Abhishek Kapoor on working with newcomers: I can chase my characters, but maybe not my actors

Abhishek Kapoor who will be completing 12 years as a filmmaker in the industry recalls his memorable moments and also spoke about his journey in Bollywood. He also revealed his biggest moment in his life. He had started with acting in ‘Uff! Yeh Mohabbat in 1996 and went on to be a director with ‘Aryan’ in 2006. He also revealed how passionate he is about direction. He also spoke about working with newcomers.


Talking about his memorable moments he said, “There have been quite a few memorable moments – be it receiving a National Award for ‘Rock On’ (2008) or presenting ‘Kai Po Che’ (KPC; 2013) at the Berlin Film Festival. But personally, one of the biggest moments for me has been when Salim (Khan) uncle gave me his Deewar Filmfare Award trophy for Best story after seeing ‘Kai Po Che’. That was the ultimate recognition as it came from someone, whom I respect immensely.”


When asked about his life journey and his debut as an actor he said, “There is a phase in life when – regardless of whether you’re ready or not – you want to grab the best opportunities. I took up acting during that phase of my life. But acting and directing are different animals. My tryst with acting was flirty, but my relationship with direction is a full-blown, passionate affair. I did not give myself a thorough chance at acting as I immersed myself in direction. As a result, direction has been very satisfying, which I never got as an actor.”


Talking about working with newcomers he said, “I don’t mind working with any actor, provided they are excited about portraying the character that I am bringing to life and match my enthusiasm and excitement. As I’ve always said, I can chase my characters, but maybe not my actors.”


Fitoor didn’t do very well commercially but it was a ‘passion project’ for you. How satisfying was that experience creatively?


Further talking about ‘Fitoor’ he said, “Some movies bring instant rewards, and some bring dividends later in life. ‘Fitoor’ (2016) was an extremely enriching project for me. It was a rare opportunity as a film-maker to create a movie that was filled with a certain kind of refined beauty and detail. You do think of your movies as your children, and they’re all different and worthy of being loved in different ways.”


Abhishek Kapoor talks about choosing unusual subjects, “I am a curious person by nature. I believe in venturing outside my comfort zone and I like to immerse myself in a new world. With each idea I have, I start from scratch to try to get into the world of the characters, and so I get to learn new things. I find that very enriching, and with that approach, there is purity in what I have to say. Repeating yourself may be comfortable, but that way, all you do is just reinforce your ego. You tend to repeat what you found success in hence you might get real cozy but that’s not why I became a film-maker.”


One of the biggest contemporary human tragedies of India has been the Kedarnath tragedy. Now, you are making a film with that as the backdrop. Has it been challenging to do that?


He concluded by talking about his next film ‘Kedarnath’, “There are so many remarkable and heart-wrenching incidents that took place during the 2013 floods which could not leave my mind. I believe it is one of the most important stories that I can tell for modern India. Yes, it’s been challenging to bring it to the screen and the process of doing that is not over yet, as we are just halfway through. When it is done, I’ll look back and decide whether it was challenging or not. Right now, we are just blazing through it.”