A LOOK AT SUSHANT SINGH RAJPUT’S BOX OFFICE PERFORMANCE

June 14 seemed like any other Sunday. But then, at 2 PM IST, news came in that prominent actor Sushant Singh Rajput has ended his life. It was a bolt from the blue and has led to brouhaha like never before. Instead of getting into it, let’s look at the track record of this actor at the box office.

Sushant Singh Rajput has been a part of 11 films till now. Of which, 9 have already released in cinemas. Drive released on Netflix while Dil Bechara, the official remake of The Fault In Our Stars, remains unreleased. Out of 9, 6 films were decent successes at the box office.

He started his career with Abhishek Kapoor’s Kai Po Che, released on February 22, 2013. Despite having newcomers and being a bit of a niche film, it created buzz among urban audiences. It opened at Rs. 3.68 crore which was great and it’s lifetime was Rs. 43.58 crore. The same year, he was then seen in Yash Raj Films’ Shuddh Desi Romance. This film created a bigger hype which led to a fine opening of Rs. 6.38 crore. Incidentally, it co-starred Parineeti Chopra, whose sister Priyanka Chopra’s film Zanjeer released on the same day. Zanjeer was more commercial and yet had a dismal opening of Rs. 2.84 crore. Shuddh Desi Romance meanwhile netted a lifetime of Rs. 46.26 crore. It became clear that in a span of 6 months, this newcomer had given two successive hits.

In 2014, he was seen in a 20-minute appearance in Aamir Khan’s PK. The actor rocked the show despite limited screen time and in fact, dominated the climax. It emerged as an all-time blockbuster, earning Rs. 337.72 crore.

Few months later, in April 2015, he acted in Detective Byomkesh Bakshy, directed by Dibakar Banerjee. Despite being very niche, Sushant’s presence helped the film get an opening of Rs. 4.01 crore. The word of mouth was positive but wasn’t enough to attract audiences in hordes due to it’s theme. Hence, it ended it’s lifetime with Rs. 26.21 crore. This was Sushant Singh Rajput’s first flop.

1 ½ years later, in September 2016, Sushant Singh Rajput bounced back with M S Dhoni - The Untold Story. It was based on the life of celebrated cricketer Mahendra Singh Dhoni. Despite having a run time of 185 minutes, it had created humongous excitement and had an opening of Rs. 20.13 crore! Sadly, the word of mouth was a bit mixed. Hence, it had a lifetime of Rs. 119.09 crore. Though this was a huge figure, the high cost of the film prevented it from being hailed a ‘Super Hit’. It was, at best, a hit.

In June 2017, he gave another flop in the form of Raabta. It was a much-talked about film thanks to Sushant’s pairing with Kriti Sanon. Songs worked but trailer didn’t. Hence, the opening was poor at Rs. 4.63 crore. Word of mouth was horrible and hence, collections came down in the weekend instead of increasing. Its lifetime was just Rs. 21.68 crore.

Almost after 1 ½ years, Sushant Singh Rajput’s Kedarnath released. The word of mouth was mixed but the opening was huge, at Rs. 7.09 crore. It’s lifetime was huge at Rs. 70 crore. 6 months later, he was seen in Sonchiriya. This was an odd man out. Films like Raabta and Detective Byomkesh Bakshy at least had some sort of respectable opening. Sonchiriya, meanwhile, opened horribly at Rs. 1 crore! There was no growth and the lifetime was a mere Rs. 5.63 crore! The word of mouth was excellent but the theme was such that audiences were just not interested.

Sushant Singh Rajput’s last theatrical release was Chhichhore. It was directed by Dangal director Nitesh Tiwari and produced by Fox Star Studios and Nadiadwala Grandsons. It opened at Rs. 6.92 crore which was decent. However, the word of mouth was crazy and hence, audiences went to see it in hordes. From Rs. 6.92 crore on Friday, it jumped to an insane Rs. 16 crore on Sunday! The numerous holidays in the weekdays along with public response helped the film immensely. It’s lifetime was Rs. 147.32 crore and hence, it emerged as a super duper hit!

Hence, one can see, Sushant Singh Rajput’s track record, despite flops, was quite good. Even opening day numbers were fine, though it was never record breaking in most films. Yet, the opening day figures prove audiences liked his work and came to see the films for him, amongst other reasons. It’s highly unfortunate that he’s no more today. If he was, he would have done quite well for himself and given us many more entertaining and meaningful films. RIP.

As told to Himesh Mankad (MUMBAI MIRROR; June 15, 2020)

I stayed with him for 18 months while he was prepping for M S Dhoni - The Untold Story. Once he strained his muscle and was advised not to train for four weeks, but to my surprise he recovered within a week and joined us again for the practice. I always knew he was the right choice to play Dhoni. An introvert, our conversations revolved around his career. He was steeped in the character.

We often met in the gym and during the promotions of Raabta, I invited him for the IPL finals. He was passionate about cricket and came to watch several matches in Chennai. We had lost twice, he broke the jinx and we won.

Rachana Dubey (BOMBAY TIMES; November 5, 2019)

Dinesh Vijan has always believed in backing content that he is convinced about without fearing failure. “Raabta (2017) and Agent Vinod (2012) taught me to look at cinema differently,” he says. Ahead of the release of his production, Bala, he spoke to BT about picking the right content, reuniting with three directors he had started his Bollywood journey with, and the unforgettable lessons he has learnt along the way. Excerpts:

After Luka Chuppi, Arjun Patiala and Made In China, Bala, which hits the theatres this week, will be your fourth release as a producer this year. How would you describe the year, which has been hectic, challenging and fast-paced?
This has been a year of lessons, an enhanced understanding of the work we do and stability. I’ve managed to line up my films for the next year — the ones that go on floors and ones that release. I can’t wait for 2020 because there is a lot of action ahead. I’m reuniting with Imtiaz Ali, Homi Adajania and Sriram Raghavan, with whom I had worked at the beginning of my journey as a filmmaker. I remember learning so much from Imtiaz when he was making Love Aaj Kal (2009). The year ahead is more packed than this one. With everything that I have learnt, particularly from my failures, I’m more than geared up for the next year.

What about your plans to direct? You wanted to start something this year...
In the next two years, I have over ten films slated to release and around five or six big films to roll out. I can’t take my attention away from that right now. As a filmmaker, my biggest learnings came from Agent Vinod (2012) and Raabta (2017), which taught me just how fast the audience is changing. I learnt the art of making films like Badlapur (2015) and Stree (2018) from these. Failures teach you more than success. Today, as a filmmaker, I go by my gut instinct. I have to know the emotional arc of a story and see if it works for an audience.

While this year has been one of mixed results for you, what are your expectations from Bala? Do you feel nervous before the release of a film?
No, I don’t. I am not nervous because I make the films that I truly believe in. Take Bala for instance, I truly love it for what it stands for. So far, with most of our films, you take something home after the viewing experience. This time, you might also leave a little bit of you behind in the cinemas. I am extremely proud of this film because it will establish an unreal sort of a connection with you as an audience.

A film on similar lines opened a week prior to Bala. Does that bother you?
I’ve not commented on this matter so far because when the dust settles, people are smart enough to see things for themselves. People are going to say all kinds of things. Yes, the lead characters in both films are bald, but I know that my film is different. In Bala, there’s nothing similar to the south Indian film (on which Ujda Chaman was based). My company has stood for positive and original content. We’ve stuck to our date for Bala, and we’re confident about our film. I’m known to thrive on my sense of originality.

