Kunal Kapoor remembers reading Alex Rutherford’s Raiders From The North, the first book in The Empire Of The Moghul series. Call it serendipity or what you will, but a few months later, the actor received a call from Nikkhil Advani, who offered him the role of Babur in The Empire. “Nikkhil said he has the book rights and wanted me to read the script. Sometimes, scripts are not able to live up to the source material, but here, the script enhances it,” says Kapoor, who fronts the Disney+ Hotstar period piece that dropped over the weekend.

Telling the story of Mughals in the current social climate is not easy. As soon as the Mitakshara Kumar-directed series dropped online, a section of social media users expressed their anger against it for “glorifying the Mughals.”

Kapoor says he tried to be honest to Babur, a man of many contradictions. “Babur in the show is probably different from how Babur was [in real life]. We were being honest to the way the character was written in the book. In the book, he was a physically strong man who was emotionally vulnerable, even weak sometimes. He is the emperor, but is crippled with self-doubt. He is constantly asking himself if he is good enough for the throne. I found these nuances fascinating. I saw in him a man torn between the voice of his father — a softer, poetic man [Umar Sheikh Mirza II] — and his ambitious grandmother [Aisan Daulat Begum]. In historical dramas, there is a tendency to make it theatrical. I wanted him to come across as relatable.”

Many had thought that things would look up for the actor post Veeram (2017), the acclaimed Malayalam rendition of Shakespeare’s Macbeth. Does he feel that he didn’t get his due? “The moment you say you didn’t get your [due], or you should’ve got more, it will make you a bitter person. I don’t want to project myself as a victim of the industry. I live in the present. I am being offered exciting work and I would rather focus on that.”

Navneet Vyasan (HINDUSTAN TIMES; August 9, 2020)

Being from the industry can only take you so far. Eventually, audience is only interested in what you bring to the screen, not whose son, daughter or relative you are,” says actor Kunal Kapoor, 42, talking about the nepotism debate that has engulfed Bollywood.

The actor, who debuted with Meenaxi: A Tale Of Three Cities (2004), feels that one only has to look at their surroundings to realise that people “are not as interested in legacy as they are with merit”. “Almost all billion-dollar tech companies have been created by people who didn’t come from big corporate families... You see it in our politics, too. And you definitely see it in movie industry,” he says, adding that it is unfair to single out a particular industry.

The Rang De Basanti (2006) actor feels that with OTT platforms, “audiences are exposed to so much content from across the world, which is why you have to push the envelope to grab their attention”. He adds that filmmakers are now looking “inwards” and “are finally telling stories true to us”. This thought reflects in his debut film as well which was directed by the late art legend M F Hussain. “It was a very unconventional movie to debut with. Hussain sir was truly special... Very few people have a mind like his, and make the sort of impact that he did. He was curious, enthusiastic, spontaneous and a creative force. The life lessons I learnt from him will stay with me forever,” recalls Kapoor.

As he turns writer-director with short film Half Pant Aur Baniyan, Kunal Kapoor says lack of diverse parts during his 15-year acting career made him explore filmmaking
Mohar Basu (MID-DAY; July 12, 2020)

While the lockdown has been tough, it has given some artistes time to pause, reflect and steer their careers in a new direction. Kunal Kapoor has utilised the period to explore his filmmaking skills. Written, directed and edited by him, the short film, Half Pant Aur Baniyan, has received a positive response. "The lockdown made me realise that we need little to survive. So, I wanted to tell a story about minimalism. I am the co-founder of the crowdfunding platform, Ketto. Many people came forward to contribute not only their money, but also their time during this period. I was moved by a 10-year-old, who started a campaign for migrant workers. She inspired me to write a story about kindness," says the actor turned director.

Writing comes naturally to Kapoor—in his early years, it was the only form of expression for the introvert. After 15 years in the industry, he took to writing with a renewed vigour when acting offers failed to satisfy him creatively. "After Rang De Basanti [2006], I was offered similar parts. I needed to do more as an actor. Even though I am happy with my recent films, Veeram [2017] and Noblemen [2018], the kind of movies that I look for are few and far between. Since I wasn't getting the roles that appealed to me, I decided to create them instead of sitting back and waiting for them. I know my capabilities as a writer and actor. The scripts that I am developing now will help me step out of the box."

