Rachana Dubey (BOMBAY TIMES; December 25, 2019)

Born to an actress and a film producer, it was easy for him to become another example of the industry launching one of its ‘kids’. However, in his bid to make it on his own, Priyaank Sharma decided to choose a project outside his father’s banner and find his calling before collaborating with his parents, Padmini Kolhapure and Tutu Sharma, professionally. In a chat with BT, the newcomer, who will debut in debutant director Karan V Kashyap’s Sab Kushal Mangal, stresses on the importance of fighting one’s own battles and why his parents didn’t let him start out too young in the business. Excerpts...

Padmini Kolhapure kicked off her career as an actor when she was still in school. Your father made his first film when he was all of 21. By that standards, aren’t you a little late in terms of starting out?
My mother didn’t want me to visit film sets or attend fraternity gatherings when I was a kid. She believes that children are fragile and naive, and that kind of exposure can ruin their raw energy and thoughts. So many filmmakers had approached my parents to cast me, but my mother never gave in. And today, I am glad that she didn’t. She gave me room to grow up, and discover things when I was actually more prepared. That has made me the person I am. When I started shooting for Sab Kushal Mangal, she only came for the mahurat shot because she wanted me to work without feeling conscious. When she saw the trailer and gave me a tight hug, I realised how happy she was to see me chase my dreams. She can be quite critical in her assessment, but sometimes, the mother in her overtakes everything else. Even if she hasn’t said so, I know that I have a long way to go; in fact, when I recently saw the film, I felt that I could have done so many scenes better.

Given that your parents were not keen to let you start out as a kid, when did you tell them that you want to become an actor?
I was still young, though technically, I wasn’t a kid. I was always drawn to dramatics and that had prepared my parents for this decision long ago. So, they weren’t surprised when I told them, and didn’t behave like pushy parents. On the contrary, they both took turns to caution me about the industry and the profession. They made me more aware of the cons — the long hours, the toll it takes on an individual, mentally and emotionally, lack of social life and public scrutiny. When they realised that I was sure about my choice, they stood by me while I assisted filmmakers and auditioned for roles.

Do you feel that you missed out on anything because your parents didn’t let you hang out on sets or meet the fraternity at parties?
No, I don’t think so. I was an inquisitive child and I had too many questions about everything. Each time mamma saw me digressing, she would redirect me to my studies. Even when she came to my school, she would only enquire about my studies, though the teachers were happy to tell her about my skills in dramatics. When I grew up and gradually started meeting people, many were surprised that Padmini Kolhapure even had a son that old and that he didn’t behave like a star kid. To answer your question, it only worked to my advantage.

You decided to make your acting debut with a family comedy like Sab Kushal Mangal, when the industry is going through a phase of dramatic transition. So, what drew you to this film?
I consciously chose this film. My parents are from the industry, and so are my maternal cousins (Shraddha and Siddhanth Kapoor), aunt (Tejaswini Kolhapure) and uncle (Shakti Kapoor). I could have had that flashy and flamboyant launch that people often talk about. In fact, I was prepping for something like that. I took up MMA (Mixed Martial Arts) for three months and had piled on a few kilos for a film, but before we could finalise it on paper, Sab Kushal Mangal came my way and my instinct said that I should go ahead with this instead. I didn’t want a particular kind of launch, but just something that works for me. Also, I am a huge fan of Akshaye Khanna and he was part of this film. So, the project ticked all the boxes. In this film, I’ve not come with all guns blazing. There’s a lot more to showcase, but I’ll go one film at a time.

At a time when most newcomers use their first outing to showcase all their skills, why would you choose to go one film at a time?
There are no set rules here. If there was one, and if we all knew what really works, everyone’s success ratio would have been 100 per cent. For me, this was a personal choice. You have to trust what you do. I chose Sab Kushal Mangal after I heard the script. It was a challenge to understand my character’s psyche because he’s a small-town boy who finds a job in Delhi. The world of a person like that is alien to me. So, I decided to take the plunge and give it my best. One of the biggest pluses was to have about 60 scenes with Akshaye Khanna. Our director has worked for 25 years in the industry; he’s commendable.

Your mother was one of the top actresses of the 80s and was seen on the big screen (in Panipat), a month before you make your debut. Does it make you apprehensive that you might be compared to her?
I don’t want to think about it because it’s a lot of pressure to handle. If I can be half the actor that she is, I am home and I know that. But I don’t want to approach my work with that negative thought. Yes, people will compare us and expect me to act well, but I don’t want to see that with a negative mindset. I confide a lot in my mother and she is my buddy. I look at her with a lot of pride and awe. I saw her in Panipat, pulling off a negative character with such ease. I was assisting Rajkumar Santoshi on Phata Poster Nikhla Hero (2013). Someone sent her a wrong monologue and Raj ji was losing his cool. She asked him to read out the correct one to her twice, and she pulled it off in one take without any rehearsal. She blew my mind away because here I am, mugging up lines for weeks. She’s become a refined performer with all her hard work. I aspire to be a good actor like she is.

Roshmila Bhattacharya (MUMBAI MIRROR; December 28, 2017)

Anil Kapoor turned 61 on Christmas Eve and Padmini Kolhapure, his leading lady of Woh 7 Din, which was produced by his father Surinder Kapoor and brother Boney Kapoor, is quick to acknowledge that 34 years later, Prem Pratap Singh Patialawale is still brimming with the same energy, enthusiasm and dedication to his craft. That’s what had set him apart from the crowd of new faces when they had worked together in this Hindi remake of the Tamil hit, Andha 7 Naatkal, in 1983. And that’s what makes him still jhakaas today.