When you announced your film about a year ago, what had drawn you to the subject at that time?
The film is not so much about balding. It’s actually about the fact that we all have something we don’t like about ourselves. It could be size, weight, height, hair or skin colour. The idea is to love yourself for who you are, because it’s foolish to expect other people to love this perfect, superficial version of you. Amar Kaushik (director) was the best person to make this subject, which will appeal to the simplest, yet the most complicated Indian. The reason I kept quiet all this while was because, I didn’t want to corrupt the experience that Bala, as a film, offers.

Talking of imperfections, are you conscious of any of own?
I don’t observe myself so much; I am not even on social media. I remember when I was in class four, I shot up (in height), and suddenly, I was the tallest in my class. I developed a hunch because I became conscious of my height. Of course, eventually, my height became my strength. I’ve realised that anything different is always frowned upon and that has to do with the way we are conditioned. With Bala, we want to initiate a change there. That is the aspect I related to the most. We all have one such story in our life that underlines our imperfections or what we see as our imperfections. Bala will make you love yourself.

As a producer, you’ve refrained from backing anything formulaic. At the outset, you were doing something different from the rest of the industry. Did people also frown at your choices of films and the direction you were heading in?
I don’t know about that because we were busy making films. We’ve always backed stories that we firmly believe in. We’ve forged some extremely fruitful equations with filmmakers like Imtiaz Ali, Sriram Raghavan and Homi Adajania. As a company that arrived out of nowhere, we have never feared failures. We never take our audience for granted and never hide things or mislead them. Yes, when you make five films, you will go right and wrong with some of them. But why make a film that you don’t believe in? I’ve always wanted the directors of my films to get their vision right; we can work around the rest. After making Agent Vinod, Sriram made Badlapur and then AndhaDhun; he’s come into his own and is now making Ekkees with us. Fortunately, I’ve always found like-minded people to work with, whose love for cinema is greater than everything else. The intent is always to make the best possible film with the material at hand.

Neha Maheshwri (BOMBAY TIMES; February 26, 2019)

She may be an outsider, but Kriti Sanon believes that her talent holds her in good stead. The svelte actress feels that persistence is the key to success and that’s why she did not give up despite the initial struggles in her career. After a few misses and a super successful Bareilly Ki Barfi (BKB), Kriti is all set to rock the box office with four releases lined up in 2019. Just ahead of her upcoming film Luka Chuppi, the actress spoke to BT about the fact that she has nothing to be insecure about and being frank in her opinions. Excerpts...

You haven’t looked back since Bareilly Ki Barfi and you have four releases lined up this year with Luka Chuppi, Arjun Patiala, Housefull 4 and Panipat. Are you happy with the variety of work in your career?
It feels great; all the four films are different from each other in terms of concept, storyline, and characters. While Luka Chuppi is a situational comedy, Arjun Patiala is a crazy North Indian comedy and Housefull 4 is a laughter riot. Panipat, on the other hand, is a complete breakaway from anything I have done so far. It’s my first proper period film, in which I play the historical character of Parvatibai. I am a Punjabi and to dress, talk and behave like a Maharashtrian woman was a different experience. I completely submitted myself to director Ashutosh Gowariker and his vision.

From a shaky start to now being a sought after actress, do you feel your career is on track?
I am definitely happy with the way my career is shaping up. However, there is still a lot more to do and explore as an actor. I want to work with directors, who probably can push me. I always feel the need to step out of my comfort zone and do things differently… like play an angst-driven character or someone who is nothing like me.

From my days of struggle, I have learnt that one shouldn’t take success or failure seriously as neither lasts too long. For me, the journey of a film is more important than the result. I have no regrets if a film like Raabta didn’t connect with the audience, because I learnt a lot from the experience. People couldn’t imagine that I could do a film like Bareilly Ki Barfi (BKB). I have been perceived as this glamorous and urban chick, and that’s a perception I broke with the character of Bitti. Now, I am way more confident about taking risks. I would like to play a role where people say I’ve been wrongly cast so that I can shock them again.

In a way,do you feel BKB set the ball rolling for content-driven films, especially the ones set in small towns?
Times have changed. The past year, in particular, has been an eye-opener for us, because films have done well only because of good content, be it Andhadhun, Badhai Ho or Uri. Most of them haven’t really had big stars. I am glad that the audience is looking at a mix of entertainment and content way more than anything else. Having said that, I still feel that I should have more opportunities to choose from which sometimes you don’t get because you don’t come from a film background. Right now, a lot of directors I want to work with and the content I want to explore aren’t really available on a platter to me.

Raabta was producer Dinesh Vijan’s directorial debut. Since that film didn’t fare well at the box office, was it tough to invest faith in a fairly new director with Luka Chuppi?
Not at all. In fact, I feel every new director has new energy and a lot more hunger. Everything has its pros and cons. It’s not necessary that an experienced director will always deliver a hit. If a film does well, but people don’t like my performance, it will break my heart. A film can go either way with any director or actor. The script and the vision of the director play an instrumental role when I say yes to a project. Laxman (Utekar) sir isn’t a rank newcomer; he has directed Marathi films. I am a director's actor and the way he instructed me on certain things during the narration, totally convinced me to take up the role.

Today there are ample opportunities for actors, but there’s also tough competition between the current crop of actresses. Does that ever play on your mind?
You think of competition the moment you step in or, maybe, even before that. It’s not a realisation that seeps in at a later stage in your career. There’s competition at every step, as you could be vying for the same part like several others. But then, I look at its healthy aspect. I like many of my contemporaries’ films. It inspires me and makes me want to do better. Having said that, everyone has a different journey. I don’t always keep looking around and feel insecure just because I am not from the industry. I agree it is a little difficult to get noticed. I feel that everybody has those few films which turn into milestones and change the course of their career. Deepika Padukone did several films, but was recognised as a great actor probably with Cocktail. Homi Adajania wrote a completely new character for her. For me, BKB was that one milestone, which broke barriers.

Like you just said, everybody has those few films that turn into milestones, but even to get that kind of work is no mean feat. Is it tougher for you, as opposed to an industry kid, who has more access to opportunities?
To be honest, you feel frustrated. It’s not just about films, but something as simple as magazine covers. There are people who grace them even before their first film has released. I remember after starting work on Heropanti, I didn’t get my second film, until my first film had released and people had judged my capabilities. That doesn’t happen when you come from a film background. But to be fair, today there are a lot of people in the industry who don’t see it that way and there are a lot of good opportunities coming my way. It feels really good when I work with a director like Ashutosh Gowariker and know that I was his first choice.

Last year, when people from the industry were being named in the #MeToo movement, you took to social media to share your views. You received a mixed response for the post in which you insisted that the veracity of the anonymous cases should be checked. What’s your stand today?
I stick to what I wrote. I really appreciate everyone who came forward and shared their experiences, because it takes a lot of guts to do that. I only said the process to have a method. It’s absolutely fine if the one accusing wants to stay anonymous, but you need to lodge an FIR so that there is a way of taking the case forward. Otherwise, it’s of no use. I feel that in today’s time, you should speak up and not be scared or shut yourself out. For me, self-respect is paramount and you won’t be at peace if you allow someone to walk over you. I don’t know how I would have reacted if I had been or were in a similar situation, but I can tell you that nobody can force me to do anything and that’s how it should be. If you are here to work, then your talent and work should speak for you. One shouldn’t be scared of any one, because there are so many other people in the film industry who are giving chances to newcomers. If one door shuts, the other door opens for those who are talented.

