Dubai-bred Bollywood hopeful Akhil Kapur can easily boast that he's the nephew of legendary actor Vinod Khanna and that he has his actor cousins Akshaye and Rahul Khanna on speed-dial. Nonetheless, snagging his first acting project was a constant struggle. Long waits to meet producers and directors, several rounds of screen tests and rejections were all in a day's work for this English College Dubai alumnus. Now, he's got his break.
"It's all about being at the right time at the right place. Yes, it makes a difference to have a family behind you since the whole industry runs on names, ties and family connection. But I got this offer through merit, hard work and several ups and downs," said Kapur over the phone from Mumbai.
The 25-year-old Dubai-raised Indian expatriate, who moved to Mumbai two years ago, will begin shooting for his debut project Tootak Tootak Tootiya next month. The romantic comedy also has popular actor Govinda's daughter Narmada Ahuja playing his love interest.
"It's a full-on entertainer. Currently I am going for diction and dancing classes for three hours, five days a week. I am not really a dancer, so I am trying to improve my dancing style every day," said Kapur, whose family runs a garment manufacturing business in Dubai.
"My parents have always supported me when it came to pursuing my dreams. Initially, I was studying sports medicine in the US when I took a brief course in filmmaking in New York. From then on, I was hooked to it," said Kapur. Like all Bollywood success stories, Kapur also served his time working as assistant director in films such as director Reema Kagti's Honeymoon Travels Pvt Ltd and trailing his cousin Akshaye during his shoots.
"I didn't really know how Bollywood worked. So directing at that point made sense because it helped me understand the system better," he added.
"If I get an audition offer, I always run it by Akshaye. I have seen him work and he is extremely talented. It's good to know that they are around. Akshaye even let me trail him for his shoots so that I understand the industry better — that really helped."
