Everlasting love

Mausam is the most-awaited film of the season and the reasons are multiple — Shahid Kapoor’s star-power being one because it’s been a long time since the hero, with such a strong fan base, has had a hit.

Two, it marks the debut of his father, the iconic Pankaj Kapur, as a film writer, director and even singer.

Third, he is directing his son for the first time and the film will be an amalgamation of Shahid’s mainstream romantic sensibilities and Pankaj Kapur’s parallel cinema approach. There are other reasons too.

The storyline is intriguing — a love story that begins in a Punjabi village and comes to fruition ten years later, overseas. The music is being appreciated and Shahid and Sonam Kapoor, as a pair, look interesting on-screen.

Mausam is about a Punjabi boy, Harry (Shahid Kapoor), and a Kashmiri girl, Aayat (Sonam Kapoor), who fall in love in Punjab. After they are separated owing to pressure from Aayat’s family, Harry becomes an Air Force officer, but waits for his lady love to come back. “We made a great team, Shahid and I,” chirps Sonam Kapoor. “There was great chemistry off the screen too because we are great pals and I can talk to him about anything, which translates to our wonderful on-screen chemistry.”

Aayat, her screen name, means a ‘holy couplet’ just as the title of the movie, Mausam, denotes four seasons. “Mausam is a journey of all-encompassing love and hope. This is what people in love need to have. I play a Kashmiri Muslim girl dedicated to the love of her life, who strives hard and becomes a ballet dancer just to get close to her love interest.”

Having gone through several acting workshops for most of her earlier films, Sonam says that the sessions held with both her co-star and director were extremely helpful. “I believe that the best way to prepare for a role is be spontaneous. Spontaneity in acting goes a long way in making the role we essay believable.”

Terming Pankaj Kapur as a great person to work with, she also calls him “a lovely human being who is very patient and knows how to connect with the audience. With Mausam, he is telling a different story and he will keep the audience entertained, just like he does through his performances.” She has no song in the film. Why is that so? “What you are actually saying is that I do not lip-synch a song and that there is no female solo. But, just like Masakali from Delhi-6 and Saawariya’s title-track were mine, you need to watch out for my songs in this film too.”

Shahid Kapoor has always followed a two or three films at a time principle, but when he signed this film, he solely focused on the project to work on his look and role. “My father gifted this film to me on my birthday,” he had stated last year. “It’s something special and I cannot divert my attention from it. I have been waiting for him to make a film for many years now.”

Talking about the film, Pankaj Kapur says, “Shahid has always be in the loop about the subject. The idea behind Mausam was to present Shahid in a new light. So far, the body of work that Shahid has done has largely been limited to similar roles — that of a young lover boy. Shikhar, Kaminey and Fida apart, the characters he has played are pretty much similar to his real life persona.

He is capable of handling greater responsibilities as an actor. If given a chance, he can do so much more to prove his acting prowess. And, Shahid follows what is close to his heart, just the way I do. I’m very proud of him as a father.”