Were you shocked when your friend Mukesh Chhabra’s (casting director turned filmmaker) name came up?
Since Mukesh is a dear friend, it was both shocking and sad for me to read about the #MeToo story involving him. I am glad that a procedure was followed, which brought some clarity to the matter and that he is back on track.

Speculations are doing the rounds about your relationship with Sushant Singh Rajput for a while now. What’s your equation with him currently?
Haven’t these speculations been around for few years now? I have the same answer every time I am asked this question. There is no change in the equation between us. We were friends earlier and remain good friends. Of course, as we do other films, we tend to get busy with our respective careers. But that doesn’t mean that the equation has changed.

Rachana Dubey (BOMBAY TIMES; February 25, 2019)

Though he inherited a logistics and transport business from his father, at 23, Dinesh Vijan decided to back Being Cyrus (2005), a film that was ahead of its times and a huge risk to start out in Bollywood. Gradually, he learnt his lessons and found his bearing. After professionally parting ways with Saif Ali Khan, his first collaborator, Dinesh laid the foundation of Maddock Films, which is nine movies old today. He has a packed slate for the next two years that largely boasts of films that have no reference points. Over to the producer-director, who’s gearing up for his next release, the Kartik Aaryan-Kriti Sanon-starrer, Luka Chuppi...

Live-in, as a subject, has been attempted by several filmmakers. What then drew you to make Luka Chuppi?
My approach to cinema remains what it was when I started off. The story has to be so compelling that I can’t refuse it. My banner is defined by projects that have no reference points. Luka Chuppi reminded me of Hrishikesh Mukherjee’s films back in the day. They are layered films that make you laugh without evidently making an effort. This film is a comedy of errors about a family, about two people in love and what happens when you keep secrets from your family. It feels different despite being a love story. It’s a window into what is popularly known as small-town India. For me, that is India. Although it has many issues, it’s still vibrant and full of stories. As a filmmaker, my greatest learnings came from Raabta (2017), which received such polarised responses, and Hindi Medium (2017), which was loved by everyone. You have to find stories that resonate with India that exists outside metros.

Kartik Aaryan has worked in comedies before. Wasn’t it a challenge to cast him in Luka Chuppi?
Kartik hasn’t ever done a situational comedy. This is not a film where his character relies on dialoguebaazi. Here, he had to make us believe that his love for Kriti’s character is unconditional without being too loud. In the bargain, there’s a lot of situational humour. Kartik has pulled that off well. Even Kriti has done a good job.

Unique propositions come with a lot of risks, don’t you think?
I agree. It’s important to be a bit insecure because it makes you work harder and have a different perspective. The day I feel I know it all, it’s the end of the story for me. Raabta and Agent Vinod (2012) taught me that failures can teach you only if you want to learn. Learning and experimenting should never stop. I question myself at every stage and I’m open to being questioned. That’s how I keep my mind open to new ideas, and attempt to give the audience something novel every time.

This year, you have a film releasing once every two months. Do you think that you are biting off more than you can chew?
I don’t think so. If I still find something that pushes boundaries while being entertaining, I’ll back it. Year 2018 was phenomenal at the movies. Films that entertained, worked at the box office, more so the ones that came without reference points. Raazi, Stree, AndhaDhun…. So, we’ve worked on the fact that cinema changes once every three years. We find stories that are captivating. For that, we invest time and effort to cultivate writers and directors. Actors have become an extended family, too. In the process, we’ve nurtured some exciting projects like Made In China, Arjun Patiala and many more. I feel that we will be on our toes for at least the next 24 months, but it’s great.

You’re also a director, but your slate doesn’t have anything that you will helm.
A movie is like my mashooqa, I can get carried away with it. With so many projects releasing this year and the year after, I don’t think there is time for me to direct. If I take up a film, I’ll be away from everything for six months. When I made Raabta, I kept everything on hold. Now, it’s time for me to wait. We’ve hit a good run and we’ll try and keep the momentum going.

Kriti Sanon on sexual harassment allegations against Sajid Khan, live-in relationships and forever friends, Sushant Singh Rajput and Tiger Shroff
Avinash Lohana (MUMBAI MIRROR; February 7, 2019)

Looking boho-chic, Kriti Sanon enters a suburban restaurant close to noon with her eyes glued to her phone. She’s responding to some messages as she makes her way up to a table. She finally looks up, greets people around, takes a seat and is ready to take questions head on. Excerpts from an interview:

Dulquer Salmaan had said that OK Jaanu, the Hindi remake of his Tamil romcom, OK Kanmani, was a good attempt, but the concept of living-in was newer to the audience down South. Given that your upcoming film Luka Chuppi revolves around a similar subject, does it make you apprehensive?
Not at all. A film needs a good conflict, especially in the romcom space, and since the earlier ‘believable villains’ are gone today, we need to look for an alternative. A live-in relationship in an urban space like the one we saw in OK Jaanu may not be a big deal, but our film is set in a small town where it is still taboo and that’s what makes it interesting. Earlier another film, Shuddh Desi Romance, also touched on the same subject but there the couple was on the same page as far as the live-in arrangement was concerned. In our film, bringing the family into the picture makes it refreshingly different. Today, small-town stories are attracting people because they are real and relatable and that makes us confident about our film.

What’s your take on live-in relationships?
I don’t judge poeple who are in live-in relationships, but the kind of family I come from, it’s not morally acceptable so I wouldn’t opt for it. At the same time, I’ve told my parents that I would also never agree to an arranged marriage. It’s very important for me to know the person I’m going to spend the rest of my life with.

Have you played luka chuppi (hide and seek) in real life?
Oh yes, we would sometimes bunk lectures in college and sneak out without teachers spotting us. Ditto with parents when one was going out with friends or a friend.

Talking of small town stories, Bareilly Ki Barfi, was a game changer for you.
It was in a space not many expected to see me in. Some had even asked Ashwiny (Iyer Tiwari, director) and the producers (Junglee Pictures) if they were sure I was the right choice to play Bitti but the fact is that I’m a simple, middle-class girl who at home is quite jhalla. I was glad I was able to break out of the glam image. Ninety per cent of the films I was offered after Bareilly Ki Barfi, are set in small towns. Similarly, Raabta, Dino’s (producer Dinesh Vijan) directorial debut, also was a complex, multi-layered role. While prepping up for Saira/Saiba I evolved as an actress as the film pushed me out of my comfort zone.

You are playing a journalist in Luka Chuppi and a TV crime reporter in Arjun Patiala…
(Laughs) My character in Luka Chuppi is just an intern while the girl in Arjun Patiala is a serious journalist for which I watched a lot of news clips and goof-up videos to understand the behind-the-scenes chaos. It was loads of fun.

How’s Panipat coming along?
We start the second schedule in Jaipur today. Playing a Maharashtrian, wearing the nine-yard sari and the nath feels different. Ashu sir (director Ashutosh Gowariker) is meticulous with the details and his set is happy and serene. I have never seen him scream at anyone.

Your other release this year, Housefull 4, was mired in the #MeToo controversy after former director Sajid Khan was forced out in light of sexual harassment allegations against him. You didn’t say much on the subject back then…
I did, I even posted a letter on Twitter supporting the movement. I’m a big feminist and #MeToo is the greatest thing to happen to the film industry in a long time. It’s changed the way people look at things. Now there’s fear that if you do something wrong, you can’t get away with it. I don’t know how much justice the survivors have got because sadly, there’s only so much you can do to prove your point because a lot of harassment is verbal, without witnesses around. Also, many fingers were pointed anonymously. It’s understandable if a survivor doesn’t want to come out with allegations in public, but the cops and judiciary need to know their identity. Having said that, I’m glad #MeToo happened and shook things up.

