Chaya Unnikrishnan (DNA; July 29, 2017)

In Anees Bazmee’s Mubarakan, it’s not just Arjun Kapoor who is sharing screen space with his chachu Anil Kapoor for the first time, it is also Sanjay Kapoor’s maiden outing with his elder brother. And that too, as Anil’s bade bhaiyya! “Yes, I play his older sibling, but have still managed to look younger than him. Anil ki tamanna poori ho gayi, at least in the movie I play his elder brother,” grins Sanjay, who has an interesting, funny scene with Anil.

After 25 years...
Despite being in the industry for over 25 years, Anil and Sanjay have never worked together. “We haven’t even done a photoshoot together, except for one where Boney, Anil and I were together on a magazine cover. Anil and I had gone on a world tour together way back in 1997 along with Amitji (Bachchan), Shilpa (Shetty) and Manisha (Koirala) where we spent quality time together. We never wanted to play our brother card, but this film required us as siblings,” elaborates Sanjay.

It was meant to be
Sanjay was in London when Anil was shooting for the film. And they needed an actor to play Arjun’s father. “Anil called me and said there’s an interesting role and you’ll like it. It will be great fun. More than anything else, I did it because the scene was with Anil. Also, Anees had directed It’s My Life that I had produced, and I share a great equation with him,” says Sanjay.

Family ties
Though he shot only for one-and-a-half day, Sanjay says he had a good time on the sets. Ask him if he felt emotional working with Anil and he says, “The entire family was together in London. We were there to celebrate Sunita’s (Kapoor) 60th birthday. Being on a holiday or working with family is always emotional.”

No screen time with Arjun
Though he plays Arjun’s father in the film, he doesn’t share screen space with his nephew as his character dies early on. “Yes, I have kept that for the future. Sabhi ek saath nahi hoga na? I have to work with Arjun, Sonam, Harshvardhan and also Mohit (Marwah). I didn’t want to give everything in the first film,” he quips.

The wife’s pleased, too
Another first for Sanjay in the film is playing a sardar. He shares, “Maheep (his wife) is a sardarni. Her father is happy that I donned a turban for the film. Now, her brother and father look up to me. They have a good-looking sardar as a son-in-law! So, I have taken care of that side of my family, too!”