Remember the little Sunny in Hum Hain Rahi Pyar Ke? The child actor of the nineties who turned into a young hero with the superhit – Kalyug, secured his foothold in the film industry with Traffic Signal. Kunal Khemu, the talented actor is back in action almost after a year with his next release – Rohit Jugraj’s Superstar. In his latest film, Kunal is playing a double role.
Ask him about how he got a double role offer after five films, Kunal will respond, “I met Rohit few years back at a social gathering after Kalyug was released. He liked my work in the film and was all praise for me and we had a very interesting and lengthy discussion about films. That is where it started.” Rohit and Kunal – both being young and passionate about films hit it off well. “We used to have frequent meetings where we discussed films and nothing but films. Rohit is a very passionate filmmaker and during those meetings he narrated the story of Superstar to me. It struck the right chord immediately and I told him – ‘let us do the film together.’ And the film was planned almost instantly after that,” explains Kunal.
Both the roles that Kunal is going to play in the movie are very different from each other – while one of them is of a struggling actor, the other is of a spoiled brat. “Superstar is about these two guys who will meet in their lives and how different situations will create a rift amongst them. Though the characters look similar, unlike most movies, they are not biological brothers! They are just two individuals,” says the long-haired actor. “My fans will get to see me as a different Kunal in the movie as I have worked really hard to look different in both the characters.”
As per the script’s demands, Kunal will have a two looks in Superstar – one with a curly hair and the other with straight hair. “Playing a double role was not very difficult for me since I was involved in this project right from the beginning and the script was made keeping me in mind. The real difficulty was to get the right look for the character,” says the hero whose rustic look in Traffic Signal won many an acclaim. But to get into the character’s look was quite tough.
Though Kunal has been acclaimed for his performances, the audience has never seen him dance! “That’s not entirely correct… in Dhol I did dance a bit!” says a smiling Kunal. Superstar will see the actor dance to the tune of Samir Tandon. “I have been hearing this complaint that though my films have good music, I don’t dance to their tunes. So here I am… setting the dance floor on fire! Whatever it is, the biggest strength of this movie is the script and I feel unless you have a good script, no matter what else you do, your movie will not be hit.”
Of late, a lot of star sons have stepped in – Ranbir Kapoor, Neil Mukesh, Sikandar Kher. Does he see them as a threat? “Not really. In this industry, there is a place for everybody. We have a good variety of film makers and they make different types of films. So what is there to worry? I am concerned about my performance and whether I will be able to deliver the best in every film I do. I am not bothered about anything else.”
People talk about Mahesh Bhatt being his godfather. Is it true? “Whenever I have problems in my life, I fall back on my family and friends to take care of that. But for any advice or suggestions related to my career I always consult Mahesh Bhatt. In this industry, he is like a father figure to me,” says Kunal.
One aspect that distinguishes him from other actors is the lack rumours linking him to his co stars. How does he manage that? “I think I am plain lucky and have always been in the news for the right reasons and I always believed that your work should speak for you.”
And finally what more is on the list of this budding actor? “As of now I am concentrating on Superstar. Then there is Jai Veeru with Fardeen and an untitled UTV film. There are a few others in the pipeline as well but I don’t want to talk about them right now,” says Kunal.