In the past few months, he has developed three scripts, including a coming-of-age film and a thriller. "The third is a comedic social drama set in Punjab. It's a world I understand well, and had explored with co-writer-director Sameer Sharma in Luv Shuv Tey Chicken Khurana [2012]. Acting is my primary calling, but I want to dabble in storytelling. I have conceptualised two other short films that I plan to direct."

The actor, an adventure junkie who started flying seven years ago, also enjoys car-racing and surfing
Avinash Lohana (MUMBAI MIRROR; November 19, 2018)

Taking his love for adventure a notch higher, Kunal Kapoor took off to Abu Dhabi in September to enjoy the joys of car-racing, and to Bhopal towards the end of October for some flying sessions and then it was Sri Lanka and surfing during Diwali. “Life is short and unpredictable so one should try and experience everything that fascinates you. I started flying and racing long ago, surfing though is a new addition when I was in Sri Lanka earlier this year and went back recently for a few more training lessons. It’s exhausting but I’m finally getting the hang of it and spending more time on the board than of it,” laughs the actor.

Kunal started flying around seven years ago at the Chimes Aviation Academy in Sagar. Since then, he has kept going back there whenever he got the chance. “My first flying instructor used to refer to himself as a part of a suicide prevention squad. He would say when students start flying, it’s like they are in a hurry to crash the plane and his job is to prevent that from happening,” he reminisces.

Cars and racing are two of his lifelong passions and admits he learnt how to drive way before he was of age. In 2010, Kunal started training at a rally school on the outskirts of Mumbai and then in Manali. More recently, he drove Formula 3 racing cars in Abu Dhabi and even managed a couple of sessions with a trainer who used to be a part of Michael Schumacher’s team. “All these require a lot of concentration and complete immersion as it’s just you and the machine. I find that level of focus and involvement meditative,” Kunal muses, stating matter-of-factly that it’s a little late for him to take up any of these professionally, but given a chance, he would have loved to be a race car driver. “Even to incorporate some of these skills while working on a film would be a dream come true. I was offered a script which had a lot of car racing years ago but unfortunately things didn’t fall into place,” he sighs.

He flashbacks to 1986 when the American action-drama Top Gun had released. “Every boy wanted to be an Air Force pilot and get a crew cut like Tom Cruise. A line from the film, ‘I feel the need… need for speed’ had become my takiya qalam. I have forgotten the number of times I have watched Days of Thunder and Rush. Point Break, which is about surfing, is my another favourite, the ultimate edge-of-the-seat, testosterone-infused bromance with some great action sequences. I can’t wait to do a film like that,” Kunal signs off. 

Reza Noorani (BOMBAY TIMES; August 10, 2018)

Actor, writer, tech entrepreneur and a pilot — Kunal Kapoor has donned several hats in his career. Now, the artiste is a part of Reema Kagti’s latest outing, Gold, a film based on a true story about a team of patriots with a dream to win the gold medal for their country. The film gave Kunal an opportunity to play hockey on a competitive level. Not just that, he cherished the opportunity to be a part of a romantic era where men were cut from a different cloth. The articulate and handsome actor shares his views on patriotism, sports and more...

In Gold, you play a prominent role of an Indian hockey player, who helped win India’s first gold medal post independence. Have you ever played hockey before?
Before this film, I had never played hockey. My respect for hockey players has gone up manifold. It really is, by far, the most difficult sport that you can play. To take up a sport I had never played before, and to make it look believable on screen was very difficult. Also, the way hockey was played in the 30s and 40s was very different. The game was played on grass and not on turf, like it is now. It was played with sticks that were far more difficult to control, which made it even more challenging. Plus, for a tall guy like me, it is harder because I had to bend and slouch while I was playing. But it was also a lot of fun. As an actor, this is what you live for; the chance to do something you have never done before, where someday, you get to learn something new. So, it was both challenging and difficult, but there was a great amount of creative satisfaction in that.

