Does he watch Bigg Boss? That was our first thought when Anil Kapoor was announced as the host of the third season of Bigg Boss OTT. The actor’s director-friend Farah Khan is known to be an avid follower of the reality show, but Kapoor is an unusual choice for it.

“I always wondered why the show works, why people love it, and why the participants behave the way they do. I have seen the show in bits and parts,” smiles the senior actor. 

Bigg Boss thrives on fights, scandals and controversies. In sharp contrast is Kapoor with his affable and gentlemanly demeanour. He cuts in, “How do you know I am not rough and controversial?” To the actor, who has done it all—from the big screen to OTT, from Hollywood movies to web series—this show is his next bet.

“I’m at that stage in my career where I cannot be doing the tried and tested. I started out with bit roles, did Telugu and Kannada films, and then became a leading man. I’ve always taken on challenges. One of the reasons for my longevity is that I’m always ready to take a chance, fail or have people make fun of me. That’s how you grow.” 

While Karan Johar hosted the opening season of the Jio Cinema offering, Salman Khan took the baton in the second edition. If Johar had a sarcastic take on contestants, Khan brought his brutally frank demeanour to the show. What kind of host will Kapoor be?

“We are three people with three different personalities. So, our hosting styles will be different. When I did 24, some questioned how I would be different from Kiefer Sutherland [who led the American original]. The same happened in The Night Manager [2023] too. But one cannot think of these things while working. Everyone brings their own persona to the show.”

By keeping contestants locked away in a house for months, Bigg Boss tests their mental strength, resilience and need for social interaction. If he was a contestant, would he be able to stay cooped up like that? The actor answers with an emphatic yes.

“Staying in the Bigg Boss house is nothing compared to where we lived and the tough situations we faced when I started my career. Living in that house would be a luxury. When I used to shoot for my movies in Kolkata or south, we’d sometimes live in rooms where there was no fan or air conditioner. We’d put water on the floor to make it cooler, so we could sleep at night and go to work in the morning.”

Things are moving at a brisk pace on the Jio Cinema and Disney+ Hotstar merger front. Amid this, the top brass at both platforms have agreed to prioritize the development of the second season of The Night Manager, which became among Disney+ Hotstar’s most popular series last year. The Aditya Roy Kapur-led spy thriller is an adaptation of Tom Hiddleston’s British show of the same name. We hear the decision to fast-track its making comes with the aim of strengthening the platform’s library while holding on to the show’s loyal fanbase.

Interestingly, work on the Hindi series, which saw Sandeep Modi as the creator, will coincide with that of its international counterpart.

A source tells us, “The second season of the British series is expected to roll in 2024. It only makes sense that the Indian counterpart too starts work on their next edition. The suits at the platform are keen that the development begins this summer. However, the availability of creators and other logistics have yet to be figured out.”

In the British series, Hiddleston will reprise his role of Jonathan Pine as he takes on a new threat. The source adds, “The decisions regarding the desi offering’s plot points will be made after the writers’ room kicks off. It is unclear whether the makers will follow the same story.”

Sahil Rasheed has trained Janhvi Kapoor and Dhairya Karwa, Robin Behl has trained Kriti Sanon, Siddhant Chaturvedi, Kiara Advani, Ibrahim Ali Khan, and Adarsh Gourav. Pics/Instagram

Robin Behl: I interacted with Kriti Sanon in the lockdown when she had to lose weight post Mimi. Her management team had been training with me, and they introduced us. We started connecting virtually, and today she’s a partner in our company.

Deanne Pandey: Preity Zinta was a very close friend, and she was working on Salaam Namaste. She had to wear tiny skirts, and flaunt a flat midriff, so she began to train with me. Even today, she tells me that that was the fittest she has ever been. She was the first Bollywood actor I trained.

Sahil Rasheed: My first client was Patralekhaa, who came to check out the gym I was working at. I was [asked] to show her around, and she subsequently began to train with me. Thereafter, she introduced me to Rajkummar [Rao], and that’s how my clientele built up.

Robin: They have no time, because they’re filming for 12 hours a day. They’ve got 100 things to do, and they need to train and maintain. So, one needs to build a relationship with them. If they don’t trust you, it’s not going to work out at all, especially due to the erratic schedule. I try to understand their physical, emotional, and mental needs. They keep doing so much to their bodies, that it can be tough to cope—one look for one film, and then another for the next. So, it’s not like they’re constantly in a particular shape. You need to manipulate the sessions to keep them interested. 

Deanne: Many years ago, people didn’t exercise regularly. It wasn’t part of their lifestyle, like it is today. Back then, they’d just train for two months before a movie would go on floors. So, we needed to accomplish a lot in limited time—address their nutritional needs, conduct medical tests, and train to achieve desired results. But, they were always disciplined. Bollywood has always been very aesthetic and body-centric. Even 30 years ago, I always practiced in a holistic way. Even if the window was short, I kept a check on their sleeping patterns, and stress levels. 

Robin: Yes, because it’s not only about the training—it’s also about the dance, acting, diction and speech. Their attention is divided because there are so many aspects that need to be addressed. So, only when there’s mutual respect will things be smooth sailing. 

Robin: The sessions we had with Adi [Aditya Roy Kapur] for The Night Manager were different, if not crazy. He was shooting for 14 hours a day, and I’d be in his room at 5 am to wake him up to train, and would be waiting for him right after he wrapped up too. I knew he was so exhausted that if he sat down to rest, he wouldn’t get himself to train. So, we’d train before he could [call it a day]. It’s not an easy thing to do because acting is physically draining too, and we were in Sri Lanka, where the temperature was not favourable. He’d be pissed off with me, and I had no chill, but we had to get it done. 

