Seasoned Indian actor Anil Kapoor is just done with playing those impossibly good-natured guy roles and is craving for an acting job that taps into his dark and wicked side.
Read the full story here: https://gulfnews.com/entertainment/hollywood/anil-kapoor-goes-guns-blazing-in-the-bollywood-version-of-the-hollywood-hit-series--the-night-manager-1.93866186
See more videos at https://gulfnews.com/videos
Read more Gulf News stories here: https://bit.ly/2HLJ2km
Subscribe to Gulf News on YouTube and watch more of our videos: https://www.youtube.com/user/GulfNewsTV
#UAEnews #Indian #AnilKapoor
Read the full story here: https://gulfnews.com/entertainment/hollywood/anil-kapoor-goes-guns-blazing-in-the-bollywood-version-of-the-hollywood-hit-series--the-night-manager-1.93866186
See more videos at https://gulfnews.com/videos
Read more Gulf News stories here: https://bit.ly/2HLJ2km
Subscribe to Gulf News on YouTube and watch more of our videos: https://www.youtube.com/user/GulfNewsTV
#UAEnews #Indian #AnilKapoor
Category
🗞
NewsTranscript
00:00I have ego for my work is concerned. I have ego. I have self-respect. I have everything where I know my job, but
00:07you know, there's nothing wrong in you know, if you respect a talent,
00:10if you respect a filmmaker, you respect what he's written. Why can't, why should you?
00:16You know, sometimes you want it, you want it. Yeah.
00:21Did you watch the original just to know what's happening?
00:25Obviously, I had, you know, I had to watch it and because when it was pitched to me
00:30and it's, you know, I don't, I heard so much about it, but it never
00:34had the, you know, I didn't really go and watch it that time. But I'm so happy that
00:38it was pitched to me because of that, I saw the show and I just loved it. Of course,
00:43then I read the book also. And mostly, obviously, I read, you know, the portion where Rupo was there.
00:49And then I went and read all the interviews of all the actors, the director, the writers,
00:56and you know, I just kept on digging into, you know, what they felt, how they felt, how they
01:02shot, all those kind of things. And then of course, ultimately what boils down to is when you
01:06take a decision is the Indian adaptation. Have they cracked that? So, once I heard it and you
01:13know, fortunately for me, everything was written, everything was on paper. It was not that they
01:16just pitched me the pilot and you know, just a story arc and this is how it is. They had
01:22everything on paper where the entire season and which was great and I heard it in one go
01:30and I just loved it and I said, oh, I just forgot about the original show and I just was
01:35it's like an Indian, you know, of a consumer from this part of the world. When you make an
01:40adaptation, when you make a remake, obviously you, you know, when you're doing it so you're not
01:46stealing anything. You are doing it, you know, the producers are, the producers, original
01:50producers are also the producers of this show and you know, so obviously everything would go to
01:58them. They would read it and say, oh, this is better or this is good. No, no, that was, I think
02:03you missed that point and then I was like a hawk because I had done 24 and you know, I had
02:08done 24. So, I had adapted and it was hugely successful. So, I knew the mistakes I've done and
02:14what mistakes I didn't do. So, I said please don't do the mistakes which I have done, you know
02:19and because every time, everything you do, you make mistakes and you learn from your mistakes
02:23and in spite of that show being, you know, we got a lot of love for that show and I hope to get
02:30that same kind of love for this show too.
02:32You bring years of experience into this. Your experience and kind of wisdom of sorts, you know,
02:36you know what, how it is. So, what did you tell them perhaps the rookie mistake that perhaps
02:42people do?
02:42No, no. I said, you know, I said don't try to change for the sake of changing it, you know.
02:48Suddenly, yeah, yeah. I get that.
02:51First of all, India so you want to change, don't change that. Try to make it adapted to you know
02:56this part of the world which I, you know but don't try to change the soul of the show, you know.
03:01Yeah.
03:02Or the film. So, I said first was that and secondly, of course, I said, you know the
03:08socio-political situation, few points here and there and it should not look a foreign show. It
03:14should look as if it's, you know, it's actually happening because somewhere of course became
03:19more difficult because there are no references in India about arms dealers, you know, that
03:23becomes very tricky. Arms dealer and all have been more to suddenly very stereo and very
03:28caricaturish. So, how to make him look real? How to make this show look real and give this kind
03:33of a scale? So, that was the challenge, you know.
03:37So, once I heard it, I read it, I loved it and then I should do that and you know and that was
03:43done beautifully and I said you can't open an acting school when you're shooting a show. So,
03:49cast good actors, cast actors who can deliver, you know. So, these are the small, small things
03:55which I can remember which I told him, you know and that's what it is and a lot of other things,
04:02you know, in and outs and you know, which are very, very important. There are certain things
04:09which really work, you know, when you see an episode, you know, you leave the, you know, the
04:15episodes on a, you know, on a kind of a high and a kind of a hook so that people want to go
04:21back to the second episode.
04:22Did you try to humanise this character because at the end of the day, you're playing a very,
04:26very evil person. There is no two ways about it. You sell arms to the world, you create
04:30destruction, you know, so there's nothing redeeming about your character, isn't it?
04:36You know, you have to understand that you know when no matter what happens, you get a lot of
04:41yourself in a character, you know, which unconsciously, subconsciously happens, you
04:46know. You might, people who say no, I've, you know, he's done the character, gone to that
04:52extent that you've forgotten who he is. You can't do that, you know. You can't do that,
04:57especially when, you know, there are certain, you Laurie is doing it or, you know, or no
05:04matter, you know, there are certain films you can but there are certain shows, there has to be a
05:08bit of you also. You are Shailendra Roonta but there is a bit of Anil Kapoor will always be
05:14there in that, you know. Try to humanise it and make it, you know, make it to a certain extent
05:24believable, relatable and fun to watch but the only best part was which we found, you know, I
05:33could connect to which we, the backstory I created for this character, we created for this character.