Was it more challenging because a film like this is physically more strenuous?
My character is someone who has led India to win a gold medal several times in the past when India was a British colony. His only dream is to win gold as a free nation. He doesn’t have a personal life or any other interests for that matter, besides seeing his country win as a free nation. So, I found his singlemindedness very attractive. I am like that, as I am purely driven by passion in real life. I am not the most practical person, and that’s why people tell me that I do very little work. But if I don’t put my heart in what I am doing, I can’t do it. Yes, I had to be physically fit to play the role because, firstly, we had our daily training like actual hockey players do. Secondly, I changed the way I worked out at the gym. It was not about aesthetic muscles at all. I wasn’t trying to look like a bodybuilder. We were building functional muscles. So, the workouts were different. We focused on the core muscles more. Also, it is very challenging to shoot a sports film because we were shooting in UK, where the weather was a very unpredictable. Sometimes, each take was done 20 to 25 times. So, I was bending and running for the ball and doing a 25-metre sprint for some 20 takes. It required a completely new level of fitness. Plus, shooting a sports film with Akshay Kumar is an experience in itself. In fact, any film you shoot with Akshay sir is a sports film, because between takes, he made us play all kinds of sports; from cricket to volleyball to football.

You are known for your style quotient. So, were you excited to work in a period film set during the 30s and 40s? It was an era with a distinct sartorial style...
I love that era. I am obsessed with the 20s and 30s’ era, and even the late 1800s. I feel that people were a lot more stylish back then, than they are today. I have not lived that period, but my imagination tells me that there was a lot more integrity in people back then. There was a lot of passion for the country. People were really passionate in general, too. Unfortunately, we now live in a time when people are generally very dispassionate about a lot of things. We also live in a time where your interests change from one thing to another very rapidly. I feel like that was a really interesting time. I have read up a lot about that period purely out of interest, hence dressing up and behaving for that era didn’t feel alien at all. To play the character in Gold, I just had to step into an all-new mindset and that’s a creative process I really enjoy. Men actually dressed up during those times. If you look at pictures and videos from that period, men wore a tuxedo to go to the theatre and watch a movie show. I find that magical.

The film has a prominent patriotic theme. Today, we are going through a phase where we often have to display our patriotism to be taken seriously...
I see a lot of armchair patriots today. There are a lot of ‘patriots’ on social media, whose only job is to retweet something, post a comment and that makes them patriotic. I feel that is misplaced patriotism. In my understanding, true patriotism boils down to your contribution to society and to the people around you. Are you contributing in a positive way? If you are, then you are a patriot. If you are not doing that, then no amount of social media posts can make you a patriot.

Apart from being an actor, you’re also involved in several vocations like writing, information technology and even aeronautics. What drives you to these various pursuits?
I wear several hats. Yes, I like to fly. I fly a Cessna as a hobby. I also race cars when I feel like. Besides that, I am a huge fan of the tech industry. For me, anything that is changing the world we live in, for the better, is exciting. Anything that disrupts the usual in a positive way excites me. Besides that, I am also into writing. That is something I have always enjoyed since I was young. As a kid, I was very shy and the only thing that I would find exciting was telling stories. So, I think stories were a way to express myself.

Kunal Kapoor reveals that he’s been working on scripts of four fi lms and a show; discusses how he mastered the game of hockey and took on bullies for a new film
Natasha Coutinho (MUMBAI MIRROR; July 31, 2018) 

Kunal Kapoor’s Independence Day release, Reema Kagti’s sports drama Gold, sees him in the role a hockey player from the team that brought home the first gold medal for India as an independent nation in the 1948 Olympic Games in London. The 38-year-old actor admits that while he has watched the sport for years, training in it was a different ballgame altogether.

“I hadn’t played hockey before and it was exciting to learn something new. We trained with Michael Nobbs, the ex-coach of the national team, along with Sandeep Singh, a former captain. I’ve always been into fitness, but hockey requires a different set of skills, hand-eye coordination and plenty of stamina,” explains Kunal who trained for four months in Mumbai and a month in London, admitting that the first few weeks were difficult, but it got better as they went along. “We would train every morning from 7am to around 9.30am and my respect for hockey players has gone up after being on the field.”