Three days prior [to the climax scene], we cut out salt from his diet. But, if I felt he needed [a boost], I’d give him a bit of dark chocolate or do something to keep the energy up. Every time we meet, we talk about how we wouldn’t want to go down that route again. 

Robin: That they are super difficult. They’re not. Or that you need to be at their beck and call, which also isn’t true. If you have a structured approach and a good understanding, that’s enough to train a celebrity. Another one is that you can train only one celebrity at a time. That’s also not true. I’m working with Siddhant Chaturvedi, Kiara [Advani], Kriti, Ibrahim [Ali Khan], and Adarsh [Gourav].

 

Sahil: It’s not a level-playing field. Understand that celebrities have access to a lot of specialists, including physiotherapists. So, even if they have a small niggle, we need to get the green signal from the physio before proceeding. So, there’s a lot of change in the programme. This is also due to occupational hazards. When I was training Janhvi Kapoor for Gunjan Saxena: The Kargil Girl, she had been training with a person from the military, and had developed some back issues. So, we had to address those. Creating a plan that is practical for the actor, regardless of the character she is set to play [is also vital]. Also, often, they have to achieve a lot in a short span of time, and that requires one to understand the emotional toll that the process can take. When I trained Shriyam Bhagnani for Sumo Didi, we had a short window to train an 85-kilo actor to do a split and nab strength training. Often, she’d cry during the process. But, she got better as we went along. 

Robin: It was important for me to travel with Aditya, because a major part of the shoot involved body-shots. If it’s not a body-shot, I don’t travel. We also have a team. So, I may send somebody with a brief. I have programmed everything. They just need to execute it. Also, now we can train individuals virtually. Cell phones and gyms are accessible.

During one of our previous conversations, Sobhita Dhulipala had spoken about wanting to explore more genres. The Made In Heaven actress has ventured into the psychological thriller (Raman Raghav 2.0), black comedy (Kaalakaandi) and historical action drama (Ponniyin Selvan franchise) space, and recently, her web series The Night Manager, with Aditya Roy Kapur won praise.

When asked if she is keen to do an intense romantic film with Aditya, she said, “I want to do the kind of intense romantic films that Vishal Bhardwaj ji makes. Romance ho toh aise ki matlab haath jal jaye. Aditya and I have a very chill vibe. I think he and I will be more suited for a romantic comedy. A romcom of two fools (laughs). I know he really wants to do a comedy.”

A trained classical dancer, Sobhita hasn’t got a chance to showcase her dancing skills in any film so far. Talking about actors who she would love to dance with on screen, she says, “I would love to match steps with Madhuri Dixit Nene and Aishwarya Rai Bachchan. And when it comes to the actors, I would love to dance with Shahid Kapoor and Hrithik Roshan. I will try my best to match up to them.”

Over 19 years since the inception of Koffee with Karan, host Karan Johar has been giving audiences a peek into the lives of their favourite celebrities. The eighth season of the popular chat show continues to keep viewers hooked with the guests’ frank speak on the couch. The latest episode of the Disney+ Hotstar show sees Aditya Roy Kapur and Arjun Kapoor speak candidly on several subjects of their lives.

Considering that Kapur remains most memorable for his performance as Rahul Jaykar in Aashiqui 2, Johar asked him about Kartik Aaryan being cast in the third instalment of the musical romance, in the latest episode. 

“I think he is the perfect person to take the baton forward,” Kapur promptly replied, without any hint of insecurity. He explained, “There was no chance I could be in this, because in the second part my character went for a long swim, from which he is not returning.”

At that, Kapoor couldn’t help quipping, “Then he became the night manager after that,” alluding to Kapur’s hit series that also impressed Hollywood actor Tom Hiddleston, who essayed the titular role in the original international show.

What’s a good ol’ Bollywood actioner without a gunfight or three? Indeed, the story of how Hindi cinema has depicted arms and armaments is as interesting as the century-plus history of Bollywood itself. The long-barrel revolvers and 303 rifles have been around for decades – see the posters of Dev Anand’s CID or of Sholay, for example – but it’s only in recent years that Hindi films have started matching Hollywood blockbusters bullet for bullet, so to speak.

From espionage thrillers to cross-border wars and gangland dramas, as the scope of the Bollywood action flick grows exponentially, our films now show an astounding array of guns, artillery, tanks, explosions and more. We go behind the scenes to explore how the industry creates all the firepower that is required to make a big bang at the box office.

Action scenes require the maximum planning and pre-production, because there is much at stake in terms of the safety of people involved. Today, with VFX, things have become simpler than what they were 10-15 years ago. During Ek Tha Tiger (2012), we did stunts physically, with 200 foot wooden towers falling from one building to another. In Kabul Express (2006), every gun that you see is real. Those days guns were easily available, and Afghans got us a truckload of Kalashnikovs. We had an Afghan action director, Abdul Basir Mujahid, who insisted on firing a rocket in our honour despite my telling him not to. In the middle of a shot, he jumped off an SUV and fired it and that shot is there in the movie. We were shocked because the whole place resounded with the noise, but Afghanistan being Afghanistan, no one batted an eyelid!

