all should do well but I should do better
if that's being selfish
I never had that problem even when I was a fat kid
i used like looking at myself even then I was very proud of how I was
I was never I've never had that issue
but that's just my nature I cannot sit here & be fake I can't do that
if I'm not happy I'm not happy you'll see it on my face
so I think lady killer is a script which I loved like I'm obsessed with it
it's one of the best scripts, maybe the best scripts I've ever read in my life
I think Jahnvi & me are similar in the sense that we talk a lot more about work
Hello everyone this is Aaina and I'm with the most dashing ARJUN KAPOOR today
Hi Arjun Welcome to PINKVILLA
Hi Aaina, I waited for 10 years to do this interview
This is your first interview with me right?
yeah the first time
10 years! I waited that long for you to interview me
that is so sweet and I'm also getting this opportunity after you being here 10years
I've used Pinkvilla for so many interviews just so you can interview
so first of all CONGRATULATIONS! Thank you
For completing 10 years & serving us with some really amazing performances
I actually want to start off by knowing that
when you came in you were very clear that being No.1 wasn't your aim entirely
you were not in any toxic competitive spirit with your contemporaries
you've always been relaxed and more focused on your work
how do get that kind of maturity right from the start?
well, that is a very nice way of putting it across that I've never been toxic about it
because I think
because I've grown up here and my ambition was to always make good films
to be part of good films
my father's a producer, my uncle's been an actor and I've always appreciated the craft
and I've also always been very excited to come together to make films
my ambition has never been about only me
my ambition was always us together for me it is collaborative for me it is-
even if I'm sitting with you I would want this interview for us to be good
if I keep talking & you're not asking the good & correct questions it's not gonna work
I'm a very very... straightforward person
I don't like to listen to people I don't like to be told what to do I also
I'm somebody who believes that I should back my ownself
My gut my instinct, when you become an actor you get accepted it validates
the fact that you followed your heart you followed your ability
my first film did well so then it became easy for me to believe that okay
my thought process is right, I should just stick with it
I'm friends with all my contemporaries I want all of them to do well because
you have to understand if their films do well the audiences like more films
they come to watch more films
all should do well but mine should do a little better
if that's being selfish
and that's something that always keeps me going even today
even today... I'm not somebody who's ever been scared of ensembles two hero films
I mean if you look at my career trajectory
even today I'm doing a film with John Abraham, Disha, Tara Ek Villain
is an ensemble to its purest form
I did Gunday I've done Mubarakan, Aurangzeb, Finding Fanny
I've never ever thought about only me
I'm the first actor who I was told recently gave the 100 crore club entry
in the young actor was me but 2 States wouldn't be possible without
the director made it and the producers backed this director to work with young actors so
I never came to prove a point to anybody or to be No.1 or No.2
because that's very very fragile that changes Friday to Friday
and today we're seeing it in the recent couple of months we're seeing it even more
as you said you've had some super hits and you had misses as well
there was this one time you were really heartbroken that you mentioned was
after Tewar, you said that it really affected you so, at that point in time
when you were just 3 years in the industry how do you get yourself
to be motivated enough to stand up again and go through the entire process
I mean it can be very hard for someone who's starting out
I mean you're right Tewar I think hit me the most
as strange as it sounds it hit me the most because it was a film produced by my family
Sanjay and Dad had produced it and I had not signed any other film
when I was doing it because I wanted to put all my energy into it and not have that pressure
I have to go to another film and we were backing a young director
with a vision to make a huge summer blockbuster entertainer Amit
who made Badhai Ho recently which is such a terrific film and now he's making Maidan
again with Dad at that point I wanted to empower the film and make sure that
I could put myself out there in all ways possible so I put one whole year of hard work
and one Friday just took it all away
it broke my heart it got me down it got me demoralised and I said
where did I go wrong and when did I screw it up I'm to blame
and I took a lot of the blame on me
but then I also went away on a holiday for a week alone
I shut my phone I kept it away in the safe of the hotel and I just
tried to be and it came to me that I cannot blame myself alone
for I can't take credit for the success I never do the same way
I have to stop blaming myself alone so I analysed it at a very practical level
I tried to understand it and then I moved on from it
but also I might want to add here
when i saw the first cut of Tewar I was a bit concerned about the fact that we've gone
a bit different than what we imagined so I also had to remember in my heart that okay
I impulsively knew that something might not translate
so I tried to hold on to that and then
I moved on I did a film Ki & Ka after that which
sounds like the stupidest move after the I mean I remember when I was signing it
I was told you're a macho hero who's supposed to do action films
why do you want to play househusband?