The actor jokingly describes his co-stars as a “bratty bunch”, pointing out that Akshay Kumar as the team manager on screen and the leader of pranksters off camera balances work with fun and tries to make the shoot a breeze. “Acting needs a fine balance and that is something Akshay sir has mastered. During breaks, we’d play cricket or football and after pack-up, volleyball. Besides the actors, we had another 16 players training with us and the bonding was incredible. It was like the camaraderie during Rang De Basanti.”

The weather in London was a challenge with the sunny day suddenly turning cloudy and a shower bringing in a sharp fall in the temperature and necessitating a change in the on-set lighting. However, despite the hurdles, Kunal is all for sports biopics and is glad so many are being made. “I’m obsessed with what happened 250 years ago and would love to make an action period film from the time. I got a chance with Veeram, a desi Macbeth, but I want to push the envelope further. I have done dramas and slice-of-life films. Now, it’s time to explore an out-and-out romantic film, a comedy and an action thriller,” he says.

His next film, Noblemen, is a tryst with Shakespearean drama again. “I’m teaching The Merchant of Venice in the film and it rolls out like the play too, touching on the subject of bullying and how it affects the mindset of children. It also looks at students coming to terms with their sexuality. It is a brave film exploring topics that are usually pushed under the rug,” informs the actor who when he is not facing the camera is working at his tech company, writing scripts or racing cars.

Sharing his passion for racing, he reveals that he’s obsessed with fast cars and has trained at a rally school outside Mumbai. “I took part in a vintage rally in Europe and a couple of years ago, even trained in Formula 3 racing in Abu Dhabi. This year I’m planning to take time off to train at a school in Manali run by a famous rally driver,” he shares.

He is also dabbling in another passion, working on four film scripts and one show simultaneously. “Writing comes naturally to me, I started with writing notes to myself, then dabbled in some bad poetry which improved after a while, then moved to short films. The first script I co-developed was Luv Shuv Tey Chicken Khurana. Now, I have my hands full with five projects one of which should roll early next year. It’s an ensemble cast, a slice-of-life comedy set in Varanasi. I’m also working on a biopic and a coming-of-age story of three guys. The fourth script is based on a true incident,” he reveals, reasoning that sometimes you don’t get scripts of your choice and instead of waiting it’s better to develop characters that challenge you. “In this industry people are quick to put you in a box, it’s important to break out just as quickly.”

Sanyukta Iyer (MUMBAI MIRROR; March 29, 2018)

After gaining 12 kgs and training in Kalaripayattu for six months for his last release, the historical trilingual Veeram, Kunal Kapoor took off to Abhinav Bindra’s sports academy in Delhi for a four-month prep to play a hockey player in Reema Kagti’s sports drama Gold. The film is based on India’s gold medal win as a free nation in 1948 Olympics and also features Amit Sadh and Mouni Roy.

Now, Mirror has learnt that the 40-year-old actor is presently developing a script for an action film. He is also putting together a creative team and other cast members for the project.

For his own prep, Kunal enrolled at the Khongsittha martial arts centre in Lath Prao for a week-long boarding programme in Muay Thai, studying under a veteran fighter for four hours every day. Food at the centre was light and simple, with the actor sticking to grilled chicken and steamed vegetables with rice.

Kunal admits that in the recent years, he has enjoyed taking on physically challenging roles because it allows him to put his off-screen interests in sport and fitness to good use. “Fitness is an integral part of my life. I trained for two hours in the morning and two in the evening in Muay Thai every day and enjoyed learning new moves. It’s all about challenging myself physically and mentally even if it can get extremely demanding. I really enjoyed the training in Bangkok and will be going back for more in June,” informs the actor, who returned to Mumbai on Wednesday.

