"Either it has to be a film with Aamir Khan or it has to be a new story altogether to get your film noticed" - Rajat Kapoor 
By IndiaFM News Bureau, May 11, 2007 - 03:33 IST
He started his innings in Bollywood playing Preity Zinta's uncle in Dil Chahta Hai. And with films like Monsoon Wedding and Corporate, Rajat Kapoor showed off his acting prowess better than ever.
Time for some Bheja Fry
As we said, he keeps excelling with every new film of his. Take for instance his latest film Bheja Fry. The talented actor was seen playing the role of an arrogant music company executive who holds talent dinners with his friends which isn't appreciated by his wife. For Rajat it was unbelievable that a film with a small budget and a new director would create such a stir at the box-office “We thought it would be ok. It's a small film without any big star like Vinay, Ranvir, Sarika and Milind. I thought maybe the word of mouth will help a little bit. But none of us expected it to be as big as this. I am still flabbergasted. It's still not sinking in that the film has actually crossed an income of 10 crores”.
So does that mean that the film will be a boost in making a difference for first time directors with shoe string budgets “The film's success will help a lot of independent cinema. It will change the mindset that the producers have. It will open a lot of doors for first time filmmakers. Because suddenly it's become clear that there is no point making a four or five crore B grade Bollywood film. Nobody is really interested in it anymore. Either it has to be a film with a superstar like Aamir Khan then it does not matter if it is good or bad. Or it has to be a new story all together.”
Donning the director's hat
Well many of you might not know that this man's talent is not only limited to acting. The gifted actor has already directed films like Raghu Romeo and Mixed Doubles. The director is here to tell us more. “The film is called Mithya which means a lie. It's a story about a struggling actor played by Ranvir who is desperately looking for a role. He gets involved with gangsters. After which his life goes for a complete turn around. The film is funny. But it's much darker than any of my other films.” With an interesting storyline who would be the actors “Ranvir Shorey is playing the lead supported by Neha Dhupia, Naseer saab who plays the gangster, Saurabh Shukla, Vinay Pathak and Harsh Chaya.”
But doesn't he think that in an ensemble of actors who are known to do non commercial cinema where does Neha Dhupia fit in. Rajat is quick to defend “It doesn't matter if the actor is commercial or non commercial. Saif Ali Khan is a commercial actor but I would love to work with him. It's been wonderful working with Neha and I am very fond of her. In fact we are doing another film together which Saurabh Shukla is directing.”
Acting all the way
Now that the actor is all set to come up with his next directorial, lets ask him what he prefers acting or directing “Directing is what I always wanted to do, but acting is great fun, I love it.” And what would be his upcoming films “I am doing a film called Khoya Khoya Chand where I am playing a superstar of the 60's. He is about 40 and has been a superstar for a long time. His career is kind of started to decline and he is trying to hold on to it.” How was his experience working with the noted director of the film Sudhir Mishra “I have known him for many many years through films that we have worked on. And I think Saurabh was the one who pushed my name to him, because Saurabh somehow had a lot of faith in my acting. Sudhir wasn't very sure about my acting”, laughs off Kapoor.
And what would be the other films that he is doing “I just shot a film with Satish Kaushik called Tere Sang. It was great fun. It's a love story. I play the girl's father in the film. I did a Bengali film which might be releasing soon. And I am doing Saurabh Shukla's next.”
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"Arrogant Bastards invite fools for dinner" – Rajat Kapoor