Balki has just given Shamitabh you had done Tewar & Kareena did Gori tere pyar mein
what is this film?
and I was like no I feel that that one line works for me
a boy grew up wanting to be like his mother instead of every boy that grows up
wanted to be like their father I said I backed this and I want and
It worked. So I saw 2 ends of the spectrum within 15-16 months and I
And learnt out of it
did that isolation help you when you went
yeah yeah it did because i was what I'm telling you today
i analysed it it's not to say I can't take the failure to heart
but at some point, you can take the failure out of your heart and put it in your mind
and rationalise it and then try and learn from it and move forward
now that you look back at the kind of films that you've done of course,
the experience teaches you the good the bad
is there something that you'd want to alter... in your filmography?
not in the way that I should do this but maybe I could have done this better
maybe I could have played this another way
No, I think the biggest fundamental truth of my career is the fact that
when I made my debut I was
somebody who had lost weight and was a very fit guy making a debut and I was a
I looked like I deserved to be on the big screen
somewhere my health gave way somewhere my extra work took a toll on me
mentally, emotionally & physically and i kept working and I kept
saying yes to films I kept saying yes and kept doing films
and I was not able to take care of my ownself
so when I look back if I'd like to change something
I'd tell myself maybe 5 years down my career but now start taking care of yourself
you've pushed yourself a lot but
it's showing on screen you're not looking when you made your debut
the audience now has an expectation of you to look a certain way and
I think that's unfair for me to expect the audience to accept me looking
worse off than when I did Ishaqzaade or Gunday or 2 States
I should have caught on to it a little faster
but I kept thinking when the next film comes I'll take 3months and I'll lose weight
it's just 4-5kgs I'll just take care of myself better
Films kept coming and I wanted to work
I was just running away from my life
my realities whatever my issues were personally
and work was an escape
work was always an escape I mean you have to understand I lost my mother
just before my first film so for me work was a-
it was the best medicine to stay away from home & deal with the reality
Covid happened and i had to deal with a lot of the realities that had kind of shifted away so
listen we get paid really well and people pay a lot of money to watch us
I wasn't not working hard
I was just working hard maybe too many other things except myself
which I now realise was detrimental in the bigger picture
if you work for 18-19 hours and sleep for only 4 hours
you won't work out and you end up eating whatever's available
because you want to keep working
you're not taking care of yourself you're also not resting enough and
if you are that person that needs the break
you have to recognise it and take it there's nothing wrong with that but
I used to feel it's being unfair to my job
if I'm not putting in more hours it's a learning
that's why your bio is 'Work in Progress' Always
and I genuinely believe that I think people like me
there are some people who are gifted
you need to find your niche and I'm somebody who has to constantly be aware
and work in progress so I believe
that's why I think you even put out the transformation image
was it covid phase?