— Kabir Khan, director

My team and I are particular about authenticity, and when we started prepping in India for Uri: The Surgical Strike, we realized that replicas of original guns weren’t easily available here. There are customs issues and getting the guns may take months. We had a choice between going ahead with the AK-47 replicas available here, or trying something new. Luckily, Serbia had opened up a rebate structure, and getting equipment similar to the choppers, Mirages and guns we needed became easier. However, we also did a little jugaad and the night vision goggles were binoculars with a green light inside from Juhu beach. While shooting in Serbia, we could only afford four stunt people. If you watch carefully, the same people play terrorists and armymen and even come back from the dead to play other characters! — Aditya Dhar, director

The Night Manager was a tricky series because it is the story of an arms dealer. We had to ensure that the arms shown were technically correct and matched the stuff used in modern warfare, apart from being visually appealing. After extensive research, we zeroed in on a wish list. Other than a few assault rifles, not many weapons were readily available for filming. Necessity is the mother of invention. We studied and built prototypes of many guns with our SFX partners and made its impact look cinematically as close to the real ones with ample help from our VFX team.

— Sandeep Modi, director

The 1980s and ’90s saw several dacoit films and those needed rifles and double-barrelled guns. Times have changed and films now require M4 carbines and AK-47s, Glocks and Berettas. Even if gun models are limited in real life and we have to repeat them, the audience wants something new in each film. That’s why we have custom-made guns like those seen in Don 2 and Lucifer. when the trigger is pulled, there is a sound like gunfire, which is the cue for the actor. Muzzle flash is later added via VFX. When we are approached for a film, we give the team an album, from which they can select guns. We also recommend the gun that should be used for a particular era, though sometimes we take cinematic liberty if the gun looks good on screen.

— Vishal Tyagi, SFX supervisor and armourer

Research is an important part of our job, and for Tiger Zinda Hai we had to show Baghdad city, Chinooks and other army choppers. We built the set in Abu Dhabi and since a real Chinook would’ve cost Rs. 30 crore, we created mock-ups. Tubelight had Indo-China war sequences and we had a team that made study models and converted normal cars into tanks. For the upcoming Chandu Champion that shows the 1971 war between India and Pakistan, we required an antiaircraft gun that vibrates. We used a drill machine to get the repetitive movement, while the VFX team added the bullets, and the sound department handled the rest. In the past, we would make a mould of mud and create guns from it; today you can just print a dummy gun from websites and the process is effortless. VFX has also made life easier. For example, we built a chopper for Bade Miyan Chote Miyan without the rotating blade, which will be added through VFX. For blast scenes, we create the smoke, while the fire is added via VFX

— Rajnish Hedao, production designer

While selecting guns, we must be careful because Mumbai police firearms are different from those used by Rapid Action Force or the Army. We meet senior or retired officers who help us with our research. It takes us a long time to prep for car stunts because even if the shot shows a car toppling, we have to ensure people inside are safe. The web series Aar Ya Paar has an archer as the protagonist and we got on board a national archery coach to work with the cast. We created artificial bows and arrows lighter than the real ones, so that actors could handle them easily. Our job begins two-three months before the shoot.

— Swapnil Bhalerao, production designer working with Rohit Shetty for 18 years

Considered one of Bollywood’s most eligible bachelors, Aditya Roy Kapur is among the fittest actors of his generation. And while he enjoys all the attention he gets from the ladies, he admits that it isn’t easy to maintain that level of fitness, what we’d call ‘hotness quotient’. In a quick tête-à-tête, the actor reveals what goes into looking the way he does, the appreciation he got for his OTT debut and more. Excerpts...

While he’s undeniably good-looking and loves the compliments coming his way from fans, Aditya confesses that he’s quite critical about his own self. “We are all so critical of ourselves and we constantly feel... oh, I am fat, oh, I am this, I am that, when actually others feel that you are looking just fine. So, it is all about perspective, right? I am like anybody else. I have my days when I don’t feel good about myself or feel unattractive. I don’t have a six-pack all the time! Also, because I am tall, everything else gets distributed (on my body). I might appear very fit, but I am not that fit all the time. I am constantly feeling like I need to lose weight. I have self-doubts like anyone else has. Having said that, the compliments I get are flattering. At least all the hard work and the dieting has some upside to it (laughs)!”

Ask Aditya, if there’s anything he would like to change about his body and pat comes his reply, “I want to change my metabolism. There are some people who are blessed where they can eat whatever they want, and they don’t put on weight. Unfortunately, that’s not the case with me. If I eat, I put on weight instantly. It is tough to stay in shape, especially for someone who’s a foodie. I have to be extremely disciplined if I have to be in shape. If I lose track and cheat for 3-4 days in a row, I try and get back in shape in the next 10 days. Earlier, I used to put on 15 kilos and then get busy losing those 15 kilos. But as you get older, more than physically, it is mentally taxing to be that extreme. So, it’s better to keep a watch on my food intake.”

As an actor, you are always under pressure to look good, but if a character demands that I have to look overweight or not flaunt a chiselled body, I am absolutely okay with it. In fact, in my repertoire of movies, I have done films that did not focus on my physical attributes like Kalank, Ludo, Daawat-e-Ishq and I definitely want to continue to do that, otherwise, I will get bored looking a certain type all the time.”

The actor won a lot of praise for his OTT debut, The Night Manager, in fact, with the series he has grabbed more eyeballs than ever before. “I don’t know if it’s ‘the most’ (I’ve been appreciated), but I definitely feel appreciated. The appreciation and acclaim have been heartwarming. I feel at various junctures in your career a project comes along which cuts across and crosses over. Back in the day, a project that changed things for me was Aashiqui 2. I won a lot of love and appreciation for that film. I feel Yeh Jawaani Hai Deewani was quite special too. So yes, I have had such special projects in my career, and it is really nice to savour these as an actor,” he says.

Considering the athletic frame that he has sported throughout his career, one would assume that Aditya Roy Kapur would have had to up his fitness regimen by only a small proportion to acquire the lithe physique of Shaan Sengupta in The Night Manager.