It’s been five years since you were launched in Bollywood with Heropanti. Why haven’t you and Tiger Shroff collaborated since?
I have no idea. We did one single together and I’d love to do another film with him. We look good together. But back then, many, including Sajid sir (producer Sajid Nadiadwala) had told us that we should work with different people. But now the time has come to reunite. Tiger has grown as an actor, is looking great and we have always been in touch. I have a soft corner for him because he was my first co-star and feel so proud to see him doing well.

Rumours of your on-off relationship with your Raabta co-star Sushant Singh Rajput are still doing the rounds. What’s the equation with him?
Maine bhi bahot kuch padha hai, it’s like a daily soap. Sushant and I are friends and we recently met at Dino’s wedding. I’m fond of him and we are really good friends. It’s always going to be like that.

And when is your sister Nupur Sanon going to follow you into the industry?
She’s waiting for the right opportunity because your first film is the most important step in your career. When I came to Mumbai, there were a lot of offers that I was tempted to take up. But I took my time to choose the right project. I am always there for guidance, but Nupur wants to have her own journey and I respect that. Meanwhile, she has always been passionate about singing and is open to offers. 

Rachana Dubey (BOMBAY TIMES; December 2, 2018)

Sushant Singh Rajput relishes the company of a good book and enjoys having discussions on topics like behavioural economics, cognitive psychology and astronomy, as much as he loves being on a movie set. For someone who often finds himself surrounded by negative press and controversies, the actor has picked up the art of selective distortion. “It’s easier to be happy than to make you believe that I am happy. If you expect me to be a certain way, you will only believe that, no matter how hard I try to make you believe that the reality is something else,” says Sushant, who chatted with BT recently, while promoting his next, Abhishek Kapoor’s Kedarnath. Excerpts from our conversation...

Were you, at any point, apprehensive about taking up Kedarnath? It’s an unconventional story and yours was a physically challenging role. Eventually, the film also ran into a financial and legal mess...
I will stand by a film no matter what the consequences are. As an actor and a student of several disciplines, I have a perspective on what I do. This film talks about faith and love and being united by it, in a nuanced way, which is something that I also believe in. Also, I’m trained to deal with problems; it’s one of the first things that I learnt in life and I thank my mother for that. Of course, it’s not like I had many problems while growing up, but I was brought up in a manner that I could deal with any situation.

To think that you will never have a sticky situation in life, is a problematic idea in itself. Thankfully, I was taught to anticipate trouble, which makes it a little easier to sail through. Now, you could be in a situation because of yourself or someone else. The best way to deal with it is to just do things that make sense to you and the rest falls into place like the pieces in a puzzle. A film involves a big number of people and everyone should benefit from it in as many ways as possible. It needs to be entertaining, with a message or without it. So, as long as it makes sense to me and I like what is being offered, I have a lot of courage to take on any piece of work that comes my way.

The trade, however, weighs an actor in terms of his last release, and the probable implications of casting him in a project after his film hasn’t work. Your last film, Raabta (2017), didn’t fare well at the box office. Did you also face that?
I wouldn’t say that trade people are not important enough to pay attention to. If you are a producer and you want your film to do well, you must pay heed to them. You should also get affected by what they say and there is nothing wrong with that, but I have strong reasons to do what I do. What you will see in Kedarnath is a distilled version of what I went through to play a pitthoo. I had become a pitthoo even before I started shooting. I could never have imagined that there will be a 50-60 degree incline to climb, while mouthing dialogues and carrying people on my back in an airzone that has less oxygen. And we weren’t canning single takes. For technical reasons, we were doing things repeatedly. So, my training came in handy. I worked smartly, so it wasn’t as much hard work on the set. Everyone, who has seen the film, feels that we have pulled it off well, but they could be biased.

I really hope no one goes home disappointed after watching this film. Honestly, I don’t think about what’s going to happen at the end of it all. In the past, one of my films worked, and I was the usual me on the Monday after the release. I didn’t have four wings and neither did I behave differently. Will a bad weekend (at the movies) affect me? Of course it can, to a point that I might end up acting in another medium, like theatre, which I haven’t done in a long while. There are repercussions to everything, but it doesn’t change anything inside me. Still, I want Kedarnath to do well because there are 200 other people involved in it.

Moving on from movies, your personal interests also lie on a different plane — you’re passionate about science, technology and math…
I can discuss numbers as a mathematician, not as an actor. As an actor, I can talk about many other things. I talk to kids for six hours some times and they listen with rapt attention. It’s hard to hold their attention even for a few minutes. I tell them stories and they enjoy.

Nowadays, you’re also not spotted at too many parties.
If someone calls me, I will go. Do I miss attending them? No, I don’t, because I have many other things to do. I love partying and will go to a party if someone is a friend. I will go even if the person is not a friend, but if someone needs me to be there. I will do it even if I don’t feel like going and I won’t feel uncomfortable about it.

What’s the status on Kizie Aur Manny? Has the recent spate of events altered anything between director Mukesh Chhabra and you?
Look, the matter was addressed by the studio. It was internally as well as externally investigated. I was never a part of those meetings, but we are all intelligent enough to see through a big cover-up, if there is one. If there is something that I don’t know and if it suddenly comes out in the course of the investigation, I might react differently to Mukesh.

You recently announced that you want to back films as a producer and also wish to direct. With acting assignments, how do you plan to do that?
I was misquoted that I want to direct. I just want to be associated with any form of story-telling, because stories will remain an important element of our lives. Cinema is a powerful tool to narrate stories and it’s gratifying to help someone narrate a story. I want to use films to connect with people and it saddens me when I can’t. I don’t have much money, but I have enough that I don’t have to think about it for the rest of my life. So, I want to do things that I like doing and being a catalyst for someone’s story is one of them.

You were in a committed relationship a while ago; do you feel you’re ready for another one? Are you in a relationship today?
I am in a relationship with thousands of people! You have no idea how much I love them (laughs). Okay, even I would think the way you are thinking right now. Every time an actor has said that, I used to think they are faking it, but that’s not how it always is. Today, I don’t say it to fake it. I have nothing to gain, so why should I? I have films for that. I fake and earn a lot as an actor. So, girlfriend toh nahi hai, but I talk to 200 people on Instagram for two hours every day and bada mazaa aata hai. I am so busy being happy that I don’t think or plan anything for the future.

Neha Maheshwri (BOMBAY TIMES; July 11, 2018)

Although Kriti Sanon made a mark with her debut in Heropanti (2014), followed by a role in the Shah Rukh Khan-Kajol starrer Dilwale (2015), it was her freespirited act as Bitti Sharma in Junglee Pictures’ Bareilly Ki Barfi (2017) that won her the real accolades. With no filmi lineage to fall back on, Kriti believes in learning with each failure and discovering things on her own. The tall and slender actress bares it all about growing as an actor, her choice of films and her middle-class upbringing. Excerpts…

You have been lauded for your performance in your last release, Bareilly Ki Barfi (BKB),which did well,both commercially and critically. Many felt that it’s your best so far...
When you are not playing a glamorous role in a film, people start noticing you more. Also, my character in BKB was real and relatable, which is what the audience connected with. I feel a performer grows with every act. In my case, I have grown as an actor from Heropanti to Bareilly Ki Barfi. I keep saying that even though Raabta (2017) didn’t work, I feel I grew the most during that film because I was playing two diametrically opposite and layered characters for the first time.

