JOIN USHe made his debut opposite Tabu in Meenaxi: A Tale of Three Cities and followed it up with a memorable portrayal of Ashfaqullah Khan in Rang De Basanti. Since then, there’s been no stopping Kunal Kapoor, who has made his mark in films like Laaga
Chunari Mein Daag, ‘Don 2’ and more recently, Luv Shuv Tey Chicken Khurana.
“I’ve come dressed up as the horror show that is Kunal Kapoor,” jokes the
actor, speaking to Metrolife at the Kook N Keech Myntra stall at ‘Comic Con Bangalore’, which was held recently.
“When I heard ‘Comic Con’ was happening, I was really excited because I’ve been following it for years. Unfortunately, each time it was there in Bombay,
I was out shooting. I told myself I wouldn’t miss it for the world this time and so, here I am,” he smiles, adding, “I’ve been a graphic novel fan for years and have a huge personal collection.
It’s nice to see people have this kind of enthusiasm for comics.”
In fact, books and of course, films are some of the many passions for Kunal, who is also a trained pilot.
“I don’t watch as many films as I read books. But I read a lot and there are always ideas in my head. I love telling stories,” he emphasises.
That’s probably the reason why at this point of his career, he is taking time off acting and working on scripts instead. “I’m writing a couple of scripts and once they’re done, I’ll start shooting them. If I have an interesting idea and people I can collaborate with, we just get together and develop it. I did that with Luv Shuv…and that’s the intention going forward as well,” notes Kunal.
He also feels that though it’s easier being in front of the camera, one doesn’t always get the parts they’re looking for. “I’d rather just wake up, get a great script and go
and shoot. But if that doesn’t happen, you have to look at stories that you like and characters you want to play.”
Asked what he looks for in a script, he quickly answers, “It could be a lot of things — the director you’re working with, a role you haven’t played earlier, the story. But more often than not, it’s instinctive. It can’t be really planned and thought out.
You either like it or you don’t and there’s no particular reason for it.”
“I’ve passed down some really good films because I didn’t instinctively feel like they were movies I wanted to do and some that I did didn’t turn out to be the way I thought they would,” he admits.
He adds, “In the future, I would love to work with Tigmanshu Dhulia, Anurag Kashyap, Shimit Amin and Vikramaditya Motwane, each of whose work I find really interesting.”
Is he content with how his career is shaping up? He smiles and sums up, “If
stardom did get to me, I wouldn’t be here. It’s fun and enjoyable and it gives
you choices and opportunities to make the sort of movies that you want to. That’s the biggest plus point and there’s nothing that can get better than that.”