"I liked kissing Alia"

We meet wise beyond his years Arjun Kapoor and come away impressed

Q. As an actor you’ve come a full circle with Dharma Productions.

Yes. It’s aspirational to work with Yash Raj Films and Dharma Productions. Few would know that my first pay cheque was signed by the late Yash Johar. I was 17 and the lowest assistant on Kal Ho Naa Ho. I was paid ` 3300.  From there to being offered a film by Karan Johar is a huge leap. Also, Sajid Nadiadwala (producer) had seen me as a fat boy working out with Salman bhai (Khan) in the gym.  When Jaan-E-Mann was being made, I had accompanied him on his family holiday. And here I was sitting across him in his office. It was surreal. Sajid thought I’d become a director and not an actor. They offered me a film that was irresistible. I haven’t read the book (2 States is based on Chetan Bhagat’s eponymously titled book) but I knew it was a family-oriented romantic film.

Q. Does Karan Johar take you seriously?

No. Karan doesn’t take me seriously. He calls me Fubu.  He called me Fubu on National TV (Koffee With Karan). Karan has the knack of making you comfortable whether it’s on a chat show or whether it’s working with him. But I’m still Fubu to him and will remain so. Because I’ve worked as an assistant in his company, he’ll never take me seriously. Though Sajid did mention at the press conference that Karan saw me as Krish (the protagonist in 2 States) before anyone else. So while Karan might not take me seriously as a person, as an actor he took me seriously enough to cast me.

Q. Are you geared up for 2 States?

No. I’m nervous because I’ve had three action-oriented films back to back. I’m nervous about how the audience will react to me doing 2 States because its genre is different. I’d like to know if this genre is also open for me. I want to do romantic films; I want to do soft roles too.  

Q. So a lot depends on 2 States…

Yes, after 2 States I’ll know where I stand. The industry is waiting to see this facet. I enjoyed doing the geeky romcom. There’s no heroism in my character. He’s a soft- spoken boy. His emotions are not ha-ha and he speaks with a deadpan expression. I’ve modulated my voice to sound softer.

Q. There’s much talk about your smooch with Alia Bhatt…

Like Karan Johar says all talk is good talk when it comes to promoting a film. The kiss however is relevant in the film. Today love’s gone beyond a hug and a peck. Kissing is not taboo anymore. The Bhatt camp broke that image long back. Family audiences don’t shut their eyes during a kiss if it’s done aesthetically. My first film (Ishaqzaade) had a kiss and a lovemaking scene. No one cringed because it took the story ahead. Here, there’s a live-in relationship, there’s physical intimacy between the two and that’s established in the visual. 

Q. How comfortable were you doing the kissing scene?

I liked kissing Alia. We didn’t even know each other when we shot the kissing scene. The chemistry happened because it actually felt like a first kiss. You don’t know how the girl will feel. And that emotion can be sensed in the visual. We ourselves didn’t know how our kiss would turn out. So it worked out well.  Ya, I liked kissing Alia.

Q. Alia and you have been seen together on many occasions. So what’s the status?

When you attend a party, don’t you coordinate with your friends? Alia and I coordinated and we reached at the same time at the Filmfare party. Obviously, we walked in together. We’ve done a film together, there’s nothing to hide. The press wanted us to pose together for the camera. We posed. Then they shouted ‘Saath mein aao!’ for the media bytes. You cannot argue with the press or they’d believe that I was trying to hide something. See Alia and I are friends. I love hanging out with her. She is a fantastic person. I get along well with her. I discovered her as a person and as an actor on the set of 2 States. I hadn’t met her before. I built an equation over the course of the film. Ask her what the status is…

Q. So you want to know that status?

(Laughs) There can be a BB status, Twitter status, Facebook status… Ask her what the status is. No I am not seeing her. When I seriously start seeing someone, I’ll come out in the open. It’s pointless lying so much to yourself and others.  You might get more privacy once you speak.  Where Alia is concerned we’re not dating. There’s no concept of dating in our country. And that’s sad.  Like if you’re seen having dinner with someone you’re finished. It means you’re getting married in a year’s time. Soon speculations about a ‘break-up’ will follow because the boy has been seen with another girl at some party. So it all goes into a tizzy even when the two might just about be getting to know each other.

Q. How was it working with Alia?

I can turn around and say I saw it in Alia Bhatt before anybody had watched Highway. I saw the spark that this girl is something else. It’s just a matter of moulding her, of having the right directors and she’ll be a pataka guddi. Now, she’s that officially. She’s superb, she’s God-gifted, she has expressive eyes and an active mind. She is intelligent beyond her age. These things sound generic but her work in Highway speaks for itself. And that’s just the tip of the iceberg. 2 States will take that forward. If she continues sensibly then the sky is the limit for her. She’s a cool chick. Sonam (Kapoor, cousin) tells me, ‘It’s okay if you’re dating Alia. I’ll give you my blessings’. She said that in front of everyone. She’s mad. Sonam, Rhea (Kapoor, cousin)… my whole family approves of her. They say if I were to date Alia, they’d be okay with it.

Q. Are you sending feelers to her through this interview?

My family has approved of her because Sonam openly said it. But I don’t know if I am sending feelers to her because she knows what kind of a person I am. We’re in touch so she knows exactly what I feel. I’d never send out feelers, I’d put it across directly.