Has the success of BKB changed the way you choose films?
No, I don’t think it has changed at all. Perhaps, the kinds of films that I am being offered today have changed and I have more options to choose from. But the way I pick films still remains the same. If I connect with a script, or if the role is great, I just go for it. These things have always been the criteria for me. I follow my gut.

While you’ve chosen content-driven films like Bareilly Ki Barfi (BKB) and now Panipat, you’re also going to be seen in an out-and-out commercial entertainer like Housefull 4. Are you trying to strike a balance in your career choices?
It’s not that after BKB, I only want to do films that revolve around me. As a viewer, I like watching different kinds of cinema. So, as an actor, I have to cater to a variety of audience and not get stuck in a genre. Hence, while I am doing comedies like Housefull 4 and Arjun Patiala, I am also doing Panipat, which is my first full-on period film. With Housefull 4, it is not so much about the script, as it is about being part of a hit franchise. It is a fun film that caters to a much larger audience, across different age groups. Honestly, even though Heropanti did well, it didn’t reach out to as many people as Dilwale did. When I go abroad, people don’t recognise me for Heropanti, but they remember me for Dilwale. Besides, I will be working with Sajid (Nadiadwala) sir again… my second outing with the production house (after Heropanti). It’s a crazy, mad film and funnier than the last three. It’s difficult to do comedy and make people laugh. There is so much stress in our lives today that it’s sometimes good to watch lighthearted films and forget about your troubles.

Hailing from a middle-class, non-film family, how have your parents reacted to your stardom?
It’s been gradual. They have come to terms with a lot of things, like the media attention, all the stuff that’s written about me or even the fact that we can’t visit malls anymore. There have been times when my mom has called me and asked me if I have signed a certain film, because she had read about it in the news. I would tell her, ‘Mom, I will tell you when I sign a film. This is not true’. Now, they know that if there’s something important, they will know about it before others. They trust me a lot. But sometimes, there is a lot of attention, which can get troublesome for them. Well, my parents are the only people I owe an explanation to, while they have to deal with relatives and friends. So, I understand their concerns. My dad has been a very content person. My mom is the one who takes all the stress of the universe, especially when it comes to my sister (Nupur) and me. Sometimes, they ask me sudden questions like, ‘You are not working for these many months?’ and I tell them that it is okay if I am not occupied for a few months. The unpredictability that comes with my profession is something they are still adjusting to.

Has the fact that you are not from the industry made you more realistic about this profession, where fate changes every Friday?
As an outsider, you feel like a baby who is coming into a new world and is fascinated by everything that’s happening around. You learn with each fall at every step, because you are discovering how things work. I think you slowly understand what matters and what doesn’t in the long run. You also realise how to approach certain situations and how to be diplomatic. I have had so many foot-in-mouth situations. My problem is that sometimes, I am a little too honest, which people don’t always appreciate and it is often misconstrued. I am not the best at putting my thoughts into words. I just say what comes to my mind, with complete honesty and without any malice. At times, I feel that I shouldn’t have said some of the things, but I can’t be fake. I feel being fake and trying to fit in is dangerous, because then, you are acting all the time. It’s better to be real and face situations as they unfold.

Your sister Nupur is all set to follow in your footsteps and join the industry. What’s the one advice you have given her that you got from your parents?
My parents told me nothing (laughs!). They didn’t put any restrictions on me. Of course, they told me to be patient and choose the first film very carefully, as your debut film sets you on your career path. Fortunately, I waited for the right debut and it paid off. There are times when you are irritated and tempted to just start out with whatever comes your way, but you should not let that feeling take over. When Nupur moved to Mumbai, I advised her to try out things to see what she really likes and find her true calling. I told her to be patient and not be in a hurry to grab the first opportunity. I am always there to guide her, but she wants to have her own journey, too.

As told to Natasha Coutinho (MUMBAI MIRROR; April 16, 2018)

I’m currently shooting for Arjun Patiala with Diljit Dosanjh. I play a journalist and though the role doesn’t require any physical prep, I need to observe people in the same field. Since I’m a crime journalist, I watch the news channels not just to listen to what they are saying, but also to know how news is read. It was part of my homework. My character comes from a small town in Punjab and though I’m a Punjabi too, I have never spoken the language even at home. I understand Punjabi but speaking is tricky. And though Arjun Patiala is a Hindi film, I need to speak certain Punjabi words with the right accent.

Bitti Mishra in Bareilly Ki Barfi was a small town girl too but from UP. So, a week before the shoot, I went to Lucknow and spent some time with 15-20 college girls. We chatted about their life, living in a hostel, their boyfriends and on various other subjects. The girls really opened up to me and when I returned to Mumbai and while I was travelling, I would play back that recording and listen to it intently. By the time I started shooting, I had a sing-song twang in my voice which came with the dialect.

The period-romance Raabta in which I played the warrior princess Saiba, required far more arduous preps. It required me to train in horse-riding and martial arts. I quickly learnt that one has to be comfortable when sitting astride a horse and every horse has a rhythm of its own. I bruise easily so every day I would come back with hurt black and blue marks on my thighs from controlling the horse with my legs.

I also learnt that you have to sit firm and not jump with the horse. Initially, I would jump too and ended up with even more bruises on my inner thighs from all the thumping around on the saddle. But once you start enjoying it, horse-riding can be therapeutic. I would definitely like to take more classes when I can spare the time.

Raabta also had some underwater sequences and I didn’t know swimming. It was a phobia I had to overcome. The most important part was to remain calm underwater because if you panic, it reflects onscreen. I started by learning to stay underwater. I would float or use the breaststroke. We shot for eight-ten hours for four-five days. It was very strenuous and I had to communicate with the camera too.

I also learnt scuba diving. We had signs to communicate with each other so that we wouldn’t have to come up for air too frequently. I am a floater so I need to have weights on my body to stay underwater, gradually coming up on my own. We played some games to increase our ability to hold our breath. The trainer who taught Sushant (Singh Rajput) and me would throw some stones and we had to collect all of them before coming up. That diverts your attention because your focus is on collecting the stones and increases your ability to hold your breath longer. To begin with, I would come up too soon so the trainer started timing me, suggesting that I sing a song in my head. And it actually worked!

I also learnt weapon training and martial arts because I needed to look strong and fearless. Both were new to me and even while running, I had to constantly remind myself that I was a warrior princess and had to run really fast.

My debut Hindi film, Heropanti, required a lot of dancing. Though it was just one particular style, we had to practice hard to make those steps look easy when they were not. And when you have a dancer like Tiger Shroff grooving with you, you start thinking, “Oh my God I have to match steps with him!”

I had learnt kathak as a child so I used to think I would be fabulous at Bollywood dancing. It was only when I entered films and saw the background dancers brimming with so much energy that I knew I had to get better and that meant lots of practice. I had to make the movements my own so they looked good. Even Raabta’s song, “Main Tera Boyfriend”, was difficult because I was matching steps with a fab dancer, Sushant. Dancing with really good people makes me better with every song.

Chaya Unnikrishnan (DNA; February 8, 2018)

While Ranveer Singh has walked away with laurels for his evil turn as Alauddin Khilji in Padmaavat, there’s another actor who has been getting rave reviews for his stellar performance as the Sultan’s slave, Malik Kafur. We are talking about Jim Sarbh, who as Malik, perfectly complements Khilji with his dark thoughts and undertones of lust for his master. The scenes between Ranveer and Jim stand out in the film and the two share an amazing chemistry, especially in the song Binte Dil! Here Jim takes us through his journey in the film, his interpretation of the character, and how one can see Alauddin Khilji, the man, through Malik Kafur’s eyes.

