Prashant Singh (HINDUSTAN TIMES; April 17, 2020)

For Arjun Kapoor, the biggest side effect of not being able to work (due to Coronavirus lockdown) is having “no human interactions”. He says: “You can only work so much through video conferencing/technology. Also, when you go to the sets and have a call time etc., there is a certain discipline. Not just me, all the actors are like, ‘sets pe vaapas kab jaane ko milega?”

Nowadays, Arjun is “relaxing, watching films and working out”. He adds, “I don’t get to sleep enough as I don’t get tired enough. I even tried my hand at ‘quintessential baking’ but it didn’t work out well (laughs). On a serious note, I feel the idea should be to have discipline as well as patience; and keep our spirits high. I hope we all come out as better human beings.”

At the same time, Arjun is “extremely thankful” too. “It goes without saying that we’re the fortunate ones to have at least the financial stability when so many are struggling. We shouldn’t complain about anything. I feel, as human beings, we’ve realised how fickle life is, and that you must enjoy finer, simpler things. Otherwise, we just work at rocket speed,” he says.

The actor is also doing whatever he can to lend a helping hand as he did recently along with his sister, Anshula — he went on a virtual date with fans to raise funds for the families of 300 daily wage earners. “Apart from whatever else I’ve done, I wanted to help more people, and am thrilled with people’s response to it,” he says.

Lastly, what’s the first thing he’ll do when things get back to normal? “I’ll meet my friends and family. I’d like go back to the sets, and also experience a film in a theatre,” he says.
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Arjun’s watch-list!

“I’ve been watching a lot of old films/shows such as Argo, The Social Network and even the old Dostana. I’m also reading a lot about some great, master film-makers and writers etc. Plus, I’m catching up on many master-classes on an online app. I last enjoyed Aaron Sorkin’s (the writer of The Social Network, and the hit TV show, The Newsroom) master-class and loved it.”