“I’d wake him up early and send him off on a run. I’d make him execute drills, like push-ups and pull-ups. There was a fair amount of weight-lifting work, callisthenics, and floor work involved. We also incorporated some amount of martial arts training,” says Robin Behl, before adding, “But you are right. He has an incredible physique!”

Behl has turned his attention to athletic techniques that prioritize “good quality” movement over “traditional forms in which you’re simply lifting without purpose]”. That Kapur’s Shaan, a former navy officer, also needed to come across as someone who has “freedom of movement” implies that Behl’s learnings could indeed serve Kapur.

“Primarily, a lot of strength and conditioning work was involved. We didn’t want to focus on what this could do for this project alone because we wanted to develop [techniques] that could serve him for other projects as well. So, it wasn’t about the aesthetics alone. I love gymnastic rings, and also incorporated weighted exercises into his routine. Fasted cardio works well for him, and we injected small bits of cardiovascular training into his weight-training routine to burn fat. When callisthenics is blended with lifting, you can create a [holistic] routine. While movements like pull-ups and push-ups work on the entire group of muscles and improve stability, isolated weight-lifting exercises helped me train the muscles that [needed to be enhanced for the show].”

If it wasn’t for the resolute Kapur, Behl admits navigating the long training schedule during the shoot, battling extreme temperatures, and keeping him on a caloric restriction that was only sufficient to sustain his activities, wouldn’t have been possible. “We didn’t want to drive him to a stage of burn-out. There was barely any gap between [the shooting schedules] and we wanted him to retain his energy levels. If he was pushed to exhaustion, his body wouldn’t react. We were doing a mix of a lot of movement. We ensured that he tracked his nutrition, ate clean and limited his intake to the amount his body [essentially] required, and kept his macros in check. Three days before a body shot, we’d eliminate salt from his diet. He’d be on minimal calories and would consume a low-carb diet. At one time, he was eating only 1,800 calories, [which could be difficult to adhere to] since he is a big guy. While he was in a deficit, I couldn’t push him or make him lift heavy weights. There had to be a sync between his nutrition, training, and [rest]. It’s a relationship between three elements. I had to ascertain that he was getting the required amount of rest and that his stress levels were in check. But, Aditya takes on any task [with diligence]. He doesn’t have a half-hearted approach. So, even after a 12 to 14-hour shooting schedule, when he’d see me waiting for him, he’d be ready to train within five minutes.”

It's been a while since the Bollywood-loving, urban women of India have been this close to unison on a common object of desire. Ever since The Night Manager hit our mobile screens, Aditya Roy Kapur has been “the one”.

Chiselled body—flaunted amply in shirtless scenes, ambling on the beach—a shy yet enticing smile, decent acting chops, and finally a mega hit. He seems to have it all for the moment. And in an endless Instagram frenzy of curated wedding pictures, here is a leading man who is single, making him ideal fodder for fantasy.

The day we meet Kapur, it’s pouring and the IMD has instructed citizens to stay at home. He is looking out of the window of his publicist’s Bandra office, gleefully. We remind him that the weather must be very different in Spain, where he was on vacation last week. “Yes, there was a lot of sun. I was having FOMO—I didn’t want to miss the rain. I love this.”

Kapur poses for photographs while we quote from a celebrity filmy magazine interview that claimed that he was entirely unaware of the female attention. “No, no! I am aware,” he clarifies. A young woman friend wants him to record a video, saying her name; that’s it. We relay the request faithfully. He breaks into that bashful smile. “Just keep saying names, that’s all?”

He won’t talk relationships we are told, not old, or new. Only work. But, there is enough to talk about.

He is particular about how he appears in pictures, how his hair sits, and refuses a plate of carb-heavy bhutta that’s offered to him. In the next moment, he gives in: “It’s okay, I trust you,” he tells the mid-day photographer.

It’s not easy to take a poor picture of Kapur. He sits across from us, his tall relaxed frame complimenting his amiable manner; it makes it easy to talk to him. He’s not quite the star; more like, the hot, relatable boy next door.

Kapur admits that he is in a good place. “Life is good. The Night Manager did well. I am happy, and looking forward to what’s coming up. I love the monsoons—not missing the sun at all,” he repeats.

That the web series was an adaptation of the British original starring Tom Hiddleston, hasn’t taken away from his performance, which is attracting applause. The only way to attack this role would then be to do it in your own way.

“You have to be convinced of the role—as an actor, you have to find your way into the part. It can’t come from a place of imitation. I was inspired by the original performances, but what helped was that the makers did a great job with the adaption.”

We also remind him that he is yet again playing a character who suffers on the inside, but holds a stoic exterior, much like damaged Sooraj/Arjun from Gumraah (2023), the vengeful Advait in Malang (2019), melancholic Rahul in Ashiqui 2 (2013), or even the kooky but disgruntled Avinash in Yeh Jawaani Hai Deewani (2013). “There has been a lot of suffering,” he laughs and agrees.

Are you like that in real life?

He gives us the “hmmm, you got me” smile, and says, “I guess, all of us are like that, no?” We say no, we are not. And he laughs again. “Honestly, I don’t know if I have all that perspective on myself. But this character had so much to unearth—there was a lot about his past. There was a lot for me to draw from.”

It’s been 10 years since Kapur’s first big film, Aashiqui 2, a musical love story starring Shraddha Kapoor. In 2009, he had starred in a bit role in London Dreams. The last decade has taught him that permanence is transient. “It’s a cliché, but clichés are true. You don’t need to get too low or too high. Stay level.”

