Singham Again star Arjun Kapoor in conversation with Aakanksha Naval-Shetye talks about his newfound momentum marking the arrival of Arjun Kapoor 2.0, reveals why validation from the audience is important as an actor and shares insights into his roller-coaster of a journey!
2024 saw Arjun Kapoor surge ahead at the Box Office boosted by the success of his menacing antagonist role of ‘Danger Lanka’ in Rohit Shetty’s Singham Again. The power role hit home with the audience and single-handedly put Arjun’s career trajectory in an upswing as the masses reconnected with the actor. Not the kinds to shy away from taking risks or be swayed by opinions of others, Arjun confesses that this acceptance from the audience was a much-needed validation for his fearless choices. “Success that’s propelled by the validation from the audience does bring a certain confidence and calm,” he says and perhaps it’s this confidence, charm, calm and determination that spells the 2.0 version of Arjun Kapoor. Having navigated rather challenging phases through his 12 years in the industry, the star’s performance in Singham Again has clearly reaffirmed his belief in his abilities and choices, making him more driven than ever. I catch up with the actor over a zoom call, where in a candid chat he talks about his transformative journey, the lessons learned and what it means to be Arjun Kapoor 2.0!
Were you expecting your villainous character in Singham Again to turn out to be so larger-than-life?
The Singham franchise and Rohit Shetty Sir directing is something that I’ve loved so I always knew that it has a lot of value. I didn’t know personally for me it would this dramatic so immediately. I always hope to be part of a good film and a hit film and that always helps in building new connections or old connections back with the audience. So, I did it purely from that point of view that there is a certain audience that is inbuilt with the franchise and with the actor-director combination. So I thought yaar, log unka kaam dekhne aayenge, mera kaam pasand karenge to accha hi hoga. And that’s exactly what has happened. So I’m really happy that my thought process has been validated by the film.
“…Negativity sells, that gets propelled a lot in the conversation and the chatter around you when you’re not the one talking. Most days you can turn a blind eye, some days you get affected by it. But when Rohit Shetty is casting you, he’s not going by the chatter around. He’s backing on the fact that you can play a role and I’m glad I had a Rohit Shetty in my life. For all the chaos and the noise and the nonsense, there’s a Rohit Shetty who doesn’t believe in all that and he backs you.”
Your physical transformation also got much spoken about…
They wanted me to look a certain way, to look like I can break people with my bare hands. They wanted that physicality, the shoulders, and for me to look like a mountain when I’m standing in front of all these characters. And that became a strength, right? I’m a guy who is structured in a certain way, so we just added volume to it and I just held onto it. With the beard and the hair and the shoulders and then having the black kurta open, I just looked like a guy who can take on somebody with their bare hands. So the physicality was part of the performance.
It definitely worked… Arjun Kapoor 2.0 version post Singham Again became all the buzz!
Well, it’s good. It’s nice. I think you always want to feel loved and wanted in this profession. It’s important, especially from the audience and the media because it’s not always necessary to be speaking, it’s more important to talk when there’s something to talk about. Aur aaj kal kaam ke baare mein baat karke maza aa raha hai. So, I’m very happy that people are liking me and they want to know and speak more to me.
Titles apart, how are you different from the old you?
Main to vahi hoon. Matlab I’ve not changed. It wasn’t like on this certain date mere ander koi dusra insaan aa gaya (laughs). My core values are the same. I would hope that when you meet me or interact with me, you should feel that there is a certain positive energy that has come from the positive energy from the audience. Also there’s a validation of having believed in yourself and you feel happy that you’ve done some good work that the audience has also liked! Sometimes you feel that you’ve done good but it doesn’t get reciprocated by the audience and that makes you question your choices, your work, like do I need to work harder? This time my hard work felt validated because there was a connect with the audience. Your decisions feel validated, so, I don’t know if there’s a difference, but I think there’s happiness, there’s gratitude and there’s also a certain amount of calmness that success brings with it. There is no secret to that when somethings align a certain way, it allows you to feel a little more relaxed and operate from a place of being more calm. I think I can feel that calmness within me. So that maybe is different!
You have seen quite a few highs and lows through your journey with films working, some not, but as an actor nobody could fault your performance!
