If you’re looking for a jocund company and a gleeful interview, Aditya Roy Kapur is your man. He’s a delight to speak with and his answers are everything honest. Read on to find out.
All About Fitoor
Q: Your film, Fitoor, is based on Great Expectations, the novel. Have you read it?
Aditya: Actually, I haven’t. I didn’t even want to because Abhishek (Kapoor) has conceptualised Fitoor as an adaptation and if I read the book and the script and I didn’t find in the script what I read in the book then I’d be left confused. So for an actor, the script is where you draw all your inspiration from.
Q: You have a beautiful co-star and this is a romantic film. So, how was it to romance Katrina Kaif?
Aditya: I make this joke all the time: ‘When I’m asked as to what made me sign the film, I just smile and say Katrina Kaif’. (Laughs) But when you have someone who looks like that in front of you, your job becomes so much easier because you don’t have to convince yourself that you need to be in that mindframe. It’s just felt so easily.
Q: The character you’re playing needed you to look quite lean. But I know that you’re quite a foodie, as you’ve confessed many times before. How much effort did it take to get into the lean zone?
Aditya: Oh! It was quite a process. I was a good 98 kgs when Abhishek met me. I had become so big after eating anything that came my way while doing my last film that I’d just lost perspective on my size. I just thought I’d put on ‘some’ fat, which was actually quite a lot. So, he became strict and he said you HAVE to lose all of this. He put a trainer on to me and in the next 9-10 months, I dropped 18 kgs! That became a fitoor because if I ate even one extra spoon of honey, I’d feel like I’d committed some crime. (Laughs)
Movie Talk
Q: Your last film Daawat-e-Ishq happened almost a year and a half ago. So, why such a long gap between two movies?
Aditya: I had signed up for Fitoor while I was working on Daawat-e-Ishq, so that was even then meant to be my next project but for some reason the start of the shooting schedule for Fitoor got pushed by a few months and as a domino effect, everything got delayed. It definitely turned out to be a much longer gap than I’d have liked it to be. Fitoor was meant to be released end of last year but things turned out to be different and you just have to accept it.
Q: Would you like to take on more films on your plate or are you an actor who likes to do only one film at a time?
Aditya: Well, I mean it’s ideal if you can do just one film at a time but that’s when you have the luxury to do so. The stage that I’m at, I’d like to do as many films as I can and well, like you’d mentioned, with a much lesser gap between my two consecutive projects. Other than that, I am the happiest when I’m on a set when I’m working. For just that, I’d love to keep working.
Q: All kinds of films are being made today. We’ve seen you do Aashiqui 2, Daawat-e-Ishq and now Fitoor but would you like to experiment with the genres or would you stick to romance, intense or mild?
Aditya: Oh, it’s amazing to see that there’s such great variety in terms of the films that are being made and I would so love to do an action film or a good comedy film. It would be fabulous!
Q: You started with ensemble films, London Dreams and Action Replay. Even in Guzaarish, you weren’t playing a lead. Would you be happy to be a part of such projects even in the future?
Aditya: It’s tricky. To be honest, at that time, I didn’t know that I wanted to be an actor. I did London Dreams on a whim and because I wanted to go to London (laughs). I did it and I loved the process. Soon I knew this is the profession I wanted to pursue and something that I wanted to be good at. Aashiqui changed the game for me because I realised that I could shoulder a film. But my experience with ensemble films was great, there were so many experienced people around. And ensemble films have been great successes too. Imagine if George Clooney or Brad Pitt refused to do the Oceans Trilogy then we’d never have that experience. So, I’m happy to do a good ensemble film.
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