When a film doesn’t work, he retreats and heals in a refuge. “You work so hard for so long, so it’s jarring when it doesn’t work. I need a few days to recoup, and then I go back into society.” Introvert, shall we call him? “Maybe an ambivert,” he says.

He didn’t ask for this, though. As a student at St Xavier’s College, Kapur wanted to be a cricketer. “Like the rest of India”, he quips. He also wanted to be a musician, and was the first vocalist of indie band Something Relevant. Then he went on to become a veejay on Channel V, where people appreciated his comic timing. “At Channel V, they laughed at me! They would say, ‘yeh actor kabhi nahin ban sakta’!”

And here we are sitting across one of the most desirable acting talents of Hindi cinema. “I am flattered. It is nice,” he smiles, “but I don’t dwell on it. I don’t keep it front and centre of my mind. I say, ya, ya! I don’t want it to become too much a part of how I perceive myself, or attach too much value to it. Because, it can go away very quickly.” In the end, for him, how he looks is part and parcel of the work he does. “It’s the quality of work that decides longevity or what you will do next.”

Ask him how he works on his craft, and Kapur says that it’s just about observing people, and gathering varied experiences. For now, he just tries to work on every role with as much focus as possible. “I tell myself, I can do this better, can’t I? I am never satisfied. Some directors say, ‘Yaar, tu khush nahin hota hai’.”

What he does want to do is try and play a negative character.  Do we see him as a villain? Maybe. “Ya na? It could be good,” he thinks aloud.

We talk about Hollywood’s man of the moment, Ryan Gosling, who said recently that when he returned from a four-year break to acting, he realised that his work wasn’t therapy, it was just a job. “That’s the kind of clarity having a child gives you perhaps,” Kapur muses. “I have always had other interests. I stumbled into acting—I didn’t work towards this. Every role is therapeutic because I get to escape and be someone else. But it’s not everything.”

We are getting ready to say goodbye. He asks, “So, you headed back to work?” A celebrity who is not self-involved! We seem now to get the hype around this man. Before we leave, we ask, will young Aditya be happy with where older Aditya ended up.

“He would have never seen this coming. Acting in Hindi movies was not what I had thought of. I was a Hollywood action movie fan. But I have found something I actually love doing. I am happy I am doing this.”

So are we.

Sandeep Modi couldn’t have asked for a better 2023. The creator-director won appreciation for his deft handling of The Night Manager, a show that had the tall order of matching its British original. Even as praise continues to pour in, Modi is busy “manifesting” the future. And it includes a Karan Johar production.

“Karan and I have wanted to do a film since Chumbak in 2017. We have been manifesting. Even before The Night Manager trailer dropped, Karan and I knew we were [collaborating]. The film is a genre-bender. It will be a popular film, but it won’t be seedha,” he grins, adding that the project is currently at the writing stage.

For now, the director agrees that the present is exactly as he would like it to be. His spy thriller—starring Anil Kapoor, Aditya Roy Kapur and Sobhita Dhulipala—has become the most-viewed Hindi web series of the year so far, as per an Ormax report. The success tastes sweeter since Modi went through a lot of struggles to make the Disney+ Hotstar series. It was originally imagined with Hrithik Roshan, but over the years, the cast drastically changed. Was it nerve-racking?

“I have a strange analogy that my wife hates—it is that she must have met a lot of people, before settling down with me. It’s not about who you envisaged [at the start, but who you ended up with]. We never write keeping stars in mind. You try out an actor, and then it does or does not work out. I met Aditya Roy Kapur at a time I didn’t expect to. Anil Kapoor agreed in a day. Such is filmmaking; some things take forever and some happen in a day.”

Tom Hiddleston, who led the British original of the same name, was impressed by the adaptation after watching it at a London screening in April. Since then, rumours have been rife of a crossover between the two shows.

Asked about it, Modi says, “The producers are the same. John le Carre’s [who wrote the original book] sons are [among] the producers. I keep pushing them, and it might make for a great crossover. Singham entering the world of Sooryavanshi is fun, so this could be too.”

Sometimes, it takes the right role for the industry and the audience to take notice of an actor’s potential. For Aditya Roy Kapur, The Night Manager gave him that role. “People have been saying to me, ‘Everyone is seeing you differently now!’ I don’t understand this because I have always seen myself like this,” he laughs, buoyed by the praise coming his way. 

Only days ago, the second instalment of the Kapur, Anil Kapoor and Sobhita Dhulipala-starrer dropped on Disney+ Hotstar, replicating the success of its opening part. With The Night Manager, creator-director Sandeep Modi has adapted the 2016 British original of the same name, giving us a stylised spy thriller that sees Kapur’s character Shaan bring down an arms dealer. The actor credits the series’ detailed writing and Modi’s vision for the change in audience’s perception.

“I have always believed that the right element will always be there in the right part. [If you see] the tonality in the writing and the way Sandeep mounted it, I hadn’t got to do something like that in a theatrical release.”

Considering the industry has a habit of repeating a success formula, will we see the actor in more brooding, intense roles now?

“Going for another spy role would be a trap, which I want to be away from. But if I get to do something in a similar space, writing-and presentation-wise, I’d be happy to do it. The idea is to get this kind of love for future work as well. But I don’t want to only fight on screen. I want to do more romances.” 

Kapur’s wish is being fulfilled by Anurag Basu, who is reuniting with his Ludo (2020) actor for Metro... In Dino. He is thrilled to be back on the set with the filmmaker. “With Dada, it’s always a trip. Every day is a new day. Just be ready to have fun.”

