Aditya Roy Kapur just had a very successful show called The Night Manager on Disney Plus Hotstar. And the actor is now ready for another outing called Gumraah, a film that’s all set for a theatrical release on April 7 and is the official remake of the Tamil hit Thadam.
And in an exclusive interview with Firstpost, the actor is disarming as he speaks about the film, which of the two roles was tougher to play in this double role, the success of The Night Manager, and a decade of Aashiqui 2 next month.
Your first three films were with Sanjay Leela Bhansali and Vipul Shah. This time, it’s a first time director (Vardhan Ketkar). Is the energy on the sets different when you have a debut director?
Vardhan was actually very sorted yaar. What I liked about him even before we got on the sets was he was very calm, very sure, and very clear of what he wanted, how he wanted to shoot his film, the emotions, so I never felt I was working with a first time director. He was never someone who is not sure what he was doing, he was in complete charge of his sets. He’s very sensitive towards his actors, and I never felt it was his first film. The feedback that I have been getting from people after they have seen the trailer is that it does not seem to be the work of a first time director. That’s the credit to him.
This is your debut in a double role. What are the challenges behind that?
One of the challenge is to create a distinction between the two characters. When you see the film, you’ll realize that we could not make the two characters look very different so we had to play with a little bit of clothes, little bit of hair, but mainly it was related to their behavior. The help I got was that both the characters were written on the page. The second challenge is that when you are shooting on the same day for both the characters, so that flipping between characters can be a bit challenging because you have to be very clear about being different. This challenge with one of the reasons why I said yes to the film.
Who was more challenging to be like- Arjun or Ronnie?
I would say Ronnie, because he was also more fun. As an actor, it is always nice to play the bad guy. He’s not a bad guy, he’s basically a guy from the streets so he needed some more work. He’s very far from who I am.
How has Vardhan ensured the film has the essence of the original and a stamp of its own?
I think it’s exactly what you said, he has managed that. He has set the film in a different place, by virtue of that, the characters from that place, which is very much different from the original. The characters of Arjun and Ronnie have been given a bit more of a twang, the way they speak, their attitude it’s all a bit heightened. The basic foundation is similar, but he has managed to create a difference in some of the plot points and characterization.
Do you enjoy watching remakes, adaptations?
I do, because a lot of times I haven’t seen the original.
How was it like working with Ronit Roy and Mrunal Thakur?
It was great. Ronit sir has such a great presence on screen. He has added so much of weight to that rule. I had a great time being on the sets with him. Mrunal is also such a great talent, I’ve seen some of her work and she’s absolutely lovely.
You’ve been a VJ as well and interviewed such vast variety of people. What are the challenges of being on the other side?
When you are doing a virtual interview, it’s a different thing because you have to take care of other things like how it is looking visually. I think a good interview is when you disarm the person in front of you, when you make them feel comfortable, and ask them questions that are not run-of-the-mill and to make them think. I think another challenge is to allow the conversation to go wherever and not be too stuck with your questions.
What are some of the questions you’re tired of answering during film interviews?
I think that happens towards the end of all movie promotions. Today is just the first day but meet me towards the ninth or the 10th day. And it’s not even the journalist fault, I mean there are so many questions that you can ask.
On Aashiqui 2 turning 10 and a trip to nostalgia
Are you serious? Oh wow. That’s a big one yaar. Very ready to feel nostalgic.
I read a lot of reviews of The Night Manager and a majority of the people said that Aditya Roy Kapoor was looking so attractive and distracting that they could not focus on the show. Would you like to take this as a compliment?
Hmmm, I’ll choose to take this as a compliment.
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