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Tusshar Kapoor on Buzzinebollywood.com

FILM INTERVIEW: TUSSHAR KAPOOR

Cartoonist in ‘Love U … Mr. Kalakaar!’ Talks of Potential Recruitment by Roland Joffé

By: Simran Mody
May 9, 2011

Bollywood actor Tusshar Kapoor is fresh off of his starring role in Krishna DK’s and Raj Nidimoru’s Shor in the City (co-starring Sendhil Ramamurthy), and is already primed to star in another Hindi film just one week later in the Rajshree Productions release of Love U … Mr. Kalakaar. While Mr. Kapoor is no doubt excited to star in the S. Manasvi film opposite Amrita Rao, he is probably overwhelmed at the prospect of working with Hollywood’s Oscar-nominated director Roland Joffé, the same filmmaker who helmed The Killing Fields and the just-released biopic drama There Be Dragons with Wes Bentley, Charlie Cox, and Dougray Scott.

 
Tusshar Kapoor on buzzine.comWhether or not Mr. Kapoor actually does work with Mr. Joffé (who also directed The Mission) remains to be seen. Nonetheless, Mr. Kapoor’s day was definitely made when Mr. Joffé, who reportedly cast Bollywood buxom Bipasha Basu in his latest project, Singularity, claimed he was impressed with Shor in the City and apparently offered the actor an audition.
 
“I did meet Roland. We did discuss a role in his next film, and I even auditioned for it, but I don’t know if it will work out or not,” Mr. Kapoor told the Indian media about his interactions with the acclaimed filmmaker. “Nothing is concrete at the moment, but it was a big feather in my cap that he liked my performance in Shor in the City and loved the film, and that’s why he called me to meet him.”
 
While Mr. Kapoor awaits moving forward with Mr. Joffé, he will probably enjoy, this upcoming weekend, taking in his latest role in Love U … Mr. Kalakaar, in which the Bollywood actor portrays Sahil, a cartoonist who falls in love with a management trainee (Ms. Rao).
 
Far from a visual artist himself, Mr. Kapoor admitted to the press that he had to take certain mental liberties in order to bring the cartoonist portion of his character to life.
 
“It was basically my conception. I tried to understand what Sahil is all about,” Mr. Kapoor candidly told the press. “What are his personality traits? How would he react to situations? How would he deal with the other characters in the film? What are his likes and dislikes? I feel every artist is different, and Sahil also has his own unique quality, so I had to understand what Sahil is all about. That I did (by) depending on my own imagination and, of course, by discussions with the director and the producer.”
 
In portraying such a unique character while also juggling the film’s lead protagonist, Mr. Kapoor was asked whether he felt any pressure headlining Love U … Mr. Kalakaar.
 
“No, I’m not feeling nervous. I think it’s a great opportunity, and I like the film. I’ve seen it, so I think it will reach the audience it’s targeted at,” Mr. Kapoor told the media. “The pressure is as much as it is in a multi-starrer because it doesn’t matter if it’s a solo film or multi-starrer. Whether you gain or not from a film depends on your work and how good or bad the film is. The film will speak for itself.”
 
Mr. Kapoor hopes his own resume will speak for itself as well, what with a filmography including recent projects such as Life Partner, Dhol, Shootout at Lokhandwala, and Golmaal.
 
With so many films already under his belt, it is no wonder Mr. Joffé seeks the creative services of Mr. Kapoor. Hopefully, Mr. Joffé will offer Mr. Kapoor a role in one of his upcoming productions, just as he did with Ms. Basu, thereby furthering the inroads made by Indian creative talent in Hollywood.