
The
con
jobs
were
very
fresh,
believable
and
simple.
Parmeet
Sethi
told
me
that
he
had
incorporated
the
scams
out
of
clipping
from
newspapers.
I
liked
the
script
written
by
the
debutante
director.
Dil
Bole
Hadippa
was
more
conventional
whereas
Badmaash
Company
is
very
unconventional.
You
wish
you
get
a
good
script
but
it
does
not
keep
happening.
The
idea
in
Badmaash
Company
is
very
fresh.
How
was
the
experience
of
working
with
a
new
director
like
Parmeet
Sethi?
We
were
just
four
actors
in
the
film
and
there
was
no
star
at
all.
Parmeet
and
I
had
an
open
relationship
so
we
could
discuss
with
transparency
and
honesty
and
a
lack
of
formality.
I
am
happy
being
directed
by
new
directors
and
have
no
desire
of
being
a
director
as
of
now.
How
did
you
find
Anushka
as
an
actress?
Anushka
is
a
very
uninhibited
actress
who
had
absolutely
no
preconceived
notions.
Right
after
Rab
Ne
Bana
Di
Jodi,
she
has
been
able
to
break
the
mould,
because
other
actresses
get
limited
roles
and
space
after
coming
up
with
a
conventional
role
like
she
did
in
Rab
Ne
Bana
Di
Jodi.
How
did
you
break
the
ice
with
Anushka?
All
four
of
us-
Anushka,
Vir
Das,
Meiyang
Chang
and
I
did
a
few
workshops,
because
we
had
never
worked
together
before,
especially
because
it
is
a
subject
of
four
friends.
We
needed
to
break
formalities
and
avoid
having
inhibitions.
We
spent
time
reading
the
script
in
Parmeet
Sethi"s
house
before
we
went
on
the
floors
Why
did
you
agree
to
do
a
special
appearance
in
Paathshaala?
I
wanted
Paathshaala
to
be
seen
by
people
because
it
is
saying
something
good.
I
don't
think
Ahmad
(Khan)
made
this
for
commercial
reasons.
We
just
believe
in
what
the
film
is
saying,
we
wanted
to
reach
out
to
people,
People
don't
pick
up
a
subject
about
children,
the
education
system
and
try
and
take
a
film
about
it.
You
try
and
make
a
documentary
and
it
becomes
boring.
It's
all
the
more
difficult
to
find
a
subject
and
make
it
entertaining
and
make
it
like
a
story
which
has
little
bit
of
emotion,
a
little
bit
of
comedy,
drama
and
you
want
to
sit
through
it.
What
did
you
like
about
Paathshaala?
I
liked
the
fact
that
Paathshaala
tried
to
answer
questions
related
to
the
sanctity
of
today's
education
system.
It
shed
light
on
the
shortcomings
and
wrong
doings
in
today's
schools
where
the
high
morals
and
basic
ethics
associated
with
the
teaching
profession
seem
to
have
taken
a
back
seat.
There
are
lots
of
things
that
the
film
talks
about.
There
were
small
situations
in
the
film
which
signified
various
problems
that
children
are
going
through.
Would
you
compare
Paathshaala
with
Taare
Zameen
Par?
I
do
not
see
Paathshaala
as
a
Shahid
Kapoor
film
or
as
a
commercial
film
of
mine.
It
was
a
film
which
cost
only
eight
crores
to
make.
It
was
made
for
a
cause
and
has
recovered
its
cost.
I
would
not
say
that
the
film
is
anywhere
near
Taare
Zameen
Par.
Taare
Zameen
Par
gave
a
platform
for
this
type
of
film.
Before
that
no
one
ever
thought
that
this
type
of
film
could
be
made
and
released
at
the
commercial
level.
Taare
Zameen
Par
talks
about
a
dyslexic
child
while
Paathshaala
was
about
the
general
education
system.
How
do
you
look
at
hits
and
flops
as
an
actor?
