Arjun Kapoor on Ek Villain Returns: ‘It’s not a pure romantic revenge drama, there are a lot of twist and turns’

It’s been ten years since  Arjun Kapoor  began his film career; learning from hits and misses, the actor has been moving from strength to strength. Kapoor debuted with Ishaqzaade (2012), a romantic thriller and went on to experiment with different genres, characters and a variety of roles with 2 States, Gunday, Ki & Ka, Mubarakan, Sandeep Aur Pinky Faraar and Bhoot Police among others. Now, as he says, he is progressing, maturing and navigating a new phase of his career with projects such as Mohit Suri directed upcoming hit franchise Ek Villain Returns (co-starring John Abraham, Disha Patani and Tara Sutaria, slated to release on 29 July), Kuttey, a dark comedy (with Tabu, Radhika Madan, Konkona Sen Sharma, Naseeruddin Shah), and suspense thriller The Ladykiller (co-starring Bhumi Pednekar). Kapoor, in a candid, no-holds barred exclusive interview talks about his “macho” versus “soft, vulnerable” image, working with action hero John Abraham, and armed with a vast knowledge on film business, the actor opens up on North Vs South debate giving a fresh perspective in the current scenario where regional (South) cinema are leaving Hindi films far behind in the competition at the box office.

Excerpts from the interview:

The tagline for  Ek Villain Returns  is ‘Heroes Don’t Exist’. How apt, isn’t that true about our movies now?

Yes, absolutely and that is why that tagline makes a lot of sense and it can be understood and interpreted by people because in society greys are the new black and white and every person in cinema also if you see he or she is allowed to make choices that might not be conventional and accepted in the social norms but they come with a very deep rooted selfish place. No villain considers himself a villain, they also think they are heroes in their own right but society perceives them as villains. So what is a hero, what is a villain is defined by society but people who are doing something in their head for a reason that comes from a deep rooted emotional place and they will never ever think they are doing something wrong but it is about the point of view and that is exactly where cinema has come down. Today you can have that little more open point of view in terms of interpretation, none of us are heroes but inside every hero there is a villain and vice versa. That is where the audience can choose who the villain is and who the hero is at the end of the film.

The 2014 film Ek Villain was a smash hit at the box office, so can one expect the sequel a few notches higher in terms of content, drama, etc?

 If you see the trailer you can see it is taking the film to another level because it is not a pure romantic revenge drama in that sense, there are a lot more twists and turns, there is a lot more in the plot in terms of what each character is bringing. In the first one also there was a slight demarcation about who is who. You knew this is Sidharth’s character, this is Riteish and this is Shraddha, you understood from the trailer that there is a sense of revenge between Sid and Riteish but in this film you can’t really sense that. So we have gone a couple of notches higher and that is the ability that Mohit Suri has. He can take you into the same world, the characters have that evilness, madness and pain because of love. The main thread that ties both the films together is the choices you make because of love, the extent and how far you can go for love without being perceived as villain is the question that you can see as an answer in our film.

You have said that people like you in soft, vulnerable parts as well as macho and slightly masculine roles, so do you want to keep shuffling between the two?

That image of a macho guy is not created by me. I was a macho guy because of the films I did. I was also told that don’t shed your macho image, don’t be anything else but macho and hold on to this space because all your first three films – Ishaqzaade, Gunday, Aurangzeb are in that space. But I felt what is there is to hold on to this, I will do something else and then I can always come back. Then I did 2 States, Ki & Ka and Mubarakan and these were appreciated as much if not more. In fact, my biggest successes have been romantic films whether it is 2 States, or Ki and Ka, or Half Girlfriend for that matter. I have never been so concerned about any image because I don’t think it exists. If you want to play safe you will create an image. But if you have the courage to go out there and fail you will take up challenges which are important as an actor because you take chances and failure is inevitable in this profession. It is somewhere in between that you just find this right chord of doing a bit of everything and enjoy and grow as an actor. I can be a quintessential mainstream macho hero if I want to be but I can also be a guy who is vulnerable enough that he is a reluctant hero in 2 States, he can be a supportive husband to his wife and he can be a confused mumbling jumbling set of twins. And you can also have fun doing Bhoot Police where you don’t have to be insecure about Saif Ali Khan at his amazing timing of comedy. But yes, Ek Villain Returns is a comeback of sorts in that slightly more mainstream, action film which I enjoyed shooting.

How was it sharing screen space with action-hero John Abraham? Both of you have a face-off in the film …

Yes, of course, there is a face-off and that is what the whole film is about, we don’t really like each other. I have had a long association with John. I have been an assistant on his set for Salaam-E-Ishq, then I have been the actor on the film he produced with Nikhil Advani and Bhushan Kumar called Sardar Ka Grandson and now I have acted with him, so life has come a full circle in that sense. There is an ease working with him. Sometimes it is easier to hate each other on screen when you like each other off it because you don’t need to worry too much about what the other person is thinking. He has definitely built an image of an action hero; he has done so well in that intense space for years. He is a very genuine guy, he keeps to himself. I really appreciate that he is a self-made man and he has really survived the ups and downs of this profession and that shows he is a fighter. His experience obviously comes in handy. I have done enough action but it is always better to have somebody who has done more than you because that makes you feel you are safer.