The Indian adaptation of The Night Manager, whose final lot of episodes goes live this weekend, has changed both the industry and the audience’s perception of Aditya Roy Kapur dramatically.

The actor was never regarded as a serious player, despite having starred in hits such as Aashiqui 2 (2013) and Malang (2020). But many are predicting that his committed, restrained performance as a suave undercover spy in The Night Manager could change the course of his career. Aditya was cast in the show after Hrithik Roshan dropped out, reportedly over creative differences with the makers.

Most actors will tell you that a lot of thought goes into what they say yes to. That they take weeks, sometimes months, before they commit to a film or a new project, because one has to be sure it’s the thing one wants to spend the next six months invested in. Every actor also insists that saying no is as crucial a decision (if not more so), one that requires as much thought and careful consideration.

Because, let’s face it, no one wants to be the guy who failed to see potential in what turned out to be a blockbuster. You can bet Abhishek Bachchan hasn’t forgiven himself for turning down Lagaan (2001); Harsh Varrdhan Kapoor must realize that saying no to Andhadhun (2018) was a bad idea; and even Shah Rukh Khan must wonder how he didn’t see the merit in doing Munna Bhai MBBS (2003).

But more importantly (and they’ll never admit this), no one wants to be the guy who said no to a project that went on to change another actor’s career. That point is made well in a key scene in Luck by Chance (2009), Zoya Akhtar’s sharp rumination on the Hindi movie business. Moments after Hrithik’s superstar character Zafar Khan is introduced to the up-and-coming Vikram Jaisingh (Farhan Akhtar) at an industry party, a top producer asks him if the newbie said thank you to Zafar. After all, that kid wouldn’t be at this party, wouldn’t be poised for a promising career, if Zafar hadn’t turned down this one big film that the kid has now landed. Zafar’s expression, as the camera stays on him, is an unmistakable cocktail of scorn and regret.

When Ranveer Singh debuted in Band Baaja Baaraat in 2010, dazzling the audience with his inspired performance as a Saharanpur boy who starts a wedding-planning business with his female friend, most people felt it was a role tailormade for the young actor. But the truth is that writer-director Maneesh Sharma and producer Aditya Chopra intended the film for Ranbir Kapoor, who has admitted he couldn’t see himself in the role and hence politely declined.

The success of Band Baaja Baaraat heralded the arrival of a charming leading man with solid acting chops. In his very first film, Ranveer was able to show he could transform into the character he was hired to play. He also had the swag of a bona fide star. Ranbir, meanwhile, who has gone on to make some relatively oddball choices (Besharam, Bombay Velvet, Shamshera), has had no trouble demonstrating his incredible acting skills, but hasn’t exactly revealed an instinct for picking hits.

To apply the logic of that producer in Luck by Chance, and to suggest that Ranveer might not have become a star if Ranbir had done Band Baaja Baaraat, is to grossly undermine Ranveer’s talent and potential. But there is no question that few newcomers have had the kind of career-making debut that Ranveer was lucky to have in that film.

Preity Zinta had already featured in major projects such as Mission Kashmir (2000), Dil Chahta Hai (2001), and Koi… Mil Gaya (2003), but it wasn’t until Kal Ho Naa Ho (2003) that she skyrocketed to superstardom. That film was originally offered to Kareena Kapoor, who refused to do it unless she was paid as much as Shah Rukh Khan. Producer Karan Johar felt that was an unfair ask. Kal Ho Naa Ho became one of PZ’s biggest hits, and led to a falling out between Kareena and Karan. Kareena has since said that she was “young and foolish” to let go of the film.

Sadly, for actors, no crystal ball has been invented yet to help them always pick hits. It’s why instinct is generally accorded more importance than talent in the movie business. It’s also why actors struggle for weeks and months over the decision to say yes or no. Each wrong choice has far-reaching consequences.

It’s his last interview in what has been a long day. So, is Anil Kapoor tired? “I’m just warming up,” he quips, ready to chat about the second part of The Night Manager. Perhaps, it is this relentless spirit that has aided his 40-year run in an otherwise fickle industry.

Over the past decade, the senior actor has carefully picked strong roles, shining as bright as the protagonist. It’s all in the mind, he says. “Even if I have four scenes in a film, or a cameo, I feel that I am the leading man on that given day. Of course, I don’t overstep the boundary. I give due respect to people who, in that moment, are responsible for the film to have a certain positioning. But internally, I do my best to not feel inferior to anybody. I don’t try to prove anything to anyone unless someone steps on my toes,” he shares.

Regardless of his screen time, Kapoor is dependable as ever—be it as the selfish father in 'Jugjugg Jeeyo' (2022), or in his latest Disney+ Hotstar offering. In the adaptation of the British original of the same name, he plays the antagonist, standing shoulder-to-shoulder with leading man Aditya Roy Kapur. Kapoor, however, credits creator Sandeep Modi’s vision and the writing for the series’ well-rounded characters.

“When the script and book [from which the show is adapted] are fantastic, you can add nuances to a character. Sometimes people don’t work hard, and expect great results. If you don’t prepare well, you might do good work, but not the kind that has happened in this show.”

That said, the senior actor is quick to admit that the crime drama came with some risks—ones that he was willing to take, given his faith in the material.

“There are some boxes that a project has to tick—the story, the script, my character and so on. With 'The Night Manager', I took a chance on a few things. For instance, I was working with the platform and Banijay [production house] for the first time. Sandeep is a [relatively] new director, who had co-directed 'Aarya'. I have worked on an adaptation before with 24, but I was also a producer on that project. Here, I was just an actor. Fortunately, all these [risks] paid off.”

