Tusshar Kapoor on giving Bollywood a second shot and not being restricted to the comedy genre
Shaheen Parkar (MID-DAY; July 14, 2019)

He is there, yet not there in Bollywood's scheme of things. Last seen in Golmaal Again (2017), Tusshar Kapoor's appearances on the big screen have been few of late. He recently took the digital route with sister Ekta Kapoor's ALT Balaji web show, Booo… Sabki Phategi.

Kapoor says his absence from the big screen is not his doing. "I signed several films, but they never took off. There are a lot of factors at play and often an actor can do nothing about it. In one instance, the film was about to roll when certain issues cropped up just a day prior."

Big Decision
Kapoor who became a dad to a baby boy, Laksshya, via surrogacy in 2016 says, "People think I have cut down on work because of fatherhood. But that's not the case. I am open to doing all kinds of films." Being part of the Golmaal franchise, the actor says there is this thought that he can only do similar roles. "But I have also done films like Khakee (2004) and Shootout At Lokhandwala (2007). In fact, my best performances have been the non-comedy roles."

About his digital debut, he says, "Ekta had been talking to me, about two years ago, to be part of one of ALT Balaji's web shows. At that time, I didn't know how the digital world would pan out. Last year, when writer-director Farhad Samji was working on Baby Come Naa, he bounced off the idea to me. I was the last to come on board on the show. I am enjoying the new platform. It can reach out to so many more people out there."

Booo… Sabki Phategi, which sees Mallika Sherawat as co-star, is a horror comedy. "It is filmi masala stuff. There are some amazing things being made on the web, but most of it is dark and grim. Everyone wants it to be another version of what is being made abroad."

Similar Approach
Kapoor does not find any difference shooting for a web show and a film. "It is the same challenge of getting your act together. The grammar is the same, we shoot it like a film, and not as an episodic."

What also helped Kapoor was that he had worked with co-stars Krushna Abhishek, Sanjay Mishra and Kiku Sharda earlier. "Nowadays there is a lot of relatively new talent on the web, if I was acting with people I did not know, we would have to organise workshops first to find the comfort levels."

There is talk about a new season of Booo… Sabki Phategi but he cautions, "It is too early to talk about it. The show can keep running as long as people like to watch it. The audience appreciates humour, and it can lend itself to a franchise."

Spending Time
As he has been away from the big screen, it has given Kapoor ample time to be with Laksshya. "I am a hands-on father. I make sure I am around whenever he needs me."

Kapoor is in no hurry to tell his tot about his profession and the starry trappings. "I have kept him away from Bollywood. I don't want him to see my films, at least for now. My mother showed him the Aankh Marey song from Simmba (2018) in which I featured. He then quipped, "Yeh toh Aankh Marey ke papa hain'. I prefer he watches kiddie stuff like cartoons and films made for kids. I will not sit down and tell him who I am. If he learns about it from others, then perhaps I will have to."

Kapoor cites an example how Laksshya prefers to do his own thing. "Recently, I was in Film City and told him to come over, but he preferred to be in the play area of an Andheri mall." And Kapoor would like it this way.

Franchise Talk
There has been talk of another outing of Golmaal, the franchise he is best known for. "Director Rohit Shetty can answer this but I hope there is an outing soon. Everyone rememebers my character in the comedy. It is fun. Now Golmaal has gone to another level. Like everyone even I am waiting for it."

Wearing The Producer’s Hat
Though sister Ekta and mother Shobha Kapoor have been producing television, films and web content under the Balaji Telefilms banner, Tusshar Kapoor steered cleared of it. The actor has now floated his own banner, Tusshar Entertainment House. His first project is the Akshay Kumar and Kiara Advani-starrer Laxmmi Bomb. Designer-turned-filmmaker Shabinaa Khan is co-producer. The horror comedy is a remake of Raghava Lawrence’s Tamil film Kanchana (2011). "This is my independent foray into filmmaking," he says. The film was mired in controversy when Lawrence walked out of the project citing creative differences. "I will keep mum about it," says Kapoor.

Unperturbed about being stereotyped, Shreyas Talpade on his love for the genre as he makes his web debut with acomedy
Letty Mariam Abraham (MID-DAY; August 21, 2018)

What about ALTBalaji’s show, Baby Come Naa, appealed to you?
I play a street-smart guy who gets lucky with two girls. He will do anything to keep them happy — from being their spot boy, cook and even their boyfriend. It is one of the naughtiest characters I have played. This is out of my comfort zone. The comedy has terrific writing and is helmed by one of the finest directors in the industry, Farhad Samji.

You’ve been stereotyped as a comic actor in Bollywood. Would it have made sense to break the image for your web debut?
While I would love to do serious roles, comedy comes naturally to me. People love watching me in comic roles, and as an entertainer, it’s my duty to give them what they want. However, I am working on some interesting scripts from other genres as well. Moreover, it would be foolish on my part to wait for a serious role to come my way, and leave a show that is entertaining and appeals to the masses. And let’s not forget, comedy is serious business.

Chunky Panday and you have worked together previously. How was the reunion?
I have grown up watching his films. While it is always fun to work with him — whether it is a film or an awards night or a web series — what I like about him is his childlike innocence. Before a shot, he will ask you, ‘Yeh main kaise karun?’; ‘Yeh punch yahan pe kaise lagega?’ He is like a student who is ever-willing to learn. He has been a star, but when we work together, he is a friend.

Between Kiku Sharda, Chunkey Pandey and you — who is the funniest?
Kiku, his comic timing is superb. I have a lot to learn from him.

Filmmakers fear that with the popularity of video-on-demand services, people will stop going to theatres.
The fear is unfounded. Despite Netflix being popular in the West, especially in the United States, people are still thronging cinemas. Cinemas have survived the advent of TV, VCR, and DVDs. Nothing can replace a film experience in theatres. Also, it’s great that actors are exploring every medium. Why stick to one medium when creativity can’t be bound?

You debuted as a director with Poster Boyz last year. Any plans of taking that further?
Being behind the camera excites me as much as being in front of it. I am planning to helm more projects, but the plan is at a nascent stage.

Letty Mariam Abraham (MID-DAY; July 21, 2018)

Ekta Kapoor’s online platform ALT Balaji is following its comedy series Galti Se Mis-Tech and Fourplay with a sex-comedy that sees Chunkey Panday hopping aboard the digital bandwagon. Yet at odds with the title, Baby Come Naa, Pandey says “there’s nothing sexual” about the series.

Talking about the venture, an adaptation of Paritosh Painters’ English and Hindi play Double Trouble, Panday says, “It’s like a Jerry Lewis film, a romcom sex comedy, but there is nothing sexual about it. You can watch it with your family; you have to be intelligent to catch on to the double-meaning innuendos. I’ve worked with Paritosh Painter before, as I have with director Farhad Samji too in Housefull.”

The venture boasts of a power-packed star cast, including Shreyas Talpade — making his Hindi web series debut with the show — Kiku Sharda, Shefali Zariwala, Manasi Scott, Neetha Shetty and Rajendra Chawla. For Panday, a foray into the web space was inevitable, given that “entertainment has become an individual experience today”. Talking about how content consuming trends differ in his own household, he adds, “My daughter [Ananya] watches [shows] on her laptop, and my wife and I too watch [different things]. Ekta is the content queen; she has a clear target audience.”

Talpade and Panday are getting together for the third time, after having previously collaborated on Housefull 2 (2012) and Apna Sapna Money Money (2006). “Both the films were blockbusters. So, I am looking forward to this one too.”