I mean it was
sitting at home you can enjoy for a few months but then you realise that
this is an opportunity for you to finally start loving yourself
I had stopped loving myself I should not like looking at myself in the mirror and
I never had that problem even when I was a fat kid
i used to look at myself even then I was very proud of how I was
I've never had that issue of that I and not handsome enough
I accepted it- that's so nice
I accepted, I'm an average looking but I have a personality
I know who I am I know how to conduct myself I always had the belief in my
my personality, I was not somebody who backed away from being myself
but when covid happened I realised that I'm not myself I've gone into a shell I'm
that spark is missing I just used that as a stepping stone and said
you know what I'm going too work hard on myself and I'm going to take care of myself
and I'm going to love myself it's not easy to do that but I'm sure
a lot of people who got through the same situation as I do I'm blessed
that I'm perhaps financially more secure and independent that I can take a lot longer
and have the best resources
but that in itself is not enough you also have to have the power within you
to face every day that you go and put in hard work in the gym or eating right
you still don't see the results
I had implemented a very good lifestyle when I started as an actor
somewhere that went away so
I've reimagined my life to suit me now so my lifestyle now is about where I am today at 36
I'm not the same when I was 22 it's not humanly possible and
I think that switch happened in covid when I realised here this is
what i want to do for the rest of my life
I want to work I want to act I want to entertain people
I want to make films as a producer directory that's secondary that's a journey but today
I want the audience to respect my work
I want them to connect with me for the work I'm doing for the way I look
for the I present myself!
when you looked at yourself for the first time on screen
During Ishaqzaade
were you excited, were you self-critical what was the-
no I was very happy with myself honestly because
i did the the whole film I've grown up in the industry
so I know what it feels like to watch films on the big screen for others like
to see my uncle and all that so you feel like okay I'll learn by watching
I saw myself, the first time I saw Ishaqzaade on the big screen
the full film, Yash Chopra and Pam aunty were sitting in front of me
Parineeti and me were sitting behind in Yash Raj studios
and this is the space where I had auditioned and all
literally, I've done my workshops here so I chose to do the interview here
for that reason, here we clicked our promotional pictures
when I watched it I was very happy and I said that I look good on screen
It's not that I look bad
i have some presence
my hard work showed the dialect the body language, because I'm
I'm not Parma
If you interact with me today also I'm not
"Yes Dadda say...' I'm not that person
and I've not grown up in that mileau but
I looked like I belonged in Ishaqzaade so I was very proud of that
and people obviously love you as Arjun Kapoor the actor
I would hope so
even love you as Arjun Kapoor the person, if you've noticed
I've seen your interviews the comments people go like
oh he's so honest he's always real about his emotions his relationships
what do you have to say about that?
I'm a very sensible, realistic and practical person and that's my mother's upbringing
people assume I'm pessimistic because of how realistic i am
but that's just my nature
I cannot sit here and be fake I can't do that
If I'm not happy I'm not happy you'll see it on my face
so a lot of people might see me and say okay he's not okay or whatever
because if I feel something it's very evident and I don't like to be fake
It's exhausting to pretend I couldn't have sustained 10 years
if you see my first interview today I think
barring my physical evolution and my hair growing out or my beard growing out
I still think the same way
There's some growth
i can't pretend or be fake
I'd rather not be liked for being honest and I'd rather people not enjoy it but
Accept that I'm an honest and a realistic person
Because of this I never had any problem with the trolling
You don't need to show me my reality I know my reality very well so even
when it's on an extreme level I don't bother because it reflects your mentality
You can criticise our work but
but you can't criticise our personal and private life
like I said it doesn't bother me beyond a point because I realised here I am
sensible enough to know the right from the wrong
talking a little about the kind of choices also you're currently making
what I've noticed is you're definitely this mainstream hero
but now the kind of choices that you're making is more like the artist inside you
with Kutte, Lady Killer, Sandeep aur Pinky Farar
what's going on on that?
