I chase my characters, not my actors: Abhishek

Filmmaker Abhishek Kapoor successfully launched Farhan Akhtar and Sushant Singh Rajput as actors. Now, the director’s next movie Kedarnath will mark actors Saif Ali Khan and Amrita Singh’s daughter, Sara Ali Khan’s debut.

Kapoor says, “Newcomers have infectious energy and unpredictability, and [they] give the audience a surprise [element]. It’s not that I mind working with established actors provided that they are as excited about portraying the characters that I would like to see brought to life. I can only chase my characters, not my actors. Sometimes it is not possible to do both.”

Kapoor says that he has gone through his share of struggles and has understood that it does not matter whether you start as an ‘insider’ or as an ‘outsider’. “What matters is who you are and what you bring to the table regarding your creativity and your work ethic.” He adds that his journey to make films was his own choice.

Being one to refrain from belonging to any camp, Kapoor says, “When I was growing up, my mother’s brother, actor Jeetendra was a major Hindi movie star, and we do know a lot of people from the movie business. But as with everyone, the decision to be in films and my journey in a film was my own, and has been a fairly challenging one, too.” He goes on, “Knowing people is not an automatic all-access pass to success. Very early on, I saw a lot of failures, so any sense of entitlement that I may have had about my place in the business was quickly knocked out of me.”

The flash floods that wrought death and destruction in the Hindu pilgrim destination Kedarnath in 2013 left an indelible impact on Kapoor, who has directed movies like Kai Po Che! (2013) and Fitoor (2016). “The incident of the floods in 2013 also could not leave my mind, due to the stories that came out of it — devastating and remarkable in equal measure. I had to go ahead and develop a film set against that backdrop. I believe it is one of the most important stories I can tell for modern India,” Kapoor said, without divulging anything more on the movie.

Newcomers have an infectious energy and unpredictability, and [they] give the audience a surprise [element]

ABHISHEK KAPOOR FILMMAKER

Abhishek Kapoor’s upcoming movie will see actors Saif Ali Khan and Amrita Singh’s daughter, Sara Ali Khan, making her debut