Q. Sonam seems to be close to you.  Were you as close as kids or have you become closer now?

We’re of the same age, we have the same friends. Our equation was never affected even though there were problems in the family. Sonam is protective about me. No one knows this side of Sonam. We attend parties together; I had my birthday party last year at her house. We’ve celebrated birthdays together because our birthdays fall 15 days apart. Everyone’s suddenly interested in my equation with Sonam because she said she’d be involved in my relationship. She believes ‘no one is good enough for Arjun’ and that ‘Arjun should date this kind of girl’. I love that about her. She calls me up every 10 days to check if I need anything. She’s like those aunties who call up to check if there’s milk in the house or enough onions. She’s after me to find the right girl. Any girl who comes in my life will have to go through the acid test with Sonam and Rhea.

Q. Why are you single then?

Even I wonder why. I’m in a happy space. I’ve gone through ups and down. But now I feel prepared. However, you can’t decide one day, ‘I don’t want to be single’ and find a girlfriend at your doorstep the next day. I’m open to the idea of a relationship but I don’t know why I’m single. Maybe there’s something lacking in me. Honestly, I’ve been getting along far better with women in the past five years. Earlier I used to be shy because of my weight. Now I’ve begun enjoying female attention.

Q. What have you discovered about yourself in the last few years?  

That I’m a lot happier now than I was in the initial stages of my career. I was going through a personal crisis then.  There was too much happening too soon. I was only concerned with my profession; my personal space had become irrelevant to me.  Now I realise that I’m happy working. I don’t crave time for myself.  I like shooting for 15 days, then promoting my film for a day or two, then returning to work, rehearsing, working out, having fun on the sets. This is my life and I love it. Also because I’m happy, my interaction with people has improved. Earlier, I was guarded. Being from the industry I knew the hazards that came with being an actor so perhaps I was over prepared. Today I’m much more at ease with the media. Also there’s a burning ambition inside me. I want to do better, I want to do more, I want to do the best films possible. This ambition is fuelled with every passing film.

Q. Do you feel you were born for this?

Yes, undoubtedly. God or whoever planned this did so that I could find myself through this journey. The upheaval of losing weight, losing a parent, going through your best along with your worst period was important because it made me the person I’m today. I was destined to be here. There are millions who want to do this but I’m among the fortunate few who got a chance. I’ve to give my two hundred percent to the profession. This is a premium profession. Cricket, politics and movies are aspirational careers. They influence people. When I was in Mathura, I heard people shout “Gunday! Gunday!” I’m just three films old. If I can touch people, imagine the reach this profession has.

Q. Does it give you a high to have people shout your name?

It’s new to me. But it definitely makes me smile. Like if you’re walking from the van to the shot suddenly someone from the crowd shouts ‘Aye chokra jawan!’ and you’re like, ‘arre yaar that’s what we work for.’ That song which you rehearsed day and night seems worth it. Or when at a shaadi, uncles and aunties pull me to dance to Tang tang, you feel it’s worth it. These days kids come up to me singing Tang tang. And I haven’t had kids as fans because my first two films (Ishaqzaade and Aurangzeb) were action oriented. It’s a heart to heart connect with your fans. It’s not superficial. They don’t know you but still reach out to you and say good things. That makes me happy.

Q. Has Gunday cemented your position in the industry?

It’s done a business of about `75 to 80 crore. It’s a hit film in terms of the cost of production. It’s got big numbers overseas, my first overseas hit. For people to react the way they have in places like Mathura and Agra, it’s amazing. It was a full masala film with two boys coming together and doing something that hadn’t been done in a while. Formy third film to do a business of '75-80 crores is an achievement. I don’t know if it consolidates my position but it’s definitely a good grounding.

Q. Did you ever feel overshadowed by Ranveer Singh?

That was never the case because we were given the narration together. And there was a bound script. When Ali Abbas Zafar started shooting we knew he was making exactly what he had written. Nothing changed from that day to the 100 odd days of shooting.  It wasn’t as if the producer had said something and the director was doing something different or as if Ranveer was asking the director to make changes. I don’t get the girl in the film. It’s the role of an anti-hero; it was the role that attracted me. Also, Ranveer is older to me in terms of screen age, so it was right that he played the older character. Frankly, we both could have swapped roles and still done a good job. Because we were so interchangeable and shared a good tuning, any kind of uncertainty never crossed my mind. I enjoyed working from day one. I never felt insecure because Ranveer and I are good friends contrary to what people would like to believe. 

Q. Much has been written about Ranveer and your friendship. Is it for real?

If I show you the SMSes that man sends me, his relationship status might change to him dating me. It just doesn’t stop. He has taken my picture from the net and made a hawas ka pujari poster out of it. And it’s been like this since the day we heard the narration of Gunday.  We met at Yash Raj on a Sunday. We heard the script and both of us were like we are dying to do the film and that we’d be the biggest d***k heads if we screwed this up. And the friendship began. It genuinely exists. I consider him a close friend. I can pick up the phone and speak to him anytime and we can have a conversation for hours. When we meet we’re inseparable. We get along because we’re not insecure about each other.

Q. You guys were a riot on Koffee With Karan…

I told Karan that your interview reminded people that I’m an actor. For six months before that I had no release. Also I’m low profile by nature. But I received so many compliments after the show. People click pictures with me saying, ‘We liked you on Koffee With Karan’. I told Karan he had re-launched me with the show.

Q. Tell us something funny that Ranveer has told you?

(Chuckles) You won’t be able to publish most of the things. But after watching the trailer of 2 States, he tweeted, “Gunda ban gaya Punjabi munda!” He also said he was jealous of Alia. Ha!