EXCLUSIVE | 'Mistry' actor Ram Kapoor on his working hours amid Deepika Padukone's shift demand: 'When I was doing TV, I said I would only work for eight hours because...'

When the American series Monk has been adapted for the Indian palette, you need an actor who has the nuances to replicate what has already been done eight times over. Ram Kapoor joyfully fits the bill. And in an exclusive interview with Firstpost, the actor spoke about the responses he has been receiving so far, how he prepped for the complex character, and his working hours during television.

Edited excerpts from the interview

I want to start by asking you that I have really enjoyed the show and what I could sense is that you are clearly having a ball playing Armaan Mistry. So what was your prep like?

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First of all, thank you for the compliment. Yes, I tried to have as much fun as possible with all the work that I do. It’s important for me. Even all actors in the beginning, when they’re trying to make a name for themselves at that time, sometimes work is not fun because you have to take on everything that you get, because it’s such a difficult profession that you don’t know when your next job is going to come. So you have to keep taking work to get money and everything. And when you finally reach a level like me where you want to work by choice, you want to do only the a particular kind of work with the kind of people you want to work with.

Then you’re very lucky, like me, then it’s very important that jo bhi karo, you must have fun. Because if you are lucky enough to reach that level in your profession and still you’re not having fun, then what are you doing. So it’s very nice for me when people like you, you’re a journalist, you’re a professional, you know what you’re saying, but people like you comment on stuff like this, that you are having a blast, I love that because that is what I want people to realise. So thank you for pointing that out. Now coming to your question, how did I prepare? I have a detailed process of which I prepare for a role. It depends.

See, I went to study acting abroad, as you know. So I do an internalised approach where I run the point is, I try and get inside myself, inside my head and instead of focussing on things like the OCD, of focussing on the disease, instead of focussing on the sickness, I try to focus on what happened because of which he has reached where he has reached. So what I mean is, his wife died in front of his eyes and that’s why the trauma affected his mind. So I try to focus on that. I tried and felt that. So if you feel his trauma and you feel his pain, then whatever happens after that, I let it happen. Everyone has their own process and there’s no right and there’s no wrong. That’s what works for me.

You had OCD in Humshakals as well. Now, these two are completely different characters, but was the prep for that one used in this one?

No, no, no, that was all Sajid Khan. I did Humshakals only relying on Sajid Khan. You know, I said, ‘I don’t know what this role is, but you tell me what it is and I’ll do it.’ There was no prep. Sajid is very old friend of mine. I’ve known him for 30 years. So I just did what he said. This was very different. This is a role where trauma is concerned and a lot of OCD. I met with people with OCDs, doctors who deal with patients. I had sessions with them. I watched a lots of videos of OCD patients, each case is unique, and I saw what they do, when they do all of that. Once I did my research, once I understood everything, when it was trying to start building the character. At that time, I did not focus on the OCD, I only focussed on the trauma. I focussed on the pain, not the sickness.

Monk was a show that lasted for eight years and seven seasons. Now, I am absolutely game if Mistry goes as far, but do you feel the audience has the patience if they can watch a series for as many as seven seasons? Because it has never happened in India before..

Maybe on OTT this has never happened, but on television it has very much happened. When I started TV soon, Kyunki Saas Bhi Kabhi Bahu thi and Kahaani Ghar Ghar Ki lasted for eight years. So, I think it’s not about audiences having patients. It’s about if you’re giving them something that they really like, if you’re giving them a character they really like, and then they want it all the time. In fact, I’m so lucky. I left left television 13 years back. Bade Achche Lagte Hain was there. Still today, people say they want to see that show. I had a chance to still do that show, there were people who still wanted it. So I’m saying that if you give them something that they really like, and if it’s good, I don’t think patience is an issue, then they want it as much as they can get it.

But whether this will go that many seasons now, that is something that Hotstar will decide because today is a very different market. It’s very competitive. There’s a lot of choices. There’s so many channels, so much software, so many programs. And then there are budgeting issues. It’s a different world right now. So how many seasons have happened and all that is something that Hotstar will decide? And I guess time will tell. I’m not the kind of actor who likes to focus too much in the future. I like to concentrate on the present. I don’t live too much in the past or the future. Right now, I so happy that it has been received so well. The fact that it has been liked so much is in for me because this is what we live for.. Now I’m enjoying this moment. I’m really enjoying because with all the controversy that happened has happened. So after all of that, in spite of all of that, the fact that it’s been liked so much is very special, very special for me.

And I want to enjoy every single moment of this. I’m getting I’m getting lot of comments and messages and calls from actors, from people of the industry, from fans, and especially from press people. A lot of press people are calling me. Press people, I have a lot of respect for, especially the people who I have known for 25 years. They are calling me and praising me for Mistry. This is what an actor lives for. You know, when people who you respect call you and say, boss, you are awesome,

You have dabbled with television, films, OTT, you have been working for more than 25 years now and today we are talking about work-life balance. Do you feel you now have the position to put your foot down and say that you can only work for eight hours a day because you need time with your family, you need to rejuvenate yourself. What would you like to say on that?

Once you have achieved success in showbiz, whether as a star, as an actor, and people want to work with you, then, yes, you are in a position to choose how many hours you want to work. I have been in that position for many years, even when I was doing TV, I used to decide how many hours I want to work. So I’ve been lucky. Anybody who reaches a level where he doesn’t have to find work is in that position to choose how many hours he or she wants to work. However, most of us actors, myself, of course, and I know a lot of my colleagues, we know that when we sign on a project, we have to do that project to the best that we can, because that’s what it’s all about.

When I was doing television, I said I would only work eight hours a day because television was nonstop, there were no seasons. It was every single day of every single month for three years, four years, five years. But now, when I’m doing a film, I’m doing an OTT show, like for Mistry, there were times I was working 14 hours a day 16 hours a day. But it was only for four months. I’m very lucky that I’m getting to do whatever I want to do, then I don’t want to restrict myself. I have no reason to complain. This industry is very challenging. The hours are definitely too long. What they are saying, they are right in their own thinking, I’m only saying that I feel very lucky, very blessed, that I have achieved so much in this line, which is very difficult. And that is why I don’t choose to complain about anything. I just want to stay in a state of happiness where I know how lucky I am. So you don’t get into that negative frame of mind of complaining. You know what I’m saying? Yeah. But that’s just for me. It doesn’t mean that I’m right and they are wrong/