Which is what I was saying ki yaar kaam to kar raha hoon, 12 saal se logo ne kaam diya hai kyunki mujhe kaam aata hai iss industry ke andar. No matter where you come from, nobody gives you work unless you’re good at it and good enough to be pulling off certain kind of roles. Of course, some decisions, some films have not panned out, perhaps my performances have suffered, perhaps the physicality went through ups and downs but I’m pretty honest about what I’ve said in the past also. But yes it feels nice to be validated for doing something that people have really enjoyed and that’s most important at the end of the day.
You’ve explored multiple spaces as an actor and been versatile in your choices. Have you found a comfort zone yet or is there more that you’re looking for?
No, no… I want to do everything. Audience has always hinted perhaps that they like me in these antagonistic kind of roles in the sense Ishaqzaade, Gunday, Aurangzeb, Ek Villain Returns, Sandeep aur Pinky Farar, you know they all had these dark shades. And then Singham Again is completely dark too, so it is definitely something that you want to explore more of, but at the same time I don’t want to get pigeon-holed and only do that. I also would like to do my… a Mubarakan, 2 States, Ki and Ka, Bhoot Police, so as many genres I possibly can. I did a Kuttey because, I was a bit grey in that also, but I also did Half Girlfriend and Panipat. Mujhe jo accha lagta hai as an audience, main haan bolta hoon. There’s definitely clarity that this negative grey space is enjoyed by the audience, but I would also like to cultivate and learn as an actor to entertain people in other spaces too with the dramatic pieces, comedy, action, all of it.
What is the closest that the real Arjun Kapoor comes to?
How do I explain that! It’s a tough question to quantify in one answer! It’s tough for me to articulate what I am. But I guess I’m practical, a pragmatic person, I don’t like nonsense! I operate from a very secure place, so I’m somebody who’s always been straight-forward and have tried to conduct myself in that space, at least professionally. Personally I’m a big joker, I like to joke around, fool around, I have my humour, but that’s only for my close people. Also I think somewhere I’m very emotional at heart which also allows me in my profession to do stuff as an actor but also sometimes gets a little difficult because dealing with people can be an emotional process for me. I’m a foody also, so you never know within one interview you can see a couple of moods of my own. So yes, this is what I can answer about myself, again it’s nice if you could ask somebody else how they have perceived me over the last few years as Arjun Kapoor, the person.
You have never been afraid to experiment, but when some of the risks do not work at the Box Office, does that make you question your choices?
See in retrospect or hind sight, when you think about things aap har cheez ko naaptol ke dekhte ho ki ye karna chahiye tha, ya vo karna chahiye tha, but it’s very important for people to understand, that when you make a choice to do a film at that point your circumstances are making you say a yes or no. The circumstances may change after a month and you might have a different answer. Actors are, by nature, a bit moody and mercurial when it comes to saying yes and no. So to analyse a film 12 months later when it released and say I shouldn’t have or should have done it, is a bit of a waste of time. We all do it, but it’s also a fact that back then there was a certain vision, maybe we expected the film to pan out a certain way, or you wanted to try a different genre or maybe the character appealed to me. So in retrospect it’s very easy to say ki yeh nahin karna chahiye tha ya woh karna chahiye tha, lekin aap ek bacche ki tarah imagine karte ho, you know the childlike imagination eventually makes you choose most of what you do, so you have to accept it instead of trying to regret it.
You have also been able to crack that classy versus massy balance…
I think because I’ve been a lover of mainstream films, I’ve always connected to that audience and it’s also translated in performances whether it was a Gunday or Tevar (although it didn’t work as much), but that in itself was searching for that identity with the mainstream. Also I think when you do a ‘Chhokra Jawan’ or ‘Tu ne Maari Entry’, the music also helps. And the quest remains even today. I think a Singham Again, like you said, is connected to the common man and the masses, you enjoy this mainstream cinema, even Ek Villain Returns was sort of a little more mainstream, the other mass and audience, we were trying to target at that point. So, I’ve never tried to alienate them. And I think Singham has helped re-galvanise that excitement towards me for the masses.