I was always like that if you see Aurangzeb, it was the first Yash Raj film that didn't have
the song-dance routine was a double role without
the typical double-role nuances also in it
I did Finding Fanny in English
I chose to do India's most wanted which was a very realistic film again
I did Sandeep aur Pinky Farar
so I've always had that bend because I
I believe that I like all kinds of films as a viewer
so I would like to do all kinds of films as an actor
that bend perhaps today is a little stronger because I'm even more fearless
and maybe I have nothing more left to prove or lose in that sense
that I don't need to constantly be looking for validation
I've to also do things that make me happy
of course, i want validation from people who like the film but I have to also like what I'm doing
some choices i made in the middle were more extroverted since audience
wanted to see these sort of films
Now I feel like I don't want to do these types of films
so I think Lady Killer is a script which I love Like I'm obsessed with it
It's like one of the best scripts, maybe the best script I've ever read in my life
it's beautiful, it reads like- I mean even if it's not made
into a film then also it's beautiful
because you can imagine it it's such a visceral and a real film it's a noir romantic thriller
it's very different from anything I've done, it's very unique in terms of the treatment
and the way the directors and the writers have worked on it and the DOP now
the way they are shooting it
Bhumi is tremendous in this film
I've only shot 20 days but I'm very excited because I feel it's rooted but
but still there's something new and I really hope it connects with the audience
but I am very passionate about Lady killer
I did Kutte also for that same reason father made Kaminey & now son is making Kutte
so you can imagine and I loved Kaminey
I love Kaminey I love Ishqiya and to have that ensemble
Tabu, Konkona, Kumud Mishra, Naseeruddin Shah
just for me it's exciting to play a character in a film like that versus
being a hero of the film, I like that I'm blending with all of them
and I'll learn something but
for me it was always the material just it's a story that I really instinctively
connected with and I said you know I want to be a part of a film like this
where Kaminey ends Kutte begins
It's almost like that, it's not like a sequel or franchise or whatever but
it's in that world so if you like Kaminey you'll definitely like kutte
so hopefully that'll be my third interview with you
no you can come for villain also
yeah that's why I said 3rd
yeah so Kutte- and Lady killer will be 4th
So Himesh is not going to take my interview ever basically
lastly before I let you go I just want to know that now
when you look back at your entire journey of 10 years
what is something you would advice Shanaya
because she's making her debut
so not
what would you tell her like what to do and what not
you know there was something i used to always say in my interviews and I felt it
and then I forgot about it it was "listen to all but do what you feel"
so I would advise her the same thing listen to everything I say
listen to everything everybody else says but eventually back yourself
and make choices that you are proud of when you look back on your career
do not do things under pressure like for that matter
I think there was a point when Jahnvi was dabbling
about whether she should do Gunjan Saxena or not for a bit
that's the same thing I told her I said
you have to like eventually it's not about this is the perfect 2nd film or not
there is no perfect 2nd film
but do you advise them?
if they ask me it's not like we sit across the table to talk about it every day
if they ask me something it happens
i think Jahnvi and me are similar in the sense that we talk a lot more about work
Khushi's just started working & shanaya
whenever I've got a chance and she's asked me I do tell her listen
advising is very easy but you have to also follow that advice so
I don't think everybody likes to listen to advice
when someone asks for it I tell them
like harsh has a mind of his own he's following his heart and
and i'm happy for that
because he's cut from a different cloth at least he's holding his own and
he's doing the Thar that he likes to do so that's great
as long as you're being honest to yourself
you listen to all and do what you feel then follow it through
then don't play the mid part that you're constantly
get second-guessing yourself and all because if you are only not convinced
about what you're doing the audience will catch you out of that
So yeah I think for Shanaya or for any actor or anybody who's choosing to do work
it's simpler perhaps to some degree for us because we're in the fraternity
and we've grown up here that we will be getting options
sometimes you don't have an option
Sometimes you need to work more to get more work
that's a different journey
If you're getting a choice then choose the one you want to do
There is also a phase when you have to work just for the sake of it
which people don't know about, yeah
which i have also been through that phase sometimes you just have to keep working because
you want to just keep at it sometimes
you just need to be at it there are phases
but at this point in time if you have the luxury to choose
don't choose what people want you to choose, choose what you want to do
so that's the takeaway Listen to all but do what you feel
correct
so thank you so much it was a pleasure talking to you
Same here.
and hopefully we can meet soon again
you can show me the mirror again
done, Thank you Thank you
hey guys I'm Arjun Kapoor and If you like this video
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