Whenever
a
film
of
mine
flops,
I
try
not
to
think
or
mull
about
it.
Nor
do
I
become
delirious
with
happiness
when
a
film
of
mine
becomes
a
big
hit
like
say
Jab
We
Met
or
for
that
matter
Kaminey,
because
I
have
now
come
to
believe
that
hits
and
flops
are
a
part
and
parcel
of
an
actor"s
life
and
it
is
not
at
all
in
your
hands
whether
a
film
clicks
at
the
box
office
or
embarrasses
you
by
tanking
badly.
Do
you
look
back
and
analyse
why
a
particular
film
of
yours,
say
like
Chance
Pe
Dance
flopped?
If
a
film
sees
the
light
of
the
day,
it
is
time
for
you
to
move
on
ahead
by
looking
forward.
If
you
have
to
survive,
you
cannot
afford
to
look
back,
because
there
is
no
point
absolutely
in
wasting
your
precious
time,
especially
since
there
is
this
danger
that
it
will
take
away
whatever
positivity
that
you
may
have
from
a
forthcoming
film
of
yours,
though
I
do
believe
in
sitting
with
my
director
and
analyzing
what
went
wrong
so
that
both
the
director
and
I
can
learn
from
where
we
had
gone
wrong.
Of
course
I
would
not
like
the
discussion
to
go
beyond
the
four
walls.
Do
you
let
your
flops
unnerve
you?
You
should
always
make
it
a
point
to
remember
that
a
successful
film
of
yours
is
not
good
just
because
it
has
been
proclaimed
a
hit
and
vice
versa,
a
film
of
your
which
has
flopped
isn"t
always
a
bad
film,
though
it
has
failed
to
recover
the
investment
of
the
producer.
As
an
audience,
I
feel
that
there
is
no
point
in
blaming
any
one
when
a
film
of
yours
flops,
because
I
am
of
the
belief
that
the
audiences
are
always
right.
What
is
your
take
on
ego?
I
feel
that
ego
is
something
that
will
take
away
your
ability
to
recognize
mistakes.
Today
I
have
no
qualms
as
an
actor
to
go
to,
say
Raju
Hirani
or
Mani
Ratnam
or
for
that
matter
even
Vishal
Bhardwaj
with
whom
I
have
already
acted
and
tell
them
that
I
am
dying
to
work
in
a
film
with
them.
I
wish
I
was
a
part
of
films
like
3
Idiots,
Dhoom
or
for
that
matter
Krissh.
As
an
actor,
I"d
rather
first
learn
how
to
be
successful
and
only
then
think
of
proving
to
the
world
how
good
an
actor
I
am.
In
what
way
is
the
Shahid
Kapoor
of
today
different
from
the
Shahid
Kapoor
of
2000?
Today,
I
have
lost
all
the
inhibitions
which
I
had
as
an
actor
when
I
had
begun
my
career
way
back
in
2000
with
Ishq
Vishq,
when
I
was
just
yet
another
kid
on
the
film
scene.
Today,
I
feel
that
there
is
a
certain
focus,
belief
in
attempting
something
new.
Today
I
can
vouchsafe
that
I
do
not
feel
scared
to
do
something
different
from
the
others
by
pushing
the
envelope.
Tell
me
about
your
father
Pankaj
Kapoor"s
directorial
venture
Mausam
in
which
you
have
been
teamed
opposite
Sonam
Kapoor!
My
father"s
film
Mausam
is
a
love
story.
My
dad
has
written
the
last
leg
of
the
story.
Dad
told
me
that
though
he
has
put
in
35
years
as
an
actor,
he
did
not
have
ambition
to
prove
himself
and
he
just
wants
to
make
Mausam
to
show
his
son
in
a
different
light
as
an
actor.
With
dad,
every
day
was
a
workshop,
when
I
assisted
him
when
he
was
directing
his
TV
serial
'Mohandas
B.A.B.L".