So is there any kind of a pressure right now to kind of choose your next movies all the more carefully? Or the process doesn’t change?
Now that you’ve said it, I do feel some pressure. I wasn’t thinking about that before this (laughs). I mean I’m in talks, figuring it out, but it’s not pressure, as it’s also important to not let momentum take decision for you. So, I don’t want to rush into it. There are no brainers that you end up doing but you also want to measure a little bit, at least take stalk of where you are, what is exciting you as an actor, what your role is, what the material is, etc. So yeah, it’s a good pressure to have, not a bad pressure at all.
But have you ever been buoyed down by the industry talks or have the pressures ever gotten to you?
I think what happens is that the industry doesn’t create pressure internally, but there’s a lot of external chatter that happens. Like I always say, negativity sells, that gets propelled a lot in the conversation and the chatter around you when you’re not the one talking. Most days you can turn a blind eye, some days you get affected by it. But when Rohit Shetty is casting you, he’s not going by the chatter around. He’s backing on the fact that you can play a role and I’m glad I had a Rohit Shetty in my life. For all the chaos and the noise and the nonsense, there’s a Rohit Shetty who doesn’t believe in all that and he backs you. So then when you’re thinking about holding onto yourself even with all that chaos, you feel validated ki aadmi ne aapko mauka diya to do something unique and then you feel more validated that you were right by not getting affected and just following your process because the audience today likes you so much more. So, vo noise hoti rehti hai, you have to learn to deal with it. There are bad days, there are good days. But at the end of the day, you have to hold onto yourself.
“My core strength is that I don’t let the world affect me. I am who I am. My parents have brought me up in a way that I understand right and wrong. I’m a practical, pragmatic person. I don’t get carried away with the success, I don’t get carried away with the failure, it’s all transient. And I’ve seen enough in life to understand people, understand circumstances and not take everything to heart. Even though I’m emotional, I still allow benefit of the doubt to exist and just flow. So that’s a big strength to have.”
What’s your core strength?
My core strength is that I don’t let the world affect me. I am who I am. My parents have brought me up in a way that I understand right and wrong. I’m a practical, pragmatic person. I don’t get carried away with the success, I don’t get carried away with the failure, it’s all transient. And I’ve seen enough in life to understand people, understand circumstances and not take everything to heart. Even though I’m emotional, I still allow benefit of the doubt to exist and just flow. So that’s a big strength to have. Good if it doesn’t, better if it does. It’s one of those ki accha ho to bhi theek hai, na bhi ho to bhi theek hai. You just go with the flow. Because things eventually pan out the way they’re supposed to.
And what’s the one lesson, or an advise that you follow as a rule?
Suno sabki, karo apni. What comes from the heart or the mind or in that combination is largely correct! Instinct, impulse, gut, all these terminologies have value. So when you’re making decisions, of course take everybody’s suggestions into account, but eventually follow what you feel. You can assess people’s opinions, let them guide you, and eventually you should do something where you’re fully aligned. Otherwise don’t.
“Sometimes you feel that you’ve done good but it doesn’t get reciprocated by the audience and that makes you question your choices, your work, like do I need to work harder? This time my hard work felt validated because there was a connect with the audience. Your decisions feel validated, so, I don’t know if there’s a difference, but I think there’s happiness, there’s gratitude and there’s also a certain amount of calmness that success brings with it.”
Would you say you are romantic at heart or more practical?
I am an emotional person, that’s tough to say, but I am also practical in life. Like I am very realistic. So, I think I am a contradiction. I am romantic and I’m practical, I don’t know what side I lean to more, I think it’s situational and circumstance driven. Kabhi thoda practical zyada hota hoon, kabhi kabhi thoda romantic zyada hota hoon.
What are your thoughts on love today, vis-a-vis when you were in your early 20s?
I think for me love today would have to be stability, peacefulness, calmness, being able to really enjoy the silences with your partner, being able to be comfortable around each other, and the friendship that you create, I think that really matters. I think in my earlier years, it was just the certain frantic nature to even romance or love, where it was about ticking the boxes about everything that’s supposed to be important. But as you grow up, you realise what’s important for you and for each person, their idea of love is different. So for me yeah, the companionship comes from the friendship and the ease and the ability to be in silences and I guess nothing beats friendship at the end of the day today for you to have a long lasting relationship, equation and understanding, I guess.