I thought either I was hallucinating or the audience! My work hasn’t been exposed to such numbers before,” exclaims Tillotama Shome, whose performance in The Night Manager was loved by the audience when it dropped online in February. Four months since its release, the spotlight is still firmly on the actor, who plays a focused R&AW officer with a quirky sense of humour in the thriller.

“I’m used to finishing my work and moving on, and not having journalists interview me because they would interview mainstream actors,” she laughs.

Shome now awaits the release of the second part of the Disney+ Hotstar series led by Aditya Roy Kapur, Anil Kapoor and Sobhita Dhulipala. In a big win, the streamer and makers have ensured she not only features in the new posters with her co-stars, but also gets her stand-alone poster. This move comes after the audience criticized the makers for not including her—a pivotal character in the adaptation of the British original of the same name—on the poster, the first time around.

“The media asked about it and so did the audience, that’s why the Hotstar team put me on the poster of the second part. I got this position because of the audience’s love. The audience has felt connected with my work, and fought for me to be on the poster.”

For an actor, who has delivered many powerful performances in films—from Monsoon Wedding (2001) to Qissa (2015) and Sir (2020)—Shome should have had her moment in the sun much sooner. She, however, views her journey with a sense of gratitude rather than bitterness.

“I still stand by all those movies. If I hadn’t done those independent films, I wouldn’t be doing The Night Manager. I’d change nothing about my journey. It makes sense for the marketing team to put faces on the poster that are more seen, it will draw the audience in. Then your work will speak for itself. Changing something takes time, and we all have to work on it rather than being angry. I remember Irrfan Khan telling me once, ‘You will not get anything by crying like Meena Kumari! Learn to love life. If you aren’t getting work, do something else with your time.’ Thanks to him and people around me, I have an enriching life.”

After working on the first season of the Sushmita Sen-starrer Aarya, an Indian adaptation of the Dutch series Penoza, director Sandeep Modi’s next project was The Night Manager (TNM), which was also an adaptation of the Tom Hiddleston-starrer of the same name.

What is it about adapting international projects that attracts him? “There are a few stories that everyone keeps moving around. Here’s one such story, which had a good run and was told well. It’s like a Shakespeare story that is relevant in India and the world even now. That becomes an interesting factor for me,” the filmmaker says.

The second part of TNM will be out soon. Not “resting on our laurels”, Modi admits that splitting the season and releasing part 2 after a long break was a “huge responsibility”. “I was worried that people were going to get so angry about this thing (splitting the show). Even if they like the show, what if they don’t like the idea of the way we’re presenting it?” he shares, adding, “Now that the bar has been raised, you have to try to beat it, or in the worst case, you have to match it.”

The filmmaker adds that for him, “OTT is a hybrid of films and television”. “You can either think of it like a film, where you watch the whole film together (in one go), or you can think of it like television, where you tell a story over a period of time. We have, so far, been used to the idea of watching it like a film,” he shares.

The show brought back Anil Kapoor and Aditya Roy Kapur onscreen together, after their first collab in the film Malang (2020). Talking about pitting actors from different generations against each other, Modi states, “They have their own specialties and it’s a joy to work with two diverse personalities.”

For the prep, the actors had separate workshops on set, so “it was like a boxing game”. Modi elaborates, “Both of them didn’t know what prep the other has made, so that they are on top of their game and their antennas are up.”

Ahead of The Night Manager’s première in February, people assumed that the team would feel pressured about the inevitable comparisons with the popular British original of the same name. But creator-director Sandeep Modi had different concerns. The team of the Disney+ Hotstar series had decided to split the Anil Kapoor, Aditya Roy Kapur and Sobhita Dhulipala-starrer into two parts, with the second instalment dropping online months after the première.

“Will people have emotional memory of the show? That was my first question,” recounts Modi.

His second doubt was whether the Indian audience was ready to consume a series at a slow pace, in contrast to the bingeing fashion synonymous with OTT. “Some stories need to be seen in a certain way. This is the story of a man, who has seen the death of a little girl and has succumbed to his powerlessness. He wants to take on the powerful, but that [transition] would require some time to be felt. [Initially], I tried to watch the show in entirety. But after some time, I felt I needed a break to savour it. So, I recommended that we do a weekly episode. The team said that the model wasn’t suitable, and they wanted to split it. I wanted to take the risk and see what happens if I don’t allow the audience to binge it,” he explains.

Evidently, the risk has paid off with viewers awaiting the second part that drops online later this month. Casting Kapur, mostly known for his romantic roles, as a brooding man was another gamble. Modi says the leading man did a month-long workshop to slip into the role.

“Aditya is a hungry actor. Also, his intent with the character was the same as mine. He understood that we were not going to use the 20 standard tropes that an actor develops over his journey. We did a month of workshops to find the character, someone who doesn’t speak much but conveys his intent through his eyes.”

One of the criticisms about the first part was that Dhulipala’s character seemed under-developed. Modi reveals he had pre-empted this response.

“When we decided to split the show, I called Anil Kapoor and Sobhita Dhulipala, and apologized to them. I thought the first four episodes did slight injustice to them. But surprisingly, I got a call from Mahesh Bhatt who asked about Sobhita. He said, ‘Who is this actor? There is a whole story about her silences.’ People praised Anil sir as well.”

Call it the Hindi film industry’s bias or what you may, but action movies are always associated with men. Which is why Priyanka Ghose co-directing The Night Manager could be viewed as an anomaly by many around her. When we sit down to chat with her ahead of the thriller’s second part dropping online this month, Ghose states matter-of-factly, “[Action offerings] are a male bastion.”