Amidst stars like Ranveer Singh, Shahid Kapoor and Deepika Padukone, your performance has stood out in Padmaavat. When you were offered the role of Malik Kafur, what were your thoughts?
I was excited to be a part of a Sanjay Leela Bhansali film. I was excited to act with Ranveer, who I heard was a great co-actor. Ranveer also mentioned, at our first meeting, that he suggested me for the role, which gave me the confidence as we mutually admired each other. I enjoyed the audition scene, Sanjay sir spoke with a lot of love for the character, as did the entire team working on the project. When I read the script, I could see why.

How did you interpret the character and what was your approach to the role?
I thought of him as a lithe, fierce black panther, who slinks around with his big, grizzled tiger, master Alauddin Khilji. He is a slave, who has hit the jackpot. He doesn’t take people very seriously. He finds them amusing and their very obvious, silly motivations. He’s like the fool, cavorting around with kings and queens, irreverent and if so commanded, deadly.

Ranveer Singh said that you enhanced his performance in Padmaavat. What do you have to say to that?
His performance would have been groovy with or without me. However, sometimes, I feel the only times we can truly see Alauddin Khilji, the man, is through Malik Kafur’s eyes. Ranveer is a wonderful co-actor, the kind of actor where we are always hoping to strike magic. Sometimes we did, sometimes we didn’t, but the attempt was always there.

He is always bringing new ideas and fresh energy to the set, and he was always kind and supportive of me. I would be messing up takes, over and over again, somehow not cracking the moment, and he would not bat an eyelid. If he was frustrated, he didn’t let me feel it, he shielded me from it, and instead was supportive and showed he believed in me. What more can you ask for? I felt my character could easily understand his principles, because I was a version of him, just born in very different circumstances. Kafur was also extremely ambitious, dangerous, and was not bound by the same morals and scruples as the people around them. A good pair of sociopaths.

From Neerja, Raabta to Padmaavat, you have grabbed attention with your performance. So far which role of yours did you find more challenging?
Each had their own challenges, really. Neerja was hard because it was so intense, for such a short burst; like a serious sprint. Raabta was more like a triathlon, a little running, a little cycling, a little swimming. Padmaavat was like a serious marathon.

Going ahead, what are the kind of roles that you would like to do?
Interesting, complex ones. What kind would you like to see me in?

How do you balance films and theatre? Which medium do you enjoy more and why?
Well, since the film work has picked up, I haven’t done any new theatre, just continued to act in the shows that were already up and running. I enjoy the power of a live performance, but I prefer the medium of film, on the whole. I am only just starting to learn the technical aspects of film acting — I think Padmaavat has been essential in that regard — and I hope to continue to explore playing around with my slowly growing knowledge of the power of the frame.

That said, I hope to do a play later this year, around May, with one of my favourite directors of all time, Rehaan Engineer. The text he has chosen, as usual, is gorgeous: the kind that makes you sit up as you read, because you can’t help imagining playing it out, because you are grappling with a mysterious sentence, the intention of which is still hidden from you on first read. Fingers crossed.

Which films will you be seen in next?
The Sanjay Dutt biopic releases in June, in which I have quite a bombastic part, so I am very interested in seeing how that plays out. I have a day left on Made In Heaven, a web series helmed by Zoya Akhtar and Nitya Mehra, which I have enjoyed working on for the last few months. I am also in a web series called Smoke, and am wondering when that will see the light of day. I have also acted in a film called Teen Aur Aadha, directed by Dar Gai, with Zoya Hussain. I am hoping that receives a theatrical release, because it is a very sensitive and beautiful script. Three stories occurring in the same house, the same room, are told with three long takes, each about 30-40 minutes long.

Mayank Shekhar (MID-DAY; December 29, 2017)

Honestly, guys like me-call them critic-types if you will, but essentially film buffs who desire more than bread-and-butter for big-screen entertainment - hold a sub-conscious stake in propping up an actor like Rajkummar Rao, or a Nawazuddin Siddiqui, or even an Irrfan Khan, if you may. That they're sharp, well-trained, fantastic performers, is a given. But appreciating their talents to the point of anointing them stars in their own right (which they are) only widens the elbow room for the kind of scripts that can get green-lit, or mainstream films that can be made, with them wholly in the foreground, playing men who're often like you and I, or at any rate people we can relate to - rather than mystical, celestial beings from another sky, altogether trapped in their own galaxy of a fan-base, image, and audience expectations.



Rajkummar Rao in a still from Bareilly Ki Barfi and Trapped (above)

Of course, the more mainstream '100 crore' actors don't particularly fancy this 'fitrat' (tendency). A reasonably drunk Rishi Kapoor had hauled me over the coals once at a party for being this lallu "critic type" who simply can't understand how much harder it is to be a dancing, lip-syncing, commercial hero, rather than a brooding Everyman. Which is odd. I (like millions others) totally adore the on-screen Rishi Kapoor (even more so now). It's not an either-or kinda scenario.



Rajkummar Rao in a still from Raabta

Kapoor's grouse was against the level of praise heaped on Naseeruddin Shah all through his career. Which is odder still, since I was not even an embryo when the under-stated Naseer, film after film, stormed into the scene in the '70s, cornering considerable critical acclaim for the realism (or humanism) in his roles, gradually morphing into a star of a parallel universe (or parallel cinema, as it were).


Rajkummar Rao in a still from Newton

Not sure if it's the short-build, curly hair, or the self-righteousness of his character, or perhaps the fact that he's also an FTII trained actor, but looking at Rajkummar Rao (formerly known as Rajkumar Yadav) in Amit Masurkar's Newton, it was hard for me to not observe him as the 'new generation's Naseer', expressing it so many words in my review of the film as well. Rao, I noticed, naturally shied away from the compliment, when asked to respond to this analogy, in an online interview. Which is fair. Naseer has a body of work spanning five decades - during one of which (the '80s), he happened to be absolutely in the right place, at the right time.


Rajkummar Rao in a still from Bose: Dead Or Alive

Now I haven't seen too many Indian web-shows (my New Year resolution is to change that). But from the limited set that I did binge on, it might be fair to suggest that Bose (having watched six out of nine episodes) appears to be the best, if not the most ambitious, Indian web-series around - pacy, packed with drama, history, and conspiracy theories, and above all, an incredibly calm, sorted, podgy, and full of swag Rao, killing it as the balding, badass (to the Brits), Subhash Chandra Bose. Rao's so good that you ignore the fact that we'd been OD'ing on Bose this year (Vishal Bhardwaj's Rangoon, Tigmanshu Dhulia's Raag Desh, were both centred on the Indian National Army).


Shaadi Mein Zaroor Aana

Over few months, to picture Rao as the one-man army Bose, and also as one vulnerable man Shaurya, stuck in a mid-town Mumbai high-rise, with the camera-lens equally stuck on him, capturing his moves and 'feels' - highs and lows - from every possible angle for 100 minutes' flat, has to be a study in contrasts. "Emotion nichod daala": to put it in Bollywood-speak. Beyond doubt, Rao delivered his finest performance (ever) in Vikramaditya Motwane's Trapped.

