Hindustan Times (Gurugram) - Hindustan Times (Gurugram) - City
‘I have two unique, flawed artworks to look back on’
Actor Harshvardhan Kapoor isn’t fazed by back-to-back failures at the box office, and says that he is happy with the fact that he walked the path less travelled.
“My ambition has always been to do films I would personally like to watch... Mirzya (2016) attempted to do something new with the Indian romantic musical [genre], while Bhavesh Joshi Superhero, to a certain extent, managed to be an important [film] in the Indian superhero genre,” says Harshvardhan.
The actor says that had these films sold more tickets, it would have been better for everyone, “but I can sleep well knowing that I followed through with my conviction and took the chance and did the stuff that I believed in... and have two unique works of art, be it flawed, to look back on”.
Harshvardhan, who is the son of actor-producer Anil Kapoor, feels that it is important to widen your fan base and have more people watch your work. “My films were not very commercial in nature per se. They didn’t reach out to a wider audience. And I want to reach those people, but in my own way [by] doing the stuff that I want to do... and in time, that will happen,” he says.
His confidence about his choices has already started to get the thumbs up on an online streaming platform, where Bhavesh Joshi Superhero is getting a great response.
“It has been overwhelming. I knew when the film didn’t reach out theatrically that digital could potentially work well, because, even when it came out, the few people who saw it had some really positive things to say,” he says, and adds, “But I didn’t expect this kind of buzz and positivity. I kind of feel that the film released on August 16 when it dropped on [the] digital [platform] and not on June 1 [when it released in cinemas].”
Breaking down the reason behind the failure of Bhavesh Joshi Superhero in theatres, Harshvardhan says, “I think it is definitely a film that was visually conceptualised for the big screen. Having said that, I feel we did leave really good parts of the film on the editing table due to pace and length issues. Maybe a six 30-minuteepisode outlay would’ve been nice. Also it would have been amazingly received straight away and become what we wanted it to — and could have had sequels. I think theatrically we failed with the marketing aspect.”
But he has no regrets. “I’m happy knowing that we at least tried to reach out theatrically. My whole trip as an actor is to try to give our audiences new, innovative material so I can sleep well at night knowing we tried.”
Harshvardhan will next be seen in the biopic of Olympic Gold medallist Abhinav Bindra. “It will start shortly. We are still working on the Hindi dialogue draft and the script,” he says.
This film, Harshvardhan says, depend on a lot of factors for proper preparation. “[The prep will include] lots of shooting practice, lot of time spent with Abhinav, many script-readings, look-test, character-building workshops, and reading sessions with co-actors,” says the actor.