So, when she got the opportunity to helm the Anil Kapoor, Aditya Roy Kapur and Sobhita Dhulipala-led action series, she “ran with it”. “Over the years, female directors rarely took up action. It could be a mix of both — a lack of interest from their side, and they are not trusted enough to handle it. I got the opportunity here, and had a lot of fun doing the action extravaganza. There are elaborate set-pieces directed by me. All it takes is one man to trust you, and Sandeep [Modi, showrunner-director] trusted me. He saw value in my interest in the genre,” she says.

However, there were different issues on the ground level. Stunt crews are male-dominated, and Ghose heading them was out of the ordinary. The trick, she says, is to know your job so well that those around start respecting you for what you bring to the table.

“I studied the process of [setting up fight sequences] and understood their technicalities early on in my career. I knew my edit beforehand, I knew how to budget it correctly. At the end of the day, if you know the craft, the technical crew will respect it. Our action director Paramjeet Dhillon has worked with me a lot. But sometimes, there would be a local line producer, who would think, ‘Arre, isey kya pata hoga?’ But I was so thorough with my homework that no matter what they threw on the table, I knew how to solve it.”

Having a woman at the helm benefited the Disney+ Hotstar series, which is an adaptation of the Tom Hiddleston-led British series of the same name, in many ways. A case in point being the depiction of women.

“During the London screening, many studio executives told me that the female characters were stronger in our adaptation than in the original. It was heartwarming to hear that. During the pre-production, we did a lot of back and forth on our female characters. I would keep changing things, saying that women don’t talk like this. I ensured that Lipika [Tillotama Shome’s character] did not come across as a feminist propaganda mouthpiece.”

Her belief was only reaffirmed by Hiddleston who, at the London screening on March 17, couldn’t stop raving about the adaptation. “He spent the evening discussing scenes and asking us how we did a certain sequence. He felt that Aditya was better than him in certain parts.”

So, do we see a crossover soon? “We’re talking of a multiverse set-up. I hope we get enough love to pursue that route.”

It’s always a joy to dive into the colourful world of filmmaker Anurag Basu. On Tuesday, Aditya Roy Kapur, who featured in the director’s Ludo (2020), relived the experience as he kicked off the shoot of Metro…In Dino in Film City, Goregaon. While the movie is an ensemble drama, we hear Basu will first focus on the track of Kapur and Sara Ali Khan’s characters.

A source reveals, “Aditya began with an emotional sequence yesterday. Anurag has lined up the most challenging scenes at the start, with Sara expected to join the project later this week.”

For the sequel to Life In A Metro (2007), Basu has brought together an interesting cast that also includes Konkona Sensharma, Pankaj Tripathi, Anupam Kher, Fatima Sana Shaikh, Ali Fazal and Neena Gupta. While the director has charted out a four-month schedule for the drama, Kapur will have to juggle it with the upcoming promotions for the second part of The Night Manager that drops online at the month-end. 

“The Film City stint will be a week-long affair, following which Aditya will dive into the promotions. After that, he will dedicate himself fully to the film for the next few months. He wants to finish it before starting another project because it is a consuming role,” adds the source.

He is among those rare actors who have found success — medium, no bar. Alongside a thriving film career, Anil Kapoor has made waves in TV (24), web films (AK vs AK, 2020; Thar, 2022), and now, a web show (The Night Manager/TNM), the second batch of episodes for which will soon start streaming.

The actor says the freedom to pick any medium didn’t come easy, despite his image today as an actor who can pull off most acting jobs with élan. “I think I have been fortunate. What happens is, you reap what you have sown in the past. I made a lot of sacrifices then, in order to make the right choices. I took risks; some clicked, some didn’t, then. Thus, looking at my body of work, filmmakers remember I can pull off roles, hence they offer them to me. It could not have been overnight that people started offering me different things,” he says.

Citing the international thriller 24, which he first starred in and then produced an Indian adaptation of, in 2013, he continues, “Whatever I learnt from that show — the mistakes and the good things, I used in TNM. If I didn’t have that experience, and hadn’t gone through what I did in 24, I wouldn’t have been able to share much. I would just be an actor who would come and act. We did only a few episodes for TNM — while for 24, we did it all in one go. And we swept every award for both seasons. So these things really help.”

Even beyond acting, a lot of ‘blood and sweat’ goes into creating defining characters, stresses Kapoor, who is looking forward to anticipated biggies Animal and Fighter. “I’ve worked with filmmakers and choreographers not feeling comfortable — and made them feel comfortable, adapting, learning, and using what I learnt,” the actor wraps up.

After last year’s Thar and JugJugg Jeeyo, Anil Kapoor has again struck a chord with the audience in his performance in The Night Manager (TNM). And the actor couldn’t be happier. “People are calling it the Pathaan of OTT!” he beams. With major projects Animal and Fighter in the pipeline, how has he managed to balance the two mediums successfully?

“It’s about making the right choices at the right time. My decisions of choosing from five or six offers have paid off. Also, my co-stars across all the projects, were fantastic,” he says.

Having said that, Kapoor doesn’t believe that a project doing well is only because of the lead actors but that departments such as editing and sound deserve credit, too. “Nobody talks about it! The editor on TNM has done a tremendous job. The sound designer on my latest show Yatrik has done a terrific job. The music of JugJuggJeeyo was fantastic. People who work behind the screen deserve [to be talked about] too,” he wraps up.

The 66-year-old plays the antagonist in TNM. All along, he was conscious about the fact that a considerable chunk of the show’s audience would be families, too. “My character had the F-word and certain other bad words. I said, ‘No, if this character uses them, they will just come towards the end when he is cornered’. I kept it clean,” he shares.