A lot of moms see their son in you, so what is that endearing quality?
I don’t know! Main jo hoon, woh hi hoon. Main apni maa ka beta hoon! So when I represent her, I represent all the qualities that she’s taught me and I imbibe those. So I guess when mothers see me, they would like, hopefully, that the way I think or the way I behave or the way I carry myself, they would want their kids, their sons to have a certain way of conduct and also I do feel, because I’ve grown up around women a lot, the way I conduct myself around women perhaps gives mothers a belief that that’s the right way to be. It’s not that I only talk the talk, I also the walk the walk in the way I’ve been in my personal space also. So perhaps that makes mothers feel that I’m one of them. So emotional connection accha hi hota hai.
In your upcoming film, Mere Husband Ki Biwi, you are paired with Rakul Preet Singh and Bhumi Pednekar, tell us more about it, how was the equation on the sets like?
So shooting with Rakul and Bhumi was great fun, I have already worked with them, I know them personally, I’ve spent enough time with them, and I think the kind of film this was with Mudassar (director Mudassar Aziz) being involved, we were a pretty close-knit unit, enjoying, playing off each other where the comedy was concerned, where the chemistry was concerned. There’s a lot of ease with Bhumi because of the kind of person that she is. I have always enjoyed the back and forth with her as an actress. She’s somebody who gives 100 per cent and she is willing to do more than what is there on papers so it’s great working with somebody like that. Rakul of course, she’s a great team player, great sport, always there on point, focused dedicated. So, I think when you have two actors who are willing to give 100 per cent and be dedicated to making the scene in the film work and be selfish and look at things from the film’s perspective, it’s always very enjoyable.
It’s a light hearted comedy, what would you say comes easier to you as an actor – doing comedy or playing intense characters?
I like both yaar. I like doing comedy and intense roles. I think that’s the fun of being an actor – you want to play on both sides of the corner. I think comedy is way tougher in the sense, you can try again and again but the freshness of doing the comedy comes from your reactions, the way you play off each other, getting the punch right. And for that you need a phenomenal director and people who can put it together nicely. So comedy is not only on the actor, but it’s also on how on the other actors and the technicians and how it all comes together. I think intensity is something that is a very inherent, in built thing that exists within me so building a character around that, I wouldn’t say it’s easier but it’s a little more natural and what happens is that when you’re doing those, you’re very internal. I think comedy, you have to be very aware and externalise a lot of things so I think in that sense there’s a slight difference between playing both of them but I enjoy playing both. But I think after Singham, it’s great fun to be doing a role like this where I can have fun and make people enjoy themselves in the theatre in a different way.
Quick 5
If your life had a theme song, what song would it be?
There are two songs actually – One is from Kabhi Haan Kabhi Naa that I have really always liked – ‘Woh toh hai albela, hazaaron mein akela, sadaa tumne aib dekha, hunar ko na dekha’. But these days I think there’s another song that I feel close to ‘Ajeeb daastan hai yeh, kahaan shuru kahaan khatam, yeh manzilein hain kaunsi, na tum samajh sake na hum’.
What’s the naughtiest thing you’ve done?
I can’t tell.
Have you gotten away because of your charm?
Of course. All the time.
So that means there’s a long list of the naughtiest and the wildest things that you’ve done…
Yeah, but that’s the whole point – you can get away with it, varna aaj aapke samne baitha nahin hota.
Any crazy fan encounter that left you completely speechless?
No, I mean sometimes it’s a bit scary if it has blood and all that and meeting people can go a bit crazy, but that’s rare. It’s always been beautiful actually, more or less. I would say 99.99 per cent it has always been – you feel overwhelmed by the love. So craziness is a very scattered amount.
Pic Credits
Photographer : Rohan Shrestha
Hairstylist : Aalim Hakim and Bashir Sayyed
Make up artist : Vikram Banatkar
Styling : Rahul Vijay
Location : Rohan Shreshta studio
Artist Publicity : Jio Creative Labs; Anushree Kirtikar