"I had 16 Burgers, 3 bottles of mayo" - Kunal Kapoor 
By IndiaFM News Bureau, October 9, 2007 - 14:13 IST
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 Chunari 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 Chunari 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 Chunari 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.
When dada saw me I asked him what are the kinds of clothes I am suppose to wear. He said
behave like yourself and wear your own personal clothes and you will be perfect so that’s how Vivaan is.
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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.
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But I don’t think dada was convinced. He was like I don’t think this guy can be light
hearted and have fun
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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.
The second thing about him is that he’s got this incredible eye for detail. I don’t think its humanly possible the sort of eye for detailing he has
because he’s sits on this little monitor and he’s got his head shoved into the monitor and since its this monitor which is not of great quality
it’s a small little thing but he can notice one leaf falling which is 50 feet way and I fail to understand how that is possible because with a
naked eye its not possible to see half the things he does. And I think the nicest thing about working with Dada as a director is that he
approaches every scene rather the entire movie where he does not try to over awe you with the technicalities of cinema. He just tries to tell
you a simple story which has a soul and he goes about it in a very honest and simple sort of way, almost an innocent childish way. There is a
lot of emphasis laid on the relationships in the film. I don’t think there are too many directors especially in today’s day who have the ability to
constantly tell a story with simplicity. I think Dada is one of the few people who can do that and I think that’s what makes him such a good
director. The ability to be simple and honest and be child like innocent about the story that he is telling you that I think is what makes
Laaga Chunari Mein Daag-Journey of a woman special.
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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
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What was it like working with Konkona Sen Sharma?
Working with Konkana has two sides to it. One is that its great fun to work with her because she is very easy to work with. I loved working
with her and she is a lot of fun to have around. She doesn’t come with any excess baggage. She’s just there to do her job and there is
nothing more to that and I have an absolutely superb equation with her.I would love to do more movies with her. The dangerous part about
working with Konkana is that you come to set and you get your scene and you have obviously rehearsed your scene at home and come and
then I come to the set and rehearse it like some 15/20 times, I sit with the director and discuss what I am supposed to do and then Konkana
walks into the set and says “what are we doing today” and then she will take a look at the scene and read it a couple of times and then she will
go and faff around, read a book, listen to music and in the meanwhile I am rehearsing, talking to the director as to how I am supposed to
approach the scene and what I am supposed to do and she walks into the set casually and she does the scene and she gets it right in the first
take and she gives you the most magical shot. And she walks back and goes and listens to her music and you are left there wondering what
did I do wrong in life not to deserve that sort of genetic quality where you just saunter on to the set and you read the scene once and you
just get it wrong. So it can get very demoralizing as a co-actor to work with her but I have sort of got used to her. The other good thing about
Konkana is that she gets really good food from home. It’s always a pleasure working with her.
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It can get very demoralizing as a co-actor to work with Konkana
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How was the experience of shooting with an entire Bengali cast and crew?
It made me feel like a Punjabi shooting a film in Calcutta. It was like shooting for a Bengali film in Calcutta because you walk into the set the
actress, director, set designer all are Bengali and they all talk in Bengali. So after a point you start feeling that they are making fun of you
because everybody is on their own trip. Its almost like being in an alien land. Its like a Maharashtrian doing a Telugu film or like a Punjabi
doing a Bengali film but again the very good part of working in a Bengali set up is that you get damn good food. So I think that was the
compensation for having everybody being Bengali on the set. I am not complaining. I am ready for yet another Bengali film.
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The very good part of working in a Bengali set up is that you get damn good food
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What was it like working with Rani Mukherji?
Rani I am going to be very grateful to. Firstly, I will remember this movie forever because it’s the first time that I have done a Bollywood Hindi
movie song which involves dancing and singing and I was petrified because I not only have two left feet but have four left feet. I not only
crush my co-star’s toes but I crush my own toes while dancing so I am really bad at it and Rani is exceptional. I think after Madhuri Dixit if
there is anybody that can really dance and hold your attention, its Rani and she was kind enough to help me while this song was going on
and I think I have managed fairly well with her help because I crushed Konkana’s toes only once throughout the song. It was really nice of
her. She helped me through a lot of steps.
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I think after Madhuri Dixit if there is anybody that can really dance and hold your attention,
it’s Rani
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What was like working with Jaya Bachchan?
For me Jaya Bachchan is very special because I have been a very big fan of hers for a really long time. And to share screen space with her
obviously is very special. The nicest thing about working with Jayaji is that she gets really exceptional food and she gets food enough for 10
people and she fed us really well. Those days of shooting with Jayaji were fantastic because you really look forward to your lunch. As soon as
you hear lunch everybody is in her room and she would have this huge spread which was well laid and its fantastic working with her.
What was it like working with Abhishek?
Abhishek I have known for really really long but this is the first time I have worked with him He is completely insane. He is out of control, mad
and lots of fun, always up to mischief and pranks and the things that he does exceptionally well which I am really grateful to him for is that I
was really nervous doing this song but Abhishek makes the environment on the sets so light hearted and so much fun to be around that after
a point I actually started enjoying doing the song. It was after the song was over that I realized it was done only because he was around. He
just comes to the set and has so much fun he doesn’t look at work as stress or pressure and because he is having fun and doing such a good
job, it’s infectious and it eventually takes over the entire unit. I am glad that the first song that I did was with Abhishek because doing it with
him just became lots of fun.
What was your shooting experience like in Switzerland?
The thing with Switzerland is that you grow up co-relating Yash Raj and Switzerland and it all becomes a legend in your head because you
look at Switzerland and you think of Yash Raj and you think of all those fabulous movies which have been shot there. You think of all those
big actors who have been a part of the dancing on the mountains and singing on the streets of Switzerland. So I think I am very fortunate
that in my lifetime I have got to be a part of the legend and if nothing else I can look back and say I was part of a Yash Raj film which was shot
in Switzerland and I was there in it.
Which is your favourite outfit in the film?
Well lots of those outfits I wear off screen because some of the clothes that I have worn in the film are a part of my own wardrobe. Vivaan’s
character is one which doesn’t care about what he wears, how he wears it and whether it’s coordinated or not and more often it’s messy and
laid back. So, most of the clothes that Vivaan wears are mine.
Any one memorable incident during the shooting of the film that comes to mind?
Here was this song which we were shooting that had me and Konkana in it and Dada was in a panicky mood. The scene had me and Konkana
in the boat and dada in the other boat in front of us with his camera set up there and the guy who was riding our boat was Italian. He couldn’t
speak in English and Dada kept trying to speak to him in English, Hindi, Bengali everything that he could get out of himself. And it obviously
didn’t have any effect and in the meanwhile there was a translator in between so Dada was screaming at him in Hindi and Bengali and on the
other hand the translator was trying to communicate the same to the boat rider and he was panicking as well. So, there were moments when
Dada was saying come on and the boat rider is trying to get the boat in control because the boat in front was leaving these waves so our boat
was kind of unsteady and he went and banged the boat in front. It was a lot of chaos and madness happening at the same time with the
translator trying to translate to the Italian boat rider and Dada trying to explain things with me and Konkana nearly falling out of the boat.
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