Mohan Kapur, who will appear in this week’s release, IIZ: Indian Institute Of Zombies, will complete 30 years as a film actor later this year. His debut venture, Beqabu, was released in cinemas on October 11, 1996, where he was seen in the role of an antagonist. In an exclusive interview with Bollywood Hungama, Mohan Kapur went down memory lane and opened up on fascinating trivia about Beqabu and a lot more.
Mohan Kapur began by saying, “People still remember me for the TV show, Saanp Seedi. That was 33 years ago. I was getting a lot of film offers at that time. N Chandra was a big name and he had come on my show. I also used to work as an advertising professional. One day, I was at work when he called me and asked me to meet him. His office was next to the office of Vadilal Ice Cream, one of our clients, in Juhu.”
Mohan continued, “I met him and he offered me Beqabu. I agreed to do the film, but before leaving, I asked him what made him choose me. He remarked that he liked the fact that I was hosting Saanp Seedi without a script. A lot of people don’t know that it had a five-camera setup. For the first time in India, something of this sort was attempted. The entire episode would be shot in one take. Everything that I was blurting out of my mouth was mine as there was no script. I had to take charge if something would go wrong and if someone talked back to me. In fact, the participants were briefed, ‘Tum log Mohan Kapur ki band baja do as he’s very good at one-upmanship. He won’t mind it as he’s a cool guy’ (laughs)!”
Mohan Kapur further said, “Hence, I had no clue who was going to say what. Being natural was the fun of the show. N Chandra remarked, ‘When I saw you operating without a script, I wondered, ‘Agar yeh script ke bina kaam kar raha hai, toh yeh toh kamaal ka banda hai, yaar. Aur agar yeh script ke saath kar raha hai aur woh bhi itna naturally, toh bhi yeh kamaal ka banda hai, yaar! In both scenarios, tu mere kaam ka aadmi hai’.”
Mohan Kapur then raised laughs as he revealed, “Those were the days when Die Hard was released. The character of Alan Rickman, the suited, booted corporate type antagonist, had become very famous. I was also suited-booted in Saanp Seedi. So, N Chandra told me that he visualized me as Alan in Beqabu. The first day of my shoot was held at Anand Hall near ISKCON. I was in my vanity van when a man came in and said, ‘Sir, aapka dress’. Firstly, I didn’t know that in the film industry, a dress does not necessarily mean a lady’s outfit! It means a costume. Once I understood, I looked at my ‘dress’ and it was a Pathaan suit. I told him he was mistaken, as I was supposed to wear a suit. I had given my measurements as well. But the costume person insisted that the Pathaan suit was for me.”
Mohan continued, “I was baffled. I met Chandra sir and explained to him the situation. He revealed, ‘Arre haan. Maine tera character badal diya hai’! I asked, ‘Matlab?’. He replied, ‘Now your character is a Pathaan terrorist’. I asked for the reason and he said, ‘Ab yeh character zyada khunkhar lagega’!”
Mohan Kapur also said, “By then, they had already been shooting with Sanjay Kapoor, Amrish Puri, Dilip Prabhavalkar ji and others. He narrated to me that when Amrish ji learned that I was playing the role, he came up with the name for my character – Zanjhar Singh. He told Chandra ji, ‘Uske character ko koi ganda sa, dangerous sa naam do, Zanjhar Singh jaisa’! I feel blessed that the great Amrish Puri did the naamkaran of my first character (smiles).”
Mohan admitted that it took him a while to come to terms with the workings of the Hindi film industry, “Back then, filmmakers didn’t care much about logic, while making typical commercial films. But I came from an advertising background. We did everything based on logic. I would ask Chandra ji, ‘Why is this happening in the scene?’. He would tell me, ‘Tera logic ghar pe chhod ke aa. This is a Hindi film. There’s no need for logic’. I used to go to my vanity van and wonder what I had gotten into (laughs). I then put my trust in him and brought whatever I could bring to the table.”
However, his performance impressed the makers. Mohan said, “There was a parallel track of villains from Mamta Kulkarni’s side, while I was the villain from Sanjay Kapoor’s side. The track of Mamta’s villains was also prominent. He saves her from them and that’s how they come together. It so happened that producer Boney Kapoor saw the rushes from the first schedule. He told Chandra ji, ‘Yeh ladka (Mohan Kapur) accha hai. Iska kaam badhate hai’. So, they nearly removed all the villains from Mamta’s side, like Deep Dhillon and two other actors. Only Zanjhar Singh remained as the sole antagonist. So, you’ll realize that there’s a continuity break in the film. In one scene, Mamta Kulkarni comes to meet Sanjay Kapoor and her clothes are dishevelled while she’s bleeding from her mouth, as if she had been assaulted. But no explanation is given as to who assaulted her and why!”
Mohan Kapur clarified, “This is what I’ve been told. It feels heartening that they felt that I was fit enough to carry the entire negative role for his brother’s launch.”
More Pages: Beqabu Box Office Collection
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