05:38Okay.
05:39Writer and the director and myself that he is from a very small little suburb in Mumbai and he
05:45starts called Bhai Kala.
05:47Yeah, yeah. Bhai Kala, yeah.
05:49And under the bridge he starts with a little bit small business and slowly, slowly from scratch
05:55he builds himself and then he had a family. He looked after the entire family and to see the
06:01family and by the time he becomes successful, more successful, a lot of people betrayed him,
06:08a lot of people cheated him and but he rose to fame and pop, you know, and to certain power and
06:14money and to a certain extent slowly, slowly he started doing business, all kinds of business
06:18and now he felt which is the business which will make me the maximum money?
06:23Yeah.
06:23He became power hungry and money hungry, you know.
06:26Right.
06:27He said arms, let's create war and watch them like a game. The more the war, the more money I'll
06:33make, more they'll need arms. Not thinking that war will kill people, destroy people.
06:38Right.
06:40It's not easy to keep reinventing after so many movies. Well, you said you're stereotyped as this
06:44perfect guy most of the time, you know. So, is that what you want to do? You want to actually
06:49try everything out there?
06:51I think, of course, every actor wants to do that but you have to just hope and pray that young
06:56directors and filmmakers want to, you know, give you that, you know, give those roles and pitch
07:02to you and give that job opportunity to you and I'm very, you know, happy and, you know,
07:11thrilled that young filmmakers and directors like AK versus AK, Thar, you know, to a certain
07:17extent, you know, where it was both totally, completely radical films and the kind of films
07:23which you've seen earlier and both were hugely critically acclaimed, huge successes on Netflix
07:30My entire career, if they were not offered to me, I would pursue it. I'll go after it and
07:36sometimes tell the directors, no, no, we can't take you, we'll take him. No, no, please, sir.
07:40Please take me, sir. I can't do it. I can't do it. No, no, I can do it. I'll reduce my money. I'll
07:46reduce my money. I'll give you all the days. Please take me.
07:49No, no, that's amazing. I think that's what sets you apart.
07:52I swear, Ishwar and Nayak have done that. Honestly.
07:55Who told that? Take me. I'll slash everything.
07:58Yeah, yeah, yeah. I swear. Genuinely, I'm telling you. I have no egos. I have no egos. I have ego
08:04for my work is concerned. I have ego. I have self-respect. I have everything where I know my
08:09job. But, you know, there's nothing wrong in, you know, if you respect a talent, you respect a
08:15filmmaker, you respect what he's written. Why can't, why should you, you know, sometimes you,
08:21you want it, you want it. Don't go for quantity, go for the quality.
08:26Apparently, when The Night Manager released, every review said it's like the James Bond for
08:30television. Do you think finally Anil Kapoor will be our James Bond?
08:35No, no, I cannot be James Bond. I'm too old for that.
08:38No, never. Don't say that. Just scratch that. You actually say it.
08:43Yeah, yeah, I can be, you know, I can't be James Bond.
08:47But, you know, there are many actors in Hindi cinema who reach a certain age,
08:50they don't know what to do with them. But in your case, they've always known what to do with you
08:54or you have chosen roles that seem to make us feel like the directors know what they're doing
09:00with you. Is that deliberate? Is that by design? What's the deal?
09:04Ultimately, it's your choices you make in relationships, in work, in life, you know,
09:10it's the choices you make, you know, to make everything happy and positive, you know. So,
09:16that's what films are because you're going to spend so much time with so many people. So,
09:21you have to make the right choice. So, it's not only a success or the content, it's the people
09:26also you're going to spend so much time with. You have to work with good people who treat you well,
09:31make you feel happy when you're on the set and so that you can give your best.
09:35Is it more liberating to act in a web series as opposed to a film because
09:39less censorship A and B, you can go as bad as you can, you don't have to worry about image?
09:46I have not looked at it that way. I don't look at it. I just
09:51go with all my, you know, I don't look at that. I just go with the heart and soul and try first
09:59of all to make my director happy and my writer happy and sometimes, you know, I am too innocent
10:06to understand if there is some kind of sensational thing. Sometimes I catch it and sometimes I
10:11cannot catch it and I do it and then I regret why did I do it. So, I've been quite lucky that way.
10:18And last question, what did you observe about Aditya and Shobita, both very good actors in
10:23their own right, much younger than you but I suppose I mean what did you observe about them,
10:28what did you learn of them perhaps?
10:29I had a lot of scenes with Aditya because I've done Malang with him and it's just pretty good.
10:37It was a successful film, people liked the film and we got a lot, both of us got a lot of love
10:44from that film. Not in a big way but decent way. It was good and then of course, so this is our
10:52second collaboration and this film of course, in this show I feel he suits it even more, the role.
11:02Yes.
11:05I've got a gut he's going to get much more love than what he got in Malang, in Night Manager.
11:10And of course, Shobita, she's wonderful, she's beautiful, she's sexy. Mr. Lothima who's a
11:17wonderful actress, she has a great truth. There's Saswath Chatterjee who does Koki's role, he's
11:23phenomenal. He's going to punch you on the face, he's so good in the film, in the show. Terrific.
11:28So, the director followed your brief about actors, hiring good actors.
11:32Yeah, yeah. And of course, Sandeep Modi who's the showrunner and his entire, his friend and
11:41director, co-director and director of quite a few portions which I shot with Priyanka. Both of them
11:47wonderful, absolutely fantastic. The entire team, the technicians, the sound guys, fantastic.