“Anil hasn’t changed much except for the fact that he seems to be getting younger with the years. And for that I’d give credit to his wife Sunita. A woman can make or break a man and Sunita has made Anil the man he is today,” she asserts.

Going back by three decades, Padmini informs that since her parents knew his well, she was in and out of the Kapoor house when they were growing up and the camaraderie they shared, spilled over to the sets. “We would eat our lunch together, sometimes the food coming from his home and sometimes from mine,” says the actress who played Maya, the landlord’s daughter who falls in love with a struggling singer and the new tenant who thinks himself unworthy of her till she convinces him that they are made for each other and should elope. But they are caught, Prem is married and Maya forcibly married off to Dr Anand, a widower with an ailing mother. “Anil was absolutely brilliant as the flamboyant Punjabi Prem in the first half who is thoda darpok, thoda macho, thoda naïve, thoda shana. Bapu (director) would enact the scenes for us and I would marvel at how naturally Anil would slip into character,” Padmini flashbacks.

The plot changes when Maya attempts suicide on the night of her marriage and on being questioned by her husband admits that she’s in love with someone else. Dr Anand promises to unite Prem and her after his mother’s death and keeps his word too. But by then Maya has grown close to her step-daughter and husband and Prem leaves her home, alone, pointing out to Anand that it is against our culture to walk away with another man’s wife. “No matter how independent we are in our thinking, it’s hard for a woman to walk out on her husband and marriage. Even today, it’s painful,” Padmini justifies the conventional end.

She remembers how Anil tried to play matchmaker, trying to get her to meet his producer-friend Pradeep (Tutu) Sharma, insisting he’d keep her happy. “Tutu and I had already started dating by then and to ensure that our secret remained between us, my ‘No way!’ to Anil was loud and rang with conviction. Little did he know then that I was on the studio landline chatting for hours with Tutu who gave a different name every time he called and asked for me so no one would suspect,” she laughs at the intrigue.

Soon after she eloped with Tutu and married him. Padmini admits that Anil has still not forgiven her for keeping him in the dark. “Every time he sees Tutu and me together he shakes his head and says, ‘Kya ullu banaya mujhe, kabhi maaf nahin karoonga tujhe!’” she chuckles.

Woh 7 Din remains memorable even today and Padmini who was in Varanasi recently was pleasantly surprised when a judge she was sharing the stage with at a function, mentioned it among his favourite Padmini starrers and even in Japan, people were raving about it. Three years after its release, Anil and she reunited for Pyar Kiya Hai Pyar Karenge and were to do Kasam together in 1988. “I had even shot for it but by then I didn’t want to work in films anymore and since co-producers Indu (Indra Kumar) and Ashok (producer Ashok Thakeria), director Umesh Mehra and Anil were friends, Tutu could confide in them and Poonam (Dhillon) ended up stepping in for me,” she signs off, still laughing at how she fooled Anil.

Chaya Unnikrishnan (DNA; August 29, 2017)

Shraddha Kapoor’s upcoming film, the biopic on Haseena Parkar, seems to be stuck. Initially, it was supposed to release on July 14, but later got pushed to August 18. The makers then reasoned that since the film would clash with Ranbir Kapoor’s Jagga Jasoos they decided to shift the release.

Avoid a clash
However, the makers did not stick to that date either and the movie is now slated to hit theatres on September 22. “They wanted to get a better release date as there has been a lot of hard work, research and thought put behind each and every scene of the movie,” read a statement issued by the producers.

Money issues
Now the movie will clash with Sanjay Dutt’s Bhoomi and there is news that it’s release will be postponed yet again. It is now clear that it is not the clash with other films that has caused the delay. “The producer, Furqan Khan, owes a lot of people money and they are not allowing the movie’s release,” reveals a source.

Shraddha upset?
Interestingly, Furqan is Shraddha’s uncle Pradeep (Tutu) Sharma’s partner. “It is because of Tutu that Shraddha did the film. Now, she is upset with him, too, for what is happening to the film,” adds the source. Meanwhile, Shraddha has begun prep for her next film, a biopic on badminton champion Saina Nehwal.

DNA (April 16, 2016)

Emraan Hashmi’s ambitious project Azhar was to have a solo release at the box-office on May 13. However, now Sunny Leone’s movie One Night Stand too will hit the screens on the same day. It will not just be a clash of two movies, but it will also see director Tony D’Souza’s Azhar fighting it out at the BO with his wife Jasmine’s movie One Night Stand. That’s a first in B-Town. Tony has previously directed two movies, Blue and Boss, both starring Akshay Kumar, while Jasmine who has been a model will make her directorial debut with One Night Stand. Tutu Sharma, producer of the film confirms, “Yes, One Night Stand will release on May 13 now. We moved the date because we were getting the right theatres and right show timings.” The movie was tentatively slated to release on April 29 earlier. When asked about the clash between the two movies, he said, “If you look at the calendar, there’s hardly any week where any movie has got a solo release. We changed the date because we have made the movie with a lot of commitment and we want what’s best for it. Also the release date depends on the distributors, it’s not the producer’s call.”