“Being ‘Bad’ is the new best for me” â€“ Tusshar Kapoor

By Devansh Patel -

April 9, 2012 - 5:21 PM IST

They say that rom-com specialists should steer well clear of any action genres. Their attempts to cross over can be hazardous. Enter Tusshar Kapoor and the critics shut up! Khakee and Shootout At Lokhandwala proved that the man can shift gears and surprise not only his audiences but reviewers too. And his forthcoming film, the prequel titled Shootout At Wadala will only take his accolades further judging from the preparations the actor is going through right now. Unlike most of Bollywood's squeaky clean heroes, Tusshar takes tough to another level, a level of unpredictability. That's what makes him a complicated character, marked by his earlier movies. Your first impression of Tusshar may come in the form of a guy who talks less and often funny and looking by his biography you may even predict he has lost his mind. To be honest, I've met him several times and if you ask me, his first impression isn't his last. We meet at Cafe Mangi in Bandra for a quick round of an afternoon coffee to talk about the mean streets of Wadala he is about to tread in Shootout at Wadala. Here's the first hand info!

"Being 'Bad' is the new 'Best' for me"

I think being bad is the new best for me. There is a side to me that comes through more naturally even, being bad. My image is very 'rom-com'ish. Maybe there is that angle to my personality that Shootout At Lokhandwala highlighted. That opened doors for me and yes; Shootout At Wadala will have the best of the bad for you to see.

"Martin Scorsese, Guy Ritchie and Quentin Tarantino have dark characters with brilliant humour embedded in them"
I personally think that Lokhandwala was more dreaded a role for me than Wadala is. Shootout At Wadala is more interesting because he is a violent guy with a sense of humour. Martin Scorsese, Guy Ritchie and Quentin Tarantino have dark characters with brilliant humour embedded in them.

"I didn't feel the need to google or find out any extra info about the real life gangster"

The research for my character was done in the pre-production stage while the scripting was going on. I'd love to know a bit more about the role I am playing inspired by a real life character but I trust my director that he must've done full justice to it and so I didn't feel the need to google or find out any extra info about the real life gangster. They didn't have a proper background of this character so we have fictionalised it a bit too.

"We may most likely bring 'Ganpat' back too from Lokhandwala to Wadala"

The thing that shocked me about Shootout At Wadala was the wholesomeness of it. It is also a dark film with lots of action and humour and that's surprising too. Romance is an add-on. I think it'll be the first gangster film that won't cater to a niche audience. It's not only focusing on style but it's focusing on the real commercial content. We may most likely bring 'Ganpat' back too (laughs).

"I'd love to play Michael Corleone's character that Al Pacino played in The Godfather"

My favourite gangster films are Godfather, Godfather 2 and Casino. But if I had to play a character from any of my favourite movies I'd play Al Pacino's Michael Corleone.

"My look in Shootout At Wadala is going to be even more real and rough"

My look in Shootout At Wadala is going to be even more real and rough. It's the real 1970's look and not caricatured. I am trying to go as close as possible to the real life character. I went to the 'Dongri' area with somebody who lives there to get the feel of the surroundings. It motivates you as an individual and you get the sense of how the real person I'm impersonating must've lived like in those settings.