Sonam Kapoor to Wear Bikini in YRF Film
I didn’t slow down, I stopped. Raanjhanaa is my first film in a year and a half. Actually six months before Players released, I had stopped shooting. So technically, I didn’t shoot for a year. I was in talks with some of the biggest directors but I was trying to find the right project. I have never thought about the prospects of a movie. I always see if I want to play the character that is being offered to me. Hit or flop doesn’t matter; what matters is whether I enjoy playing the character. I ask myself, will I learn and grow as an actor by playing this particular role? It was after doing Thank You, Mausam and Players that I realised I had to take a break and reevaluate where I wanted my life to go. I had also hit my mid-20s by then and realised that I needed to be proud of the stuff that I’d done. So I took my time to zero in on Raanjhanaa. When you’ve been in the industry for a while and you start doing well, like I did with Delhi-6, I Hate Luv Storys and Aisha, you’re bound to be on a high. So I went on a signing spree and there were all these big filmmakers who wanted to sign me. Everyone was telling me I’d be the number one heroine and I’d signed up with the biggest banners. I got swayed by it. Now I might be doing the biggest films but I’m doing films that make me happy. Also, I want to do just one thing at a time. So I finished Raanjhnaa and then started Bhaag Milkha Bhaag and now I’m doing Nupur Asthana’s untitled YRF film.
So how many releases do you have this year?I have three films for sure. Hopefully, I will have a fourth, Khoobsurat. That depends on the distributors and if they want it to release this year. It will definitely be ready by year end though.
Raanjhanaa is a much-anticipated film. There’s a lot of buzz around it. Tell us more.I had met Aanand L Rai (director) and Himanshu Sharma (writer) for Tanu Weds Manu. But because of my dates and other issues, I didn’t end up doing the film. Then they came back to me with Raanjhanaa. I had liked Tanu Weds Manu and I wanted to work with Aanand. I fell in love with this beautiful character he had created for me in Raanjhanaa. The story is about two characters who love each other passionately. But they’re really messed up in the way they love. And that’s how love is. It’s messy and it doesn’t always get tied up in a neat bow. I liked how real Aanand had made this love story.
Did you have any apprehensions about working with Dhanush? He might be a superstar down South but elsewhere he’s only known as the guy who sang Kolaveri Di.That is another thing I decided when I took some time off. I don’t care who my lead actor is. Even when I started out, I didn’t see who was opposite me. When I did I Hate Luv Storys or Aisha, Imran Khan and Abhay Deol weren’t big stars like they have become now. So I’ve decided never to choose a project because of the hero or the director but because of how I feel about it. It’ll be a cherry on the cake if I get films with Shah Rukh Khan, Salman Khan or Aamir Khan. But in the next century, when Indian cinema completes 200 years, I want to be remembered for the work I’ve done. I don’t want to be another actress who came and worked here. I want to be driven by passion and by art and not the commerce.
During the shooting of Aisha, Abhay Deol had problems with the film and production. Now you’re working with him again in Raanjhanaa.Abhay had a problem with dad (Anil Kapoor), not me. If you ask Abhay, he’ll tell you the same thing. Even when we’re not shooting on set, we spend all our time together. We have similar interests. Plus people love us together. People love our chemistry. I crack up on Abhay’s off-kilter humour when he jokes that Aisha and Arjun have gone from Def Col in Aisha to JNU in Raanjhanaa.
You’ve also signed your first YRF film?I was in talks with Aditya Chopra for a long time. He offered this film to me. It’s a film written by Habib Faisal. Also, I’ve always loved the way YRF functions and I wanted to do a film with them for a while now. YRF is there to make movies and not just fancy proposals. Adi takes risks with the people he casts and gets it bang on. They know what they are doing unlike others. He has launched the next generation of actors in our country. Two of my brothers, Ranveer Singh and Arjun Kapoor, have been launched by him.