Kareena Kapoor: 'I am a spontaneous actor but when you work with Aamir Khan you have to be prepared'

Laal Singh Chaddha  reunites  Kareena Kapoor Khan with her 3 Idiots (2009), and Talaash (2012) co-star Aamir Khan after a decade. In the remake of 1994 Hollywood’s top grosser and enormously successful Tom Hanks-starrer  Forrest Gump , Kareena portrays Jenny’s ‘messed up’ character, as Rupa. Looking stunning in a pastel lemon yellow co-ords set, the actress, known for speaking her mind, opens up on the joy of working with Aamir on their third outing, shooting during pregnancy, failing Bollywood business at the box office, her foray into OTT and working with Sujoy Ghosh, and Hansal Mehta, turning producer, clashing with Akshay Kumar’s Raksha Bandhan and much more.

Excerpts from the interview:

Your upcoming film Laal Singh Chaddha is an official adaptation of Hollywood’s hugely successful_Forrest Gump_ which is a very heart-warming film. What was that world like?

Yes, Forrest Gump is very uplifting, very heart-warming. It is a kind of a film that makes you feel good but still root for the love of ‘Forrest’ and ‘Jenny’ the way it was in the original. It is very high on emotions because technically it is a love story (smiles) and that is the way we have shot it also. It is an original adaptation and that is the way Aamir has made it and who better to play ‘Forrest’ but Aamir because Aamir has never been Aamir in his films, he has always transformed himself just like that he has transformed himself into ‘Laal Singh’. I think it is very brave of him to do the film at this point of his career. It is a very good film, people are really going to like it.

How did you react when you were offered the film? It has been quite some time now since you all started working on the film …

Yaa, of course, because we got stuck in the pandemic for three years, we couldn’t shoot for almost a year-and-a-half and then there was a lot of back and forth, and then I got pregnant but we still shot when I was pregnant and that was fine. But, of course, when I was offered I was elated. It’s such a beautiful film, who wouldn’t want to be a part of Forrest Gump. But they insisted that you hear the script and at the end of the narration I was howling, I was crying. I was like, ‘Oh my god, the way you have adapted it and the way Advait (Chandan, Director) and Atul (Kulkarni) have written the script it is absolutely brilliant’. I am happy and honoured that Aamir thought of me to play this part. If you see Jenny’s part, it is very internal, very emotional; you need someone who has been a very seasoned and experienced actor to go through this gamut of emotions. But Aamir wanted to be sure about it. He wanted me to read some scenes; I have never done something like this. But I am very happy that he did this because then he became 100 per cent sure that I was his Rupa.

You said that your younger son Jeh is very much part of Laal Singh Chaddha in a way since you were pregnant with him while shooting …

Ya ya, we shot 25 to 30 percent of the film when I was five months pregnant. It was the second lockdown but it worked out well and you can’t tell that I am pregnant. I am playing the younger part so we have done a lot of de-aging because I am supposed to be 18 years old, they start the journey when they are 18 and then you kind of see them in the end. So we were shooting only the younger portions when I was pregnant. So, yes, Jeh is starring in the movie indirectly.

At that time we remember Aamir saying in a video – ‘While the rest of the world was dealing with Corona we were dealing with Corona and Kareena who is the heroi****ne of the film, she got pregnant, and another complication so we are like one more gust of wind has pushed us in another direction…’

Ya, I remember (laughs), but Aamir was so brave about it, he was so cool about it and the fact is that today everybody is getting inspired that one can work. I mean, of course, one can work when pregnant. Look at Alia (Bhatt). She is also setting such a big example and she is one of the biggest stars in the country today. It’s great that she is standing for that. Being a working woman, being a working mother, it is giving the most positive message out there.

Both you and Aamir have done a couple of memorable films together like 3 Idiots and Talaash, how was it working together after so many years?

I have known Aamir for 30 years now. I have known him since Karisma did Andaz Apna Apna. I was 12 then and I am going to be 42 this year. He has worked with my sister and now he has worked with me and that says so much about his prolific career. I have always looked up to him and I wished one day I would work with Aamir Khan and we have done some outstanding work together. I am hoping that Laal would be added to the list of Talaash and 3 Idiots.

Forrest Gump’s Jenny plays life close to the edge, it is a kind of messed up and flawed character, how difficult was it for you to play this challenging part?

It was lovely. I loved playing her and the fact is that for me it is a very different role because you are going to see that side of somebody who is so messed up and like you said flawed. How they have adapted it, it is very beautiful and that’s what makes you cry for her at the end. You root for the fact wishing that ‘Laal’ and ‘Rupa’ would be together. That is what I loved about the film. The makers have done their best. ‘Rupa’ is the soul of the film and that is the way I have played the character. I think people will really like me in the film. You love Rupa for the fact that she is so messed up but yet so emotional, yet so nice, your heart goes out to her. I would sometimes cry on my own just thinking of the way her life has panned out.