Basic training for the combat sport involves stand-up striking with various clinching techniques and boxing. Kunal will build on his knowledge of the sport by acing physical and mental disciplines, known as “the art of eight limbs”. The sport is characterised by the combined use of fists, elbows, shins and knees. “My trainer was pretty impressed with the work I put in and I am looking forward to more,” he beams proudly.

Deepali Singh (DNA; January 22, 2018)

Kunal Kapoor hates giving interviews, and that’s pretty evident when he settles down opposite us with a can of Coke and coffee (‘double dose of caffeine’, he explains), at his beloved Prithvi Theatre in Juhu. He pretends to get up and scoot when we tell him he’s free to not answer whatever he’s not comfortable responding to. But we can’t let go of him so easily.

The iconic theatre, built by his father the late Shashi Kapoor, and where we sit now, will turn 40 this November. Hundreds of theatre practitioners in the city owe their careers to Prithvi, having worked here as actors, directors or technicians. “What’s interesting is how, right from theatrewallahs to audience, everyone has grown up with Prithvi,” says Kunal. Talking about the Prithvi Festival they held at Dubai two years ago, he recalls meeting expat Indians, who would share with him stories of their courtship, how they would meet their partners at the cafe in the theatre, enjoy the signature Irish coffee and watch plays.

“I got to know recently that actors such as Vidya Balan and Varun Dhawan have attended our Summertime workshops. Anupam Kher, Annu Kapoor and Pankaj Kapur performed here and went on to make it big in cinema. Anurag Kashyap told me recently that when he first came to Mumbai and had nowhere to sleep, my sister (Sanjna) had allowed him to use the shed behind the theatre and the make-up bathrooms in the morning. I said ‘Good you didn’t tell me, I would have thrown you out!’” he guffaws. Over to the man himself...

When you think of the Kapoor khandaan, apart from movies, you realise that they have contributed immensely to theatre too. Do you think in term of legacies at all?
These are words that journalists use, not words that we think about. So if dad built Prithvi, he did it because he wanted to do so. That’s why, it’s not even named after him. I don’t want to give interviews, I want theatre groups to give interviews, because it’s about them, not me. I spend a lot of time, energy and money looking after this place. I’m possessive about it because it’s part of our heirloom, something we believe in. I don’t do it because I’m trying to create an image, but because I care. And fortunately, my kids have the same feeling. They are also proud to be associated with it and are protective about it.

How are your children, Zahan and Shaira, involved with Prithvi?
They are young and are just starting their careers. So they are not involved in the day-to-day activities of the theatre. But during our festivals and Summertime, my daughter designs the decor. The lights are designed by both of them. My son shoots and supervises the video promos. The other day, we had a group meeting and he was a part of it where he was listening intently. So yes, they are not distant from it, but supportive.

Even the extended family is here at the festival’s inauguration and often come to watch plays...
That’s what’s marvellous about our family. This theatre was built by my dad, the khandaan has nothing to do with it. Like the RK Studios was built by Raj Kapoor, it had nothing to do with Shammi Kapoor or my dad. But we are supportive of each other. And we are quick to rally around, just as we can tell each other, ‘Uss film mein tune faltu kaam kiya tha!’ (laughs).

Your father, Shashi Kapoor, passed away last month. Can you tell us how he was as a person and as a father?
My father had an amazing memory. Once at an airport when he was going through security, a guy came running up to him and said that he had met my dad 20 years ago. Dad just said, ‘Ya, your name is Sachin, na?’ That guy literally fell down! (laughs) He knew he was a star but he also knew how other stars behaved with people. He was a genuinely charming, extremely good-looking man and gained a lot of respect because he behaved himself. He was a gentleman, but to me, he was my father. If you see his bedroom, there are only photographs of his grandchildren and his family. His work never came home but it was difficult going to public spaces with him. However, we used to travel a lot and get to spend quality time with him. Even when he had a crazy schedule where he had four to five shifts a day, he would be at the breakfast table at 7.30 in the morning.

