Bollywood actor Harshvardhan Kapoor is a crusader without a cape and a rebel with a worthy cause in his vigilante film Bhavesh Joshi Superhero, which opens in the UAE on May 31.
“What drew me to the material is that it’s about a guy in Mumbai — an ordinary guy — who finds himself in extraordinary circumstances and makes choices that not many make… What would happen if a regular buy decided to be a vigilante in Bombay [Mumbai]? It’s such a crazy idea,” said Kapoor in an interview over the phone.
The actor, 27, predicts that this Vikramaditya Motwane-directed neo noir action drama will introduce Indian audiences to a type of character often seen in graphic novels in the West. Think Batman, Superman and Wonderwoman, whose popularity stemmed from comic books.
But most importantly, which actor in his right mind could resist the idea of walking around the streets of Mumbai in a mask as a self-anointed vigilante?
“There’s something so cool about that,” said Kapoor, who was born into a family of actors.
His father is veteran Anil Kapoor, while his sisters Sonam and Rhea are into acting and film production. But Kapoor is determined not to walk the well-trodden path when it comes to Bollywood. His debut film Mirzya, directed by Rakeysh Omprakash Mehra, was a box-office failure of epic proportions, but he doesn’t disown his debut film or discredit it. He calls it a creative experiment and his only gripe is that the movie wasn’t watched by many people.
“So far I have only worked with directors that I have hero-worshipped. I saw Rang De Basanti [Mehra’s iconic blockbuster] when I was 16 and his Delhi-6 when I was 19. And when I saw Vikramaditya Motwane’s Udaan, I felt that I just wanted to work with him … These are the kind of films that I wanted to do,” said Kapoor.
‘Be the change in Indian cinema that you want to see’ is his motto. But going down the unconventional path isn’t easy, a fact that Kapoor painfully learnt after the debacle of Mirzya, which was touted as a Hindi Shakespearean-style love story.
“What we were trying to do was to re-invent the musical and its style. When you try to do something different, experimental and radical, you must be prepared for what happens next … Mirzya was wonderfully off-beat, but it was also very polarising,” said Kapoor.
But its failure didn’t deter him from taking on Bhavesh Joshi, which isn’t your traditional larger-than-life hero drama. For Kapoor, the prospect of working with directors that he admired trumped playing safe. Kapoor, who studied writing for films for more than four years in the US, describes Bhavesh Joshi’s director as a “true genius”.
“He’s an editor by nature who sees a film in his head and knows exactly what he wants. His style is a lot like director David Fincher [The Social Network] … He makes you look like a better actor than you actually are,” said Kapoor, adding that there’s a conversational style that’s woven into Bhavesh Joshi. The film set in contemporary Mumbai begins like a buddy film, which then morphs into an action thriller spelling a big tonal shift.
To prepare for the role, Kapoor also took some radical decisions. He moved out from his parent’s palatial home in Mumbai, and rented out an apartment with his on-screen best pal, played by Priyanshu Paiyuli, so that they could portray that easy camaraderie between them with conviction.
“I was isolating myself from the family… My concentration was much better. Even after we were done shooting those scenes with Priyanshu, I stayed alone for the rest of the shoot,” said Kapoor.
The actor believes that the spine of the story stems from director Motwane’s personal experiences.
“The film is inspired by Motwane’s run-ins with the system. The problems that he faced in his real life are in this film. It’s a deeply personal film for him,” said Kapoor. The corruption that’s ruining the fabric of Mumbai metropolis is in the spotlight in Bhavesh Joshi.
“Mumbai is such a progressive city and has such great potential, but it’s held back and never fulfils its potential because of the systemic corruption… Because you have lived with those problems for so long, you become immune to it in some ways,” said Kapoor. The film is gloriously anti-establishment and chronicles his battle to weed out corrupt officials from the city.
Kapoor has poured in two years of his life into Bhavesh Joshi, which he describes as Motwane’s “pure blood, sweat and passion project”.
“Bhavesh Joshi isn’t just a film for me… I worked on Mirzya when I was 23 until 25, then I worked on Bhavesh Joshi from 25 to 27. These were defining experiences and character-building exercises in my life. You live with those experiences for the rest of your life. You move on from ex-girlfriends, but you don’t move on from characters. You live with them forever and they become a part of you.”
While he’s aware that he’s a privileged insider to Bollywood with an influential family behind him, he’s optimistic about taking chances. While it pains him to realise that Mirzya did not come together or have that desired emotional impact, he still admires strands of it.
“Mirzya was my learning curve. I learnt that writing is crucial to leave an emotional impact and it doesn’t [matter] how beautiful the rest of the elements are… But I am the new generation of actors and if I don’t do films like that, then who will? I can always come out and say that I have tried something new and that I gave it my all.”
For Kapoor, each film is make or break — there’s no middle-path.
“Some people approach work as work, but I approach it like life and death. Taking it too seriously has its pitfalls… But as a creative person and an artist, you can never focus on the end result. You need to enjoy the process. With Bhavesh Joshi, I am trying something new and different.”
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Bhavesh Joshi Superhero is out in the UAE on May 31.
QUOTE/UNQUOTE:
“I don’t believe in moving on. I don’t understand the concept of it. What does it even mean? I gave Mirzya three years of my life and it’s a part of my existence. I don’t do this for fame or money. If I wanted fame or money, I would have done a different kind of film,” said Harshvardhan Kapoor when asked if he has moved on from his debut film’s colossal failure.
“The question is do you want to use your privilege and your connections to be a huge movie star or do you want to try and commit to something larger? It is a choice I made quite early in my career,” said Kapoor on his unconventional movie choices.