Now I am not like Aamir, I don’t follow any particular process in prepping up for my role, I am more spontaneous but when you work with Aamir you need to be prepared because he likes to go through workshops, he is more of a method actor. He wants to be sure from the art department, to the lighting, to the camera department to the artistes in the scene …everyone is on the same page and that makes everything easy because you are so prepared, you are doing so many readings and you are ready for the shot.

Would you like to talk a bit about how the film has been adapted to Indian sensibilities?

They have tweaked just a little bit to the characters but overall it is an original adaptation so everything else remains the same because the writers and Paramount are on board so it is pretty much like we have stuck to the original.

The film was shot in several locations, so how challenging was that?

For Aamir it was most challenging because he had his entire run …that Forrest’s run, Laal Singh’s all over across India. They have shot in many different places, so for him it was really taxing but for me it was like they were waiting to shoot in Kargil during Covid and they couldn’t. So, my shoot was mainly in Delhi, Amritsar and Chandigarh. So that was pretty much easy because Jenny obviously comes in parts in the film, she comes into his life through different stages. But it was very stressful for Aamir but I am happy that he finally managed to pull it through during Covid because going to different places during the lockdown was very difficult.

You must have been really anxious since you didn’t have any release in the last two years, what was the feeling like?

Covid taught us a lot, it was a great leveller, and we were all at home. No one was working, there was a lot of unpredictability, nobody knew what was going to happen and the industry is still kind of gaining steam, we are still trying to figure out what is happening. A lot of lives have been affected, a lot of things have changed, a lot of people have lost their jobs, so much has happened but slowly and steadily things are picking up and I hope for Advait and Aamir this film does well because they have worked really hard. For three years they have patiently waited for the release of the film. What I realised in these difficult times is that family is most important and being at home there are no stars. No one knows what will happen, life is so unpredictable. One should work, keep their family close because anything can happen anytime.

This brings us to the film business which has become much more unpredictable post pandemic. The filmmakers today feel that one can’t just predict what even a big star film will draw at the box office on the first day of the film’s release. How do you look at the current scenario?

Today it is not about stars, it is all about the content you are giving the audience. If your film is good it will work. It is as simple as that. Today there are no stars, we are all actors, we are trying to figure out and do good work and I think that is a good intention when we are all trying to do the best we can and there is no guarantee for anything. There is guarantee only for content when you make a good film, or a good show, or a good film on OTT, people will watch it and I feel Laal Singh is a good film. People will go for it … it might pick up slowly, slowly but people will go and watch it.

You are foraying into OTT with a murder mystery with Sujoy Ghosh and you are also turning producer. Tell us something about these projects and what has changed in terms of films that you will sign going forward?

My experience with Sujoy has been unbelievable. We have finally come together for a movie based on The Devotion of Suspect X for Netflix. I am just too happy that I got this opportunity to work with actors like Jaideep Ahlawat and Vijay Varma in Sujoy’s film because they come from a different school of acting and the cast has added freshness to it. I am so happy that it will be released at the end of the year and Hansal’s film which I am producing and also acting in will start next. That is also something I am looking forward to because I am collaborating with Ekta (Kapoor) but I am just like a creative producer on it. I don’t want to really produce movies, I don’t know anything about production, I just want to be in front of the camera. Well, I can give my inputs but let’s see how it goes; it is going to be for the first time (Laughs).

So, now things will get a bit different in terms of just the way how I look at roles differently, do things that I have not done, work with directors I have not worked with whether it is Advait, Sujoy, Hansal…I have never worked with these kinds of directors. I want to work with people who add a new dimension to me. So when I am foraying into OTT it is with Sujoy because I have never worked with him before. I have never worked with Jaideep and Vijay, the entire gamut is different, so when you get thrown into that it brings a different kind of freshness to the entire project.

Laal Singh Chaddha is clashing with one of your favourite co-stars Akshay Kumar’s film Raksha Bandhan  …

Oh, is it? I didn’t even know. That’s great. I love Akshay, he is my darling friend and I love working with him. My last film Good Newwz was with him just before the pandemic. I wish him nothing but the best for everything that he does; he knows how much I love him.

There has been a lot of negativity surrounding Bollywood for some time now. How would you react to it, does that bother you?

Now if social media is there then all this is going to be part of it. You cannot stop it. People are more vociferous now, they are talking and they are commenting. They can say a lot of things but I don’t think people get affected by that. You are saying things but stars are living their life; you all are interested so you all are talking and commenting, it doesn’t matter to anybody.

Would you call Laal Singh as one of the most difficult films of your career?

No, but I would say it was emotionally draining because it is a very internalised performance so sometimes when you have to internalise things it gets more traumatic because everything about ‘Rupa’ is inside. You see everything in her eyes, so that is more difficult than performing with action and dialogues. When you have to be silent and just keep it in, it is far more difficult. So I would say it has been something that I enjoyed playing and I am so happy that I got this opportunity. It is such an iconic character.

What does Saif feel about Laal Singh and you playing Jenny’s Rupa?

Saif hasn’t seen the film but he is super excited about the fact that Aamir and I are part of it. He feels the casting is perfect. He said he doesn’t see anyone better than you and Aamir in Forrest…Now we are just hoping for the best.

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.

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