Arjun Kapoor’s attitude towards ‘Tevar’

It’s almost taken for granted that a Bollywood producer’s son will look up to his influential father to launch his career in cinema (think Hrithik Roshan, Jackky Bhagnani et al). But actor Arjun Kapoor, the 29-year-old son of prolific producer Boney Kapoor, the man behind blockbusters Wanted and Mr India, didn’t go down that well-trodden path.

Kapoor acted in five films before he chose to star in his family production Tevar, releasing in the UAE on January 8. (His uncle Sanjay Kapoor and his father has poured Rs500 million for this romantic action thriller.)

So, did he have to audition for the role of the lead, Pintu, or did he bag it because of ‘accident of birth’?

“That sounds a bit harsh … but I deliberately didn’t play by the rules because I knew I would be definitely asked this question had I chosen to be a part of their production in my first film. Having a surname like mine, I knew I would have to constantly battle this out. The least I can do is to become an asset as an actor [rather] than a liability in a project,” said Kapoor in an interview with tabloid!.

His goal was to be in a commanding position where actors such as Sonakshi Sinha and Manoj Bajpayee wouldn’t shy away from taking on roles with a newcomer — and he has succeeded.

In less than five years, Kapoor has become a bankable star with hits such as college romance 2 States, star-crossed love tragedy Ishaqzaade and retro film Gunday.

“At no point in my life did I want to plead with him and say: ‘papa, make me a hero’. It was about creating a foundation for myself so that I would be able to do a kind of film like Tevar that has a larger-than-life feel,” said the star.

Kapoor describes Tevar as an intelligent “masala entertainer” with a strong emotional undercurrent. The trailers show him flexing his muscles and more.

Directed by first-timer Amit Sharma (you know him from that warm Google ad about two estranged friends from India and Pakistan), Tevar chronicles the story of Pintu Shukla, a kabaddi champion from Agra, who unwittingly takes on a local gangster (Manoj Bajpayee) when he rescues Radhika (Sonakshi Sinha) from his clutches.

“Pintu is from a small town. All he knows is that he’s yet to discover himself and that he loves kabaddi. His tevar [attitude] is like any youth in our country today and he has a certain attitude towards how to treat women. He’s so correct and he can’t tolerate any kind of misbehaviour towards them. That lands him in a quandary when he intervenes between this guy and a woman. He doesn’t rescue her because he falls in love with her, he does it almost on a whim,” said Kapoor.

He underwent intense kabbadi training to master the skills of the full-contact team sport for his latest role.

“Kabaddi is a great sport, it needs speed and strength. And that attitude is reflected in the language of Pintu… When you are a sportsman, you have a certain ideology in mind. Once you get into the field, you don’t leave things unfinished. That’s the mentality of this guy. He won’t leave anything unfinished and so he finds himself on the run with this girl. He discovers that he’s in love much later and that was refreshing,” said Kapoor. But his biggest challenge may be to outshine the film’s villain Bajpayee.

Considered one of India’s finest actors, Bajpayee has an unusual flair for injecting empathy into the nastiest of roles. Even if he’s playing a scheming stalker in Road or a manipulative politician in Rajneeti, Bajpayee can snatch the spotlight from the glorious heroes.

“Gajinder is the cause of conflict in the film. He’s your typical guy that you may run into in northern India. He’s very powerful because his brother is a home minister and takes care of all his messy jobs. He’s so spoilt that he doesn’t want to hear the word ‘no’ from anybody. So he meets this girl for the first time and is mesmerised. He wants her at any cost,” said Bajpayee. He may have summed up the collective nature of most Bollywood villains, but trust him to add a new twist to the jaded role.

“I tried to play this role like a romantic guy part. Gajinder is like a child demanding his favourite toy. There’s a scene when his brother says something and he just slaps him. He’s that stubborn and spoilt. I hope you love Gajinder first and then hate him later,” said Bajpayee.

The Tevar team spent around two months filming in Agra and Mathura in the northern state of Uttar Pradesh.

“We could have filmed it in a studio in Mumbai but I was particular about shooting it in real locations to give it that authentic feel. It wasn’t easy because the people there have not seen many film shoots. So often, we got permission to shoot in a local’s house if Sonakshi, Arjun and Manoj promised to pose for pictures with them,” said director Sharma.

As far as barters go, this was a strange one but as Kapoor puts it, it was the least they could do if residents found a Bollywood crew dancing on their roof as early as 6am.

The cast and crew of Tevar are aware that their story is not a novel one, but they insist they have given it a new treatment. It’s a remake of Telugu blockbuster Okkadu, starring Mahesh Babu.

“I wasn’t too keen to make a remake as my first film. But I found its premise and story interesting. So we worked on the original and made it contemporary so that it appeals to a broader audience… Tevar is about ordinary people stuck in extraordinary situations,” said Sharma.

Such films about large-hearted heroes from rustic villages rarely curry favour with the critics, a point that they have come to terms with.

“Reviews are a double-edge sword. I have always maintained that a reviewer should review the film keeping the audience in mind. They should understand that the pan-Indian audience loves a masala film. You have a right to your opinions, but it should come from an unbiased place,” said Kapoor. He added that while it’s romantic to be inspired by European and American cinema, we shouldn’t forget what Indians ultimately enjoy.

“Our audience is rooted in their tastes of entertainment. Otherwise, song and dance would have left our country and our films a long time ago. Indians by nature enjoy that format of masala films, that’s why they put up the best box-office numbers. While I enjoy doing a Finding Fanny, I realise that it’s for a niche audience,” said Kapoor. The queen of masala films Sonakshi Sinha (Rowdy Rathore, the Dabangg series, Son Of Sardar and R … Rajkumar) couldn’t agree more.

“Every critic has a right to opinion. But when you see any sport — say cricket — its commentators are persons who have played the sport. But some critics have never been on a film set or made a film,” said Sinha. But she isn’t willing to dwell on the negatives.

“It’s great to be pursued by men… I guess it’s my tevar that attracts them,” said Sinha with a laugh.