His theatre, Prithvi, is a place that’s dear to so many people. What are the challenges that the theatre faces?
This place was built not to make money but to be self-sustainable and a catalyst. It was the birthplace to promote theatre and develop an audience for this performing art. Worldwide, theatre is not a profit-making venture, it struggles to survive. And in India, particularly in Bombay (now Mumbai), there was a time when it had virtually come to a standstill. It was then that my dad built it, because it was his father’s dream to have his own theatre. So what are the problems that we face now? For starters, I would like our festivals to be bigger, to have them not only at Prithvi but at several other venues simultaneously. We would like to have theatre companies, from other cities in India as well as internationally.

Now this costs money and it can’t be paid back by ticket sales. This is where it requires sponsorship, or, I prefer the word patronage, but that’s not forthcoming. I’d like a larger sponsorship for my November festival. Institutions like Prithvi help in development of the arts, which is integral to the development of a civic society. Unfortunately, post-independence, we have paid little attention to that. As a nation which is so rich in the history of the arts, it’s a crying shame that we neglected it. We don’t need a 1,000-seater with big monstrous chandeliers but theatres like this that are 200-300 seaters, with vibrant cafes, bookshops and art galleries, even rehearsal spaces. Mumbai can accommodate at least 20-25 Prithvi Theatres. There are enough viewers and theatre groups.

What do you think has been Prithvi’s biggest contribution to the city?
Naseeruddin Shah had once mentioned in his interview that one of the best things Prithvi has done is, it made going to theatre a habit for the audience. It has created an experience for them. The property is open, it’s inviting, there is free seating and no hierarchy inside. In the 1950s when Prithviraj Kapoor was in the Parliament, he had said while watching a play you’re not bothered about who’s sitting next to you, whether a Hindu is seated next to a Muslim or a Dalit is beside a Christian. It breaks all barriers where you laugh together or cry together. It makes society one. That’s what entertainment does, it builds a healthier society.

The reluctant celebrities and interesting couple, Naina Bachchan and Kunal Kapoor on individualism
Aastha Atray Banan (MID-DAY; October 15, 2017)

"Is your tea okay? I am very fussy about my cup, so I ask everyone," asks Naina Bachchan. We are sitting with the investment banker and her husband, actor Kunal Kapoor, at their Juhu home on Thursday evening. Naina is back from her Worli office, and is casually dressed in white sneakers, jeans and a tee, while Kunal is lounging in a white tee, pants and a beret. We sit in a room with two defining characteristics -- shelves full of books (arranged according to subjects like yoga, meditation and non-fiction) and a piano. "I think both of us have different ratios of creative and business acumen in our lives," says Naina, as if explaining how people who could be thought of as different as the two of them, can be together. She is right. Kunal, the creative one, is behind successful fundraising platform Ketto, and Naina, the business brain, is a trained pianist.

We know Kunal through movies like 'Rang De Basanti' and 'Luv Shuv Tey Chicken Khurana'. The good-looking actor is currently shooting for Reema Kagti's 'Gold', where he stars with Akshay Kumar in a story about India's first hockey team to have won a gold internationally. He is also working on three scripts, which he hopes to act in too. Naina is actor Amitabh Bachchan's niece, one of four kids to his brother Ajitabh and wife Ramola. Her siblings include artist Namrata, aeronautical engineer Nilima and brother Bhim, an investment banker.

Kunal and Naina met seven years ago, and have been married for two-and-a-half years. Their low-profile social presence, barring a photo or two that Kunal shares on Instagram, prompted us to meet them to talk about all things that plague celebrity couples -- paparazzi, social media and why it's important to maintain your individuality in a marriage. Edited excerpts from an interview:

On finance vs creativity
Naina: I didn't educate him financially for Ketto at all. He had a vision, and over the course of time, we talked about it more and more, but I am not involved.

Kunal: Ketto is doing really well. In the last six years, we have raised over Rs 100 crores for various social causes. I have always believed people are good, and I see that with Ketto every day, when they give money to people they don't know. I do ask her for financial advice since I am not good at that, and she is incredibly meticulous and planned. But, the good thing is that I really enjoy finance, in that I follow tech, start-ups, I invest in companies, and I have friends who are entrepreneurs, VCs, etc.

