Arjan Bajwa who was last seen in Shahid Kapoor’s Kabir Singh chats about his journey, dreams, current and future projects.
Q1. Despite having a degree in architecture and being a black belt in Taekwondo, how did you choose modelling and acting?
Getting a black belt in Taekwondo was one thing on my bucket list, apart from attaining a pilot license which is also currently in the process and hopefully will be a check soon. Though, flying is more like a hobby for me, attaining a degree in architecture was something as a qualification I wanted to do. I had great interest in the field of architecture plus my father was getting into construction business at that time and I was getting into college so the plan was to get a degree in the work sphere where I can help him in some way. But I guess as destiny had different plans, I started doing a little bit of modelling when I was in college days and progressively got into movies. But obviously I was not a full-time model, I just did it initially to sustain myself and get exposure. I always wanted to be an actor and that too came into being because I was always involved into dramatics, theater right from my school days was something I was passionate about. Acting wasn’t something that was completely alien to me and as a scenario of work I just worked more towards it to make it as my professional my career.
Q2. Did you watch Arjun Reddy before signing the movie Kabir Singh?
I did watch ‘Arjun Reddy’ before signing the movie ‘Kabir Singh’. Infact I was reluctant after watching the movie to play my part because in the original movie ‘Arjun Reddy’ the guy who played Vijay’s brother had a very mild and a soft-spoken character maybe that’s how the actor thought it’s supposed to be played and he took his own take on that while playing that role. But it was the convection of the director Sandeep Reddy that he wanted me in the film, he wanted someone who would look close enough to be Shahid’s brother and that’s how he approached me. Many people told us later on, that we look like brothers and you should do a lot of films together. So yes, I did watch Arjun Reddy, it was a fantastic film but I am really happy that ‘Kabir Singh’ has surpassed that and have become an even bigger blockbuster actually one of the biggest blockbuster of 2019 now. I am very happy to be a part of such a high blockbuster which makes it two of my films which have crossed 100 crores, one was ‘Rustom’ second is ‘Kabir Singh’.
Q3. How was the experience working in your upcoming Tamil film?
Experience on working for my first Tamil film has been fantastic, although I have done ten films in Telugu before that and I am by far so to say the only imported boy of Telugu industry because they never cast any guys out of their own nativity to be playing leads in their films. I was really lucky to be playing lead in like most of my films. All my south films have done really well in fact some of them are landmark films in Telugu cinemas like ‘Arundhati’ and ‘King’ my film called ‘ Sampangi’. So, I am really happy to be a part of that but I have just kind of begun my journey in Tamil industry and thankfully or fortunately I have jumped into the Tamil industry with a big bang. My first Tamil film is going to be directed by Atlee Kumar who has always been really amazing in his work. He is an ace director, his last film ‘Mersal’ was a block buster and then of course there is Vijay Joseph sir who is a big star in the Tamil Industry joined by another star Nayanthara and of course supported by Vivek sir. A co- star who is really amazing, who I respect love and who is also my friend is Jackie Shroff sir. This is the second time I am working with Jackie Shroff sir. Earlier I did a short film called ‘Playboy Mr.Shawney’ in which I played Jackie Shroff younger version directed by Tariq Siddiqui and now we are working on a Tamil film where both of us are cast again. So, it’s fantastic and of course it’s going to be a big Diwali release. It’s my first film in Tamil sports-based film where I am playing a footballer and I am really happy to be starting my journey in Tamil industry with a big banner and of course big director which is produced by AGS entertainment.
Q4. Will you accept a Hollywood film offer?
Of course, I will accept it. In fact, I have made some inroads, I have few contacts which I am regularly in touch with. Some agents that work for top 4 agencies that are really good ones and considering that there is no barrier between people from different industries background and ethnicity, language. Hollywood has really opened its doors to a lot of actors from India and a lot of people have made their mark in recent times in Hollywood. So most certainly there are few things in fact growing in Hollywood space for me as well. So obviously if something good comes up then why not? I will.
Q5. What is your take on criticism of Kabir Singh?
I don’t understand what’s with all the criticism on ‘Kabir Singh’. Of course, it is unfair to criticize the movie because of certain people’s own take on things. Look at it as a film, don’t look at it as something that you have to dig into or dissect. Films are meant to entertain you and the movie has entertained most of the people who have watched it. The reason that people have seen it two to three times is that they have loved it. Now I really don’t understand why women haters, misogynist, sexual abuse, harassment words are used against the movie. There is nothing of that sought that we are trying to show, promote and neither is the character doing any of these things. It is a very passionate aggressive love story between two people and in that kind of a scenario people do whatever has been shown in the film if it was such objectionable people wouldn’t have watched it or maybe have watched it only once and rejected it because of these kinds of criticisms by certain sect of people. Well I would say that they all have their own point of view and it’s a free country a free world, everyone can have a point of view but I don’t think that all this has made any kind of a dent on result of our hard work because the film has done exceptionally well and is one of the biggest blockbusters of 2019. We are really happy with all the love and appreciation and the numbers that are generated with what people have seen. People have really liked it and I guess it’s unfair to dissect a film’s story. We are not trying to be preachy here or give a social message and if they think or feel there is something unfair, look at other side also. We have in a way shown that if you are someone who consumes alcohol or smokes, takes drugs he has his share of downfall too. He hits rock bottom because of these things. So yes, that is what something to learn from those kinds of mistakes. I don’t think it needs to be dealt with such strong criticism. There are people who have watched it and then there are people who have an opinion against it that’s okay. I hope the audience that have loved it watch it once more before it’s out of the theater and give it more love. We are grateful to people who have watched it and made it a blockbuster and loved all the actors and gave us appreciation for what we have done.