Which is to take away nothing from his other gig, Ashwiny Iyer Tiwari's Bareilly Ki Barfi, where audiences loved him even more. In fact Rao's role in Bareilly is built entirely on the idea of contrast, where he switches from a meek bloke into a 'Bhai' type, every few minutes, with crowds cracking up before the screen. 'Status' (flipping between a person with 'high' and 'low' status in the same situation) is a popular game played at acting workshops. You knew Rao would've aced it each time while honing his craft. I'm sure others did too.


Behen Hogi Teri

The point I'm trying to make is simply this. Of course Rao is a phenomenal talent. But this was the year when we could watch him effectively exploit every facet of it. And yet, none of this would matter in a film industry, which works purely on profit-loss, investment-returns. It's a sign of the changing times (or audience tastes) that he delivered hits, which makes one redefine what's a "critic-type" star, or a "real one" anyway. Bareilly (also starring Ayushmann Khurana), Newton, and Trapped performed considerably well at the box-office. I didn't watch Rao's other two releases, Behen Hogi Teri, and Shaadi Mein Zaroor Aana, fearing (perhaps, incorrectly) that it might ruin my Rajkummar Rao experience. But the latter movie, I'm told, had large audiences queue up in theatres, especially after the first week. Raabta, I saw, and it bombed (maybe rightly so). But it's a sure sign of stardom that Rao got picked to make a special appearance in the movie. He was under so much prosthetic make-up that it could have been anybody playing that part from pre-history.


We told you so! Rao in mid-day's 2016 list of people to look out for in '17

This was pretty much the year when most of Bollywood's unwritten box-office rules were shattered. Hyderabadi Prabhas's Baahubali: The Conclusion was the biggest blockbuster; Salman Khan's Tubelight totally tanked. Besides Golmaal Again, Judwaa 2, and Tiger Zinda Hai, I suspect all the major commercial successes were 'sleeper-hits'. Basically, no one saw 'em coming - pictures on erectile dysfunction, toilets, sexually deprived women, with audiences lapping 'em up. What used to be "serious", "boring", "parallel" has seamlessly merged into the mainstream. Heroes/heroines matter less. If anything Akshay Kumar is the 'huge-budget' Nawaz/Irrfan/Rao. I don't know how much of that gets reflected in Bollywood's starry, made-for-TV award shows. It's hard to tell how many gongs will go Rao's way either.

But so far as accolades go, I happened to be standing right in front of Rao (unintentionally eavesdropping), when he received the hugest one: Sachin Tendulkar just wouldn't stop gushing, going ga-ga over Rao, as Rao smiled all through. To use a sporting analogy, 2017 was to Rao what 1998 was to Tendulkar. He's in top form, smashing everything around, with hopefully, a whole lot in store as well.

In an in- depth chat, held before a live audience at IFFI, Goa, the actor dives deep to reveal his fundas, on life and films
Mayank Shekar (MID-DAY; December 3, 2017)

AS we entered the Bioscope Village, a tent- pole cinema, temporarily created for the International Film Festival of India (IFFI) in Goa, the collective chants across the venue made it seem like we were at a political rally. If you heard closely, the audiences weren’t screaming, “Modi, Modi, Modi.” They were in fact yelling something sounding similar — “Dhoni, Dhoni, Dhoni” — looking at actor Sushant Singh Rajput, whose performance as India’s top cricketer M S Dhoni on screen, remains his best known work yet. Also the crowd, a lot of them kids, had returned from a show of Neeraj Pandey’s M S Dhoni - The Untold Story, held right before.

Rajput calmed the audience down a bit, repeating his favourite moment/line from the film, which is Dhoni’s mother telling herself that her son won’t be satisfied with little — he’ll always aim for more. That sort of set the tone for this interview, which appeared as much a psychologist’s take on life/films, as a motivational speech for the young. Excerpts from the conversation:

Here’s what you often confess in your conversations — that you’re an introvert, not much of a talker, suffer from stage fright (or at least did). Now, these are exactly the reasons why someone may not turn into an actor. In your case, you’ve mentioned, that was exactly why you did. What does that mean?
Genuinely, this is essentially the problem I have with the education system globally. We’re taught that there is one right, definite answer to a question. As a result, we are increasingly become good at thinking, and convincing ourselves, about the only one correct answer. Normally, what’s missing is the skill of asking questions. And that can come with the understanding of the fact that no matter how good or passionate you are about a job, you can create something new, only when you’re aware that you’re standing on an assumption. You have to question that assumption. If that question is engaging enough, you don’t think about results, or acknowledgements. Of course, you’ll like it if there is acknowledgement for your work. But that is not why you do it. Having a personal question, and moving in that direction, is important enough.

There is a thought I’d read once, which I didn’t understand then, is about how experts have the most informed answers. But they’re not experts at asking questions. The kids have the best questions. The pattern one notices about creative people, who do something new, is they’re a combination of someone who asks questions like a child, and attempts to answer employing the method of an expert.

Now to answer your question, we are all story-tellers, and we’re acting all the time. The issue I always had was over how I should pretend to not show what I’m feeling. This went on for many years. And then I learnt a little about acting. Since I had learnt some acting, then I thought I may as well become an actor, and earn from it. But that shyness, and the hunger to find a great way to tell a story, hasn’t left me yet.

You’ve in fact said that since you were shy, it seemed easier to hide behind other people, or characters.
Exactly. When you know you’re standing on assumptions, you don’t take yourself seriously. And when that happens, it becomes dramatically easier to play other people.

Your first brush with performance art was actually through dance; is that how you began to feel most comfortable, expressing yourself publicly?
Absolutely, I was never good at expressing myself. I would think something, but when I would say it, it would seem like there’s something amiss. And I didn’t think of it as an issue, because I was happy being a science student, studying engineering. Around the time I joined dance school, and when I was on stage, performing, I felt that I could actually communicate, even without words. I could see the audience getting affected by what I was doing on stage. That was a start for sure; and then I thought, let’s use the help of words also. I began doing theatre.

Let’s look at your journey: you were academically bright, worked with (theatre director) Barry John, moved from theatre, television, to films, and also moved from Delhi to Mumbai. That’s totally Shah Rukh Khan, isn’t it?
There’s also a line in Shah Rukh Khan’s film (Om Shanti Om), “Kabhi kisi cheez ko shiddat se chaho, toh saari kaynaat… (If you will it; it happens).” I was a little stupid, and so I took it rather seriously. But I can tell you one thing — that it works. Of course, we may all love the fame and the riches, but importantly, if something interests you a whole lot, it’s fine to aim for it, and dream big.

There’s a term in psychology that you quote often: Impact bias. By which you mean that when you actually achieve what you dream for, it doesn’t seem all that significant after all.
It’s a popular subject in behavioural economics, and it’s revolutionary, because it’s counter-intuitive to how we usually think. There was an experiment done with two groups. One had an extremely bright set of CEOs in their early 20s and 30s. The other group comprised people below the poverty line. Now the first group, for some reason, had become disabled — paraplegics. The second group had just won a million dollar lottery. There was a downward mental spike recorded in the case of the first group, and equally upward, in the second.

Now, I’m not talking about months or years, but after just 10 to 12 weeks, when the same two groups were tested, their mental spikes had stabilised to exactly the same levels already. This tells you something — successes or failures actually don’t affect us in the same way that we imagine they would. If you enjoy a process itself though, you get so good at the skill, that it automatically places you in the top percentile of people on the (happiness) index.

This ‘impact bias’ realisation, I’m told, happened to you once when you’d begun hanging out at malls. You’d become famous, thanks to television. You loved being recognised. Soon enough you stopped enjoying the attention. Is that true?
No, what I’m trying to say is that public acknowledgement is a good feeling, and one can’t be immune to it. But when we are actually at work — there is no one around, the pay cheque isn’t staring at you, neither is there fear or exhilaration at how people will perceive your work.