Naina: Actually, one of Kunu's closest friends observed -- the reason why we can appreciate each other's worlds is because his dad used to be in construction, so he had been around business, but he chose to be creative. I come from a creative family, and I am a pianist and speak four languages but I work in banking. We both understand where the other comes from, and the exchange of ideas comes naturally.

On work dealings
Naina: I spent 20 years in Europe, and so, a lot of the nuances of India were initially new. It helped to have his advice on relationships. So I'd say, 'I am facing this dilemma, what if someone says this, what does it mean?' My wiring is different.

Kunal: The work culture and mindset here is different. You need someone to give you a perspective.

Naina: In Europe, people are far more reserved, and I don't open up at work. It doesn't come too naturally to me. A professional environment is professional, but that can be misread. Also, here, my family is recognised, while in Europe I was anonymous. I have to be careful about how people perceive me. I don't want to give them the wrong impression.

On being low-key celebrities
Naina: I am both an introvert and an extrovert. When I play the piano, I can play alone for a long time -- I am comfortable in my own company. But I have loads of friends all around the world, and I handle people at work. I feel like my work challenged my comfort zone, and that's how I really grew. I need to relate to people; you can't acquire clients if you don't know what is important to them.

Kunal: I don't think she is an introvert. She can converse with anybody, and that happens because she is interested in people. She has the ability to look at a person and read the situation well. I am very interested in people too. We laugh that when we go for dinner, I'm the snoop, and I want to know "who is talking what, who is having a fight, who is the leader of the pack" -- that's important to me as an actor.

On acting and the film business
Kunal: Actors are caught up with themselves. They are not only interested in what's happening outside, but what's going on inside too. They are constantly asking themselves "how did that make me feel, did I enjoy that, how did that person make me feel?" It's about constantly getting to know yourself, and how you can use that. It's a lot of introspection.

Naina: I have grown up around the film industry. I would say, having an independent identity has always been the need of the hour, because there are towering personalities in my family. You could get lost otherwise. Each one of my siblings is individualistic and different. For all of us, it's been important to introspect, and our parents created that environment.

On marriage
Naina: You are not a half, but a whole, and you come together as two wholes. Kunal wanted to be with someone like that, or he wouldn't have chosen me. He didn't want to merge with someone. We don't need the other to complete ourselves.

Kunal: People think that relationships mean two people doing two things together, but it's also about two people growing separately. Both people doing what they want, and being happy for each other, and then there is so much more to share.

Naina: When he calls me from a film set and says I am loving what I am doing, I don't feel the need to run there, and be a part of it just because he is loving it. If I have an amazing yoga class, or do something cool at work, he doesn't become a part of it. We are not codependent.

Kunal: Why should it be about the other person all the time? My friend (actor) Atul Kulkarni told me that marriage should be like a Venn diagram -- two circles come together and the place of intersection with another is the beautiful place you share. What usually ends up happening is that the two circles become one, and we get absorbed into the other.

On paparazzi and social media
Naina: It's each to their own, and what they are comfortable with. I don't pass judgement if people want to take pictures of their food. Maybe I could have a lot more media attention. I choose not to have it. Maybe that's weird for people. We are in an age of celebrity, and that's an anomaly. Recently, you guys took a picture of me standing behind Kunal and said "camera shy". I don't think I was camera shy. I was just stunned when two people jumped out of nowhere and started taking pictures.

Kunal: But you can't choose to like it only when it's convenient for you. It's a part of the package. The media is doing its job. Social media is just about projecting stuff, and a life.

On what binds them
Naina: We talk a lot about food. Kunal eats every two hours, and has a high metabolism, so it's bad for me. We have fought about it. We also talk about the books we are reading, things I am playing on the piano.

Kunal: We can talk for hours, about books, people...

Naina: But it's not gossip. We aren't interested in that at all.