You have had three releases on OTT platform during the pandemic – Sandeep Aur Pinky Faraar, Sardar Ka Grandson and Bhoot Police. Does that make you happy considering your films were being consumed far and wide even in these difficult times?

I look at it in a very simple way. You make films for them to be the tools of entertainment and connecting with the audience. If theatres were closed, the best way for me to reach them is through the digital platform. I also got a lot of respect and I was able to work and entertain people when the world was going through hell. Today you realise that digital platforms are here to stay so I am happy that my films are playing there and even after release also those films will be available. OTT has opened an avenue for me as an actor and I don’t need to be scared about where the film will be consumed as long as they are being consumed. Yes, certain films work better in a theatre. For instance, comedies,  like the recent release Bhool Bhulaiyaa 2 are far more enjoyable in a theatre. I remember watching Stree in a theatre and loving it. Perhaps, I would have enjoyed watching these films sitting at home but not the same amount to understand why the film has done X amount of money. To go and see a film like Ek Villain Returns in a theatre - the twist, the shock, the action, the scale … there is a certain enjoyment. I saw Top Gun in the theatre and I feel that film should not be consumed anywhere else just out of the pure power of the way they have made the film. But then there are certain intimate films that can be very effective viewing on digital. Sandeep Aur Pinky Faraar worked so much on the OTT platform because there was intimacy, you get involved, you like the silences, you can enjoy being in a mood.

Bhoot Police for me was just a release of all the negativity from my life sitting at home. I chose to do the film because I felt doing a horror comedy with Saif would be fun with no agenda. I am just happy that my work is consumed, not to say that I am averse to OTT or theatre.

Now after a long time you are having a theatrical release, are you anxious about the box office numbers?

There is no reference point only for numbers right now, it is so confusing. There is a mystery and it is like coming in blind again which almost feels like a debutant because you don’t know what it is going to be. Nervousness is there during the release of every film and it should be there but this time there is nervous energy in a positive way for me because both, media and audience have reacted well to the trailer. I hope people’s expectations have surpassed and not only been fulfilled then the numbers will take care of themselves because in today’s time to predict numbers is difficult. Even within the industry we are struggling to put perspective to it. If the film falls into place then the numbers too will fall into place.

People from the industry are saying that the film business has become far more unpredictable as you can’t say and predict what opening box office numbers that even big stars will draw…

 That is because a new audience’ mind-set has come into play. People are not stepping out if they have enough at home, it is about exceptional versus average and that is fair. It is also a phase. Lot of work, a lot of films were made during the pandemic but we didn’t know how the audience would be. We are learning as an industry and the next six months will teach us. I see the benefit of this uncertainty paying off in the next three, four, five years because a lot of us as creators will learn and understand and study the audience’ taste. As we say, we need to fail to succeed. One step back for three steps forward is fine.

Considering the current scenario has your choice in script changed? You have two more films coming up – Kuttey and The Lady Killer…

Theatrical releases have just started, Gangubai Kathiawadi is the first film that opened properly some time at the end of February. It did very well. It came at a time when no film had released, so to get Rs eight crore opening and coming at a time when RRR was due for release the film did tremendously well, the film has been loved worldwide. I shot the films that I signed last year, so it is not that I knew what would happen. Today I am in a good place, I can learn in the next two to three months and also with the release of Ek Villain Returns so maybe the choices that I make in the future will come from the realisation of what is going theatrically right. I have not signed any new films yet so I am at ease that the films that I had signed were done from a personal point of view and hopefully they will pan out with the audience.

Lastly, without creating any language barrier, how do you look at the South dominating box office nationwide? Certain makers and actors in the Hindi film industry, too, feel that they make films, especially the mainstream, masala entertainers with great conviction…

It is an amazing scenario because if you take away the language part, Indian cinema is a potpourri of all of this. If you look at Pushpa: The Rise, it is as relatable to somebody sitting in UP or Bihar to somebody sitting in Chennai or Hyderabad, or even the villages. I don’t think there is anything bad coming out of this, it is only good except for speculations and too much noise that only South films are doing better. What the South does is that they make very relatable and mass films at a very big scale. If you look at Hollywood, Avengers is a Hindi film in that sense, they have a very massy appeal to it and they work well here as well. We have to go back to basics and start appreciating our mainstream audiences. We somewhere got lost because we were appealing to the multiplex audiences pre-pandemic and the digital audience post-pandemic. I love the fact that these South films are doing well and it is not only conviction of the directors, it is also actors sitting in Mumbai will realise that you have to believe in the conviction of these films and do them and not look down upon them just because your friends might not be watching them and that is a big starting point to a better mainstream successful films.

Seema Sinha is a Mumbai-based mainstream entertainment journalist who has been covering Bollywood and television industry for over two decades. Her forte is candid tell-all interviews, news reporting and newsbreaks, investigative journalism and more. She believes in dismissing what is gossipy, casual, frivolous and fluff.

Read all the  Latest News ,  Trending News  and  Entertainment News  here. Follow us on  Facebook ,  Twitter  and  Instagram .