Page 116 - July 2018 Magazine

ranbir kapoor:

actors sHould be real, like

salman kHan and sanjay dutt

iving in the make-belief world of movies can be tricky but actor Ranbir
Kapoor said the way to navigate is by being absolutely real in front of
Lthe audience, like Salman Khan and Sanjay Dutt.
Khan and Dutt, both close friends, have been in the industry for more than
25 years. The actors, however, have also courted controversies.
Asked what has he imbibed from their lives as an actor and as a person,
Kapoor said he learnt the ability to be real, come what may.
“With Salman sir and Sanju sir, who are such loved superstars, it is very
important to be who you are,
irrespective of doing anything right
or wrong. They are two actors
who really are who they are. They
probably made mistakes in their
lives and probably paid a price for
it.
“But you know who they are as
people and I think that’s what is
important. You cannot manipulate
an audience, you cannot live a
PR filled life or try to be someone
you’re not, give impression to
people ‘Oh, I am so great’. You just have to be who you are,” Kapoor told.
The ‘Jagga Jasoos’ actor believes that in the end the audience wants to be
entertained by movies and as an actor, all he wants is people to like him for
his work, which is of utmost importance.
But being real in front of the audience for actors can be tricky and Kapoor
feels it is “way more difficult to be emotionally naked than physically.”
The chance to be emotionally vulnerable came to him with Rajkumar Hirani’s
‘Sanju’, a biopic on Dutt.
“’Sanju’ was such a part where I got so much opportunity. It had so much
in the part, as an actor you get turned on and say ‘wow’. It is hard, but
sometimes you have a cushioned pillow in the form of a filmmaker, Rajkumar
Hirani.
“You feel comforted, there is so much trust, you want to surrender and be
honest to the moment completely,” he said.
When the script -- written by Hirani and Abhijat Joshi -- came to him, every
aspect of Dutt’s life shocked him.
“The Sanjay Dutt you and I know is very different from what you will see
in the film. Someone who is scared, made mistakes, who you’d probably
think is immature, selfish. To understand him from this perspective was new,
endearing and exciting.
“You may have your own opinion about him after you see the film, but it is
an honest portrayal of a very troubled man who has made a lot of mistakes,”
Kapoor said.
‘Sanju’, which features actor Paresh Rawal as Sunil Dutt, is the story of
the ups and downs in the life of the ‘Munnbhai’ star and focuses on the
relationship between him and his father.
For Kapoor, the father-son dynamic hit closer home.
“I really identified with that dynamic between Sanju sir and Sunil sir, because
me and my father have a similar relationship. There is a lot of fear, distance,
admiration, respect and love. We both are actors.

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