Avinash Lohana (MUMBAI MIRROR; December 26, 2016)

Natasha Coutinho (MUMBAI MIRROR; October 22, 2016)


Mirror (April 4) had earlier reported that Kunal Kapoor plays a producer in Gauri Shinde’s upcoming slice-of-life film, Dear Zindagi, one of the four men Alia Bhatt dates in the film. After a decade in the industry the 38-year-old actor is familiar with a producer’s highs and lows and was comfortable in his role.

“I didn’t have to prep up much because it’s a world I’m familiar with. What I like most about Alia is that she isn’t interested in the other trappings of being an actress, she only wants to get the character right. She’s just started off and I admire her for her risky choices. A lot of people in her place would have chosen safer films,” he points out.

Kunal Kapoor is also the voice of Ram in an animation film, Mahayoddha Rama.

Dubbing for an animation film is a first for the actor who admits it wasn’t easy. “While shooting for a film you have your co-actors around, so during dubbing you have a visual reference. But this time it was just me alone in a studio and that was a real challenge. For one of the scenes I requested the director, Rohit Vaid, if he could get me an actor because usually acting is about reacting. He obliged and with an actor speaking for another character, it was easier to respond,” Kunal explains.

What makes the film important to the 39-year-old actor is his personal memories associated with the Ramayana. “My mother was very religious, so we grew up reading the Ramayana. I think most of us remember Sundays in front of the TV when Ramanand Sagarji’s Ramayana used to air,” he recalls, adding that during Diwali the residents of his society would put up a skit based on the epic saga. “I made the scrawniest Hanuman.”

Another ace he has up his sleeve is the action-packed Hindi, English, Malayalam, trilingual, Veeram, which has him playing an anti-hero. “It’s my first period film and my character is a desi Macbeth who goes from being a honourable soldier to a tyrant. I had to build a lot of muscle and maintain it throughout the shoot. We would shoot 17-18 hours a day so finding the time to work out was tough. I also had to learn Kalaripayattu,” he says of his emotional journey, having enjoyed the transition from good guy to bad man.

Sanyukta Iyer (MUMBAI MIRROR; April 15, 2016)

Kunal Kapoor has finally wrapped up the most physically challenging film of his career. Directed by National Award winner Jayaraj, Veeram is a unique combination of two stories, an adaptation of the Shakespearean tragedy Macbeth and the real-life journey of the infamous 16th century North Malabar warrior, Chandu Chekavar. It has been filmed almost entirely in Trivandrum, with some sequences around the Ajanta-Ellora caves of Aurangabad.

"We were simultaneously filming in three languages. I'd shoot a scene in Hindi first since that was the language I was most comfortable with, then, reshoot in English, which comes to me naturally, and finally the toughest, Malayalam. I was initially intimidated when told I'd act in all the three versions but Jayaraj was sure I'd ace it," says the Rang De Basanti actor.

For his last release, Nila Madhab Panda's drama Kaun Kitney Paani Mein, which was set in two fictional Indian villages, Kunal had lost over eight kilos. And to transform himself into this warrior hero, he put on 12 kilos and trained for over six months. "I couldn't be gym-fit for the role, I had to look fighting-fit, feel strong and powerful. I needed a warrior's gait," says the 38-year-old actor, who aggressively pursued Kalaripayattu, the martial art form from Kerala, and did functional training using everything from kettle bells and ropes to truck tyres. "I also worked on a strict diet with a nutritionist and began to really dig my beefed up-look. I am excited about this project," he smiles.

Since the shooting days went up to as long as 16-hours at a stretch, Kunal often divided his workout into three parts of 20-minutes each. The actor ended up sweating it out before shoot began, during lunch break and after the shoot ended.

Interestingly, Veeram has no songs, so it's all action and no dance for Kunal. "It was a novel experience and I broke a lot of barriers. This will be the first time I will be seen in a full-fledged action role. It's like nothing like anything I've done before," Kunal says, planning to join the makers as the film travels to the international film festivals soon.

Actor Kunal Kapoor, who recently wowed the audience with his performance on stage, discusses his theatrical tryst with his fan
Tunali Mukherjee (MUMBAI MIRROR; November 15, 2015)

Neha Maheshwri Bhagat (BOMBAY TIMES; November 12, 2015)