With Bollywood in their blood

Making a mark

Arjun Kapoor, complete with his famous trademark stubble, is one film old so far, the third generation from his family in the movies. Sasheh Aagha is set to make her debut, but is the fourth generation actor from her mother’s side.

Arjun Kapoor’s debut film, Ishaqzaade, did decent business last year. How did his first movie happen?

“I would be lying if I said that my father (Boney Kapoor) and I were not thinking of doing a movie,” says Arjun. “But when casting director Shanoo Sharma organised auditions, it was extremely fortunate that I was selected. Filmmaking, at the end of the day, is business, and a balance must be struck between that and emotional ties. Today, most newcomers from film families are launched in outside films.”

He adds that Aurangzeb was “a Valentine’s Day gift from Adi” (Aditya Chopra). “I signed the film on February 14, 2012.” he smiles. “It is not a run-of-the-mill Yash Raj film at all. And the double role I got to play showed the confidence Adi had in me. Sometimes, it is an external force that makes you realise your real potential. Adi was that force.”

Dual roles involve creating two distinct personae within a film, and Arjun says that it was definitely motivating to be given that responsibility so early in his career.

The character of Ajay, the son of a businessman who runs his illegitimate business behind a white façade, is a complete bad boy, he notes. “I am the prodigal son who aims at unlimited power in the land mafia set-up of Gurgaon. Vishal, the good boy, is from Nainital and he has to pretend he is Ajay, someone far removed from him.” The cops place Vishal in Ajay’s place, and no, the film is completely different from Don and Kalicharan.

“Working on Aurangzeb was a process of self-discovery,” he says. “In Ishaqzaade, I had submitted myself completely to director Habib Faisal because of the kind of role I had to play in the film.”

Is Arjun a method actor? “I would not call myself that,” he says thoughtfully. “Preparation for a role is a must. But when the shot is happening, it’s about reacting and living that moment. The roles also decide the approach. My next film Gunday is an all-out entertainer, a full-on Hindi film. And I enjoy improvising on the role there. For Two States, based on Chetan Bhagat’s novel of the same name, which is being produced by Karan Johar and Sajid Nadiadwala, I have to be pretty close to what I am.”

Arjun feels that Hindi films and actors are getting better by the day. “Characters excite us now, when previously it was stereotypes playing to the gallery for a specific actor. This shows that our audience has evolved. For me, it is exciting just to be on the sets,” he says.

Nevertheless, Arjun has huge respect for senior actors. “I get elevated as an actor when working with Rishi (Kapoor) uncle, Jackie Shroff and Amrita Singh. While working with them I realised one of the key secrets of their longevity — they never take themselves too seriously.”

He calls his uncle Anil Kapoor his “pride and envy” and adds, “Look at the variety he has done. I look up to him to learn so much.” And Arjun would rather go on that path, of evolving into a better and better actor, rather than look at blockbusters as a newcomer.

So would Sasheh Aagha who was also cast by Shanoo Sharma. “When I told Shanoo at the audition that I could sing in addition to acting and dancing, she asked me to do so. I sang a song from Rehnaa Hai Terre Dil Mein. I guess it is all destiny that I began acting in an era where such additional skills are considered add-ons for an actor.”

Sasheh’s mother (Salma Nikaah Agha), maternal grandmother Nasreen, and great-grandmother Anwari Begum were all actors. “Anwari was Heer in the 1932 Heer Ranjha. My grandmother Nasreen acted in K L Saigal’s Shahjehan. My grandfather decided that the women in the family, like from the Kapoors till then, would not work in films, and so my mother Salma ran away from London.”

Salma wanted to only sing in films, but when B R Chopra saw her, he agreed to let her sing in Nikaah if she “also acted” in it.

Sasheh’s first song is a club number composed by Amartya Rahut and she says, “I have a husky and heavy voice that suits such songs, unlike my mom’s slightly nasal and soft tenor that is best suited for ghazal-like songs. This is the only female song in my film.”

Calling her debut role “interesting, as I am stuck between the two Arjuns,” she says that this unconventional debut for a newcomer makes the artiste within awaken. “This is a bold film by YRF standards,” she declares. “My relationship with Arjun has a lot of aggressiveness. Now I want to do something completely different, so that the audience realises that I can be versatile.” Sasheh has done a lot of intimate sequences in Aurangzeb, besides wearing a bikini.

While admiring the senior actors she got to work with, including Rishi Kapoor, Sasheh states that what she took home is the dedication of Amrita Singh, an actress she had never met before, despite being in the industry. “Amrita was so intense that when the camera rolled, the star quality she had escaped and she became the character. I forgot that it was Amrita Singh.”

She is casual about her co-star Arjun Kapoor, smiling and stating that she had known him well before the movie happened. “We are from the same circle of friends,” she lets on. As for the risk of starting out with a first-time director Atul Sabharwal, she simply tells us, “Both of us knew that we had to give only our best.”