The work being good is all you care about. Sunil Gavaskar once said that if God gave him a super power, he would really want to get inside M S Dhoni’s head, and examine how and what he thinks. And Dhoni told me just this: As much as he loves this nation, and his team, when he’s actually there in the middle (in a match), he doesn’t think about those things. He can only see the ball. It’s the same in the Mahabharat, with Arjun only being able to see the fish’s eye.

Back to movies. Every few years, there’s often one film, quite out of the blue, that spawns a mini-industry of talents. Kundan Shah’s Jaane Bhi Do Yaaro (1983), with an almost all-new cast and crew (Sudhir Mishra as a young writer, Satish Kaushik as writer-actor, Vidhu Vinod Chopra as production controller) was one. Or Ram Gopal Varma’s Satya (1998, with Anurag Kashyap as writer, Saurabh Shukla as actor-writer, Vishal Bharadwaj as music composer, among others) was another. Of late, do you think Kai Po Che (2013) falls into that category? You debuted with it. Rajkumar Rao had his first big role in it. He’s had a great run. Amit Sadh’s popular, the film picked up top screenwriting awards…
Again, here I’d like to highlight that we have a tendency to sense a design, when something works out well. And I’m not just speaking about Kai Po Che. The same sense of design isn’t as strong, when we have to predict the future. Often, it happens, that we put together all the diggaj (veteran) talents with a great story to tell, and it doesn’t work out. There is a reason for that. When Rajkummar, Amit and I were working on Kai Po Che, with (director) Abhishek Kapoor, we were absolutely certain on what we must not do, given a strong understanding of the script. But none of us were sure on exactly what we must do, including the director, who was flexible enough to trust us, and let us be. It’s not that something great came out of every shot. We tried various ways. And this is important to understand — we derive security from prediction, which is evolutionary. But preparation is only essential to know what not to do. No one can be in control, when you’re creating something new — you have to cut yourself loose.

Looking ahead, now that you’re a star, what’s becoming far more essential for that job, unlike as much back in the day, is an incredible script sense. How are you honing that craft?
I just have to able to personally react to a script — without looking at other factors, like its possible resonance among the public, or its commercially viability. If there is something I want to understand about a character and I’m unable to, I know that would be engaging enough for me to spend five to six months on it. It’s like, when I was studying for engineering, I would get an hour and half of play- time. I would wait for that moment, and when I’d go out, I would be so engaged — that time would seemingly get over in five minutes! Now my instincts are very likely to go wrong. But this is absolutely the time to encourage failure, rather than success. To give you an example, according to research, 65 per cent of the school kids right now will eventually take up jobs that don’t currently exist. The disruptive technology to enable those jobs is yet to happen. We’re at the stage of deception, since we’re unaware. What can you teach those kids then? That it’s okay to fail, because the rate of change is such. Bearing that in mind, it’s important to stress on emotional intelligence, and lack of stress.

Don’t want to take names, still, if you do a film like Raabta, do you sense a disconnect between what was the script, and what became the film?
Absolutely, I’ve never done a play, TV show, or film, where what I’d thought in my head is exactly how it turned out to be — for better or worse. Because you have no idea the choices the director, the music composer, or the editor, will take. It’s too collaborative a process for anyone to know, no matter what our intentions, which are inevitably good. I’m absolutely fine with the idea of knowing that I’m wrong, nine out of ten times.

Speaking of the three media you’ve been part of, how important is the size of the screen for you as an actor anymore, given that theatrical footfalls are dropping, and the web is probably where the best of the world’s stories are being told?
There is in fact an even bigger thing on its way, on which I’d like to take a chance, while it’s foolish to predict. Let’s go back in time, for instance, and look at when the talkies came in, and all the actors (who were part of silent cinema) assumed nothing would happen. A whole lot did. The most important aspect of a visual medium is to create an illusion, and convince you, that what’s happening is for real. Along with visuals, sound took it to another level. But the one thing that’ll change everything, virtual reality (VR), is already here, and it’s not a small transition. Within five to six seconds in VR, you lose your objectivity on the fact that you’re viewing something.
You become part of an actual experience. This is going to disrupt cinema, like how! I’m not saying story-telling will die. But films, as we know them, will drastically change. Everyone should think about it.

Surely you’re looking at virtual reality closely, but your next big step apart from films, I’m told, is going back to theatre!
Well I’ve been planning a play for a year now. I have to look at too many small things on that front. Unless we are totally enjoying ourselves with every aspect, we won’t step out with it. When we learn acting — or think that we’re learning — we’re taught about the fourth wall, which can be a live audience, or a TV camera, or a film camera, depending on the medium. In every case, you’re taught to forget the fourth wall anyway. So the idea of theatre to TV to film, as natural progression or graduation, is wrong. It doesn’t matter.

Deepali Singh (DNA; October 24, 2017)

In recent years, Bollywood has started believing that an item song featuring Sunny Leone was the sure-shot way to bring audiences to the theatre. She is hugely popular, and everyone wanted to cash in on her fan base. Even big stars Shah Rukh Khan (Raees) and Akshay Kumar (Singh is Bling) succumbed and worked with her. But, lately, it has become clear that her massive fan following does not follow her to the theatres.

WRONG MESSAGE
Ajay Devgn admitted in a recent interview — if you care to read between the lines — that he had a problem with the promotional strategy of his film, Baadshaho. He hinted at the item number Piya More picturised on Sunny, which was released immediately after the chartbuster song Mere Rashke Qamar. Ajay was quoted saying, “After the first trailer, even the multiplex audience wanted to watch it. Then came the first song, again, everyone liked it. We went wrong with the material that came out after that, as that is not something the multiplex audience wants to watch. I had an issue with that. The film opened very well, but some things harmed the multiplex business.”

SUNNY SHINES?
Comments a film enthusiast, “Look at Sanjay Dutt’s Bhoomi, how many even know that there was a song called Trippy Trippy featuring Sunny Leone? It came and went without making any splash whatsoever. There are other Sunny Leone special song-and-dance appearances, too, in recent times that have gone unnoticed, like the one in Dongri Ka Raja (Choli Block Buster) or Fuddu (Tu Zaroorat Nahi Tu Zaroori). The last time her item number was noticed in a big way, it was Laila Main Laila (Raees), but that film had Shah Rukh Khan, so how much can we really credit her for the movie’s success?”

WHY BLAME HER?
To be fair, in current times it is not just Sunny, but item numbers, in general, aren’t helping sell more tickets for the multiplex audiences. Even Deepika Padukone’s Raabta track couldn’t help the Sushant Singh Rajput-Kriti Sanon film of the same name. No one steps into theatres to watch item numbers today; there is always an online medium. Moreover, it is also an issue when there is over-exposure. Of late, Sunny has been seen in a slew of films, so dilution has happened.

SHOW RESTRAINT
It is not Sunny’s fault. She is doing what is expected of her. However, the film industry needs to have restraint when it comes to adding item songs to the narrative. A veteran filmmaker says, “If you are making an adult film, for example, Hate Story 2, you can have her do a Pink Lips. However, if you are looking at a Rs 100 crore entertainer, by default, you need family audiences to come in. You take a call if you really think Sunny’s presence can help the cause. In any case, Ajay is not naming Sunny; he is talking about the promotional campaign in general. However, there are a few lessons to be learnt for all.”