Ok Jaanu: Aditya Roy Kapur, Shraddha Kapoor on their chemistry, Mani Ratnam and success

Aditya Roy Kapur and Shraddha Kapoor’s Aashiqui 2 emerged as the first super-hit film of 2013, and the romantic musical drama raked in a huge moolah at the box office. Not just that, it was one of the most profitable films released in the last decade. Three years later, Aditya and Shraddha’s on-screen chemistry will be tested yet again with the Hindi remake of Mani Ratnam’s romantic classic, Ok Kanmani. Both actors refused quite a few films when the offers started pouring in after Aashiqui 2, but they finally gave a nod to Ok Jaanu as they felt that it was a different kind of a love story. While Aashiqui 2 was quite intense, Ok Jaanu seems breezy and light-hearted. As a result, the actors reveal that they didn’t have to try very hard at differentiating the characters. The film sees Aditya and Shraddha as a young couple in a live-in relationship in Mumbai while Naseeruddin Shah and Leela Samson play an older couple, who are their landlords. [caption id=“attachment_3167080” align=“alignleft” width=“380”]  Shraddha Kapoor and Aditya Roy Kapur in a still from the title song of Ok Jaanu. YouTube[/caption] “By virtue of the kind of film it is, OK Jaanu is very different from Aashiqui 2, and that was the reason we did it. We knew that we won’t be repeating ourselves and we will find a new language between both of us. We share a great camaraderie off-screen, we share a sense of humour and crack each other up, so this is a nice film to explore that side of our equation. Like Aashiqui 2, Ok Jaanu is also a love story but it doesn’t deal with the darker and deeper side of love,” says Aditya. “Also”, he continues, “I found the original film very entertaining and felt it was a great opportunity for me to explore that zone. I haven’t done something like this so far in the capacity of the leading man. The film dealt with a lot of issues which is relevant to the youth today without being preachy about it. Mani _sir (_Ratnam) has dealt with it in a very progressive manner." Shraddha chimes in, “But yes, of course, Shaad Ali (director, Ok Jaanu) did want to bring the hit jodi back together. That was definitely an added attraction for us, but he also felt we were right for the roles.” Ever since the trailer of Ok Jaanu released, there have been lot of comparisons made with the original film. Fans have been contrasting the lead pair to Dulquer Salmaan and Nithya Menen from the original. Have Aditya and Shraddha tried to improvise, or have they based their research on what the Ok Kanmani actors have done? “They have done full justice to their role but I have tried to put in my interpretation, the way Shaad saw the character. He has moulded me in the way he felt it made sense to him,” says Aditya, adding, “In a genre like this, you bring in lot of your own personality to the role. This can be tricky as you don’t have the accent or the look to hide behind. We felt the two actors in Ok Kanmani brought in their personality and it would be futile to try and recreate the magic that is between two other individuals. We have to recognise that and bring our own sense of charm and personality.” Shraddha adds, “The banter and conversations in the film is very real. You can relate to it, and it has the Mani Ratnam touch. Those scenes and conversations are very new for me; I haven’t done [something like] that before.” With just three days left for the release, both Aditya and Shraddha are nervous, but they don’t attribute their nervousness to their past failures.  “Actually I am nervous before the release of every film of mine. It is not because of the failure of Rock On 2,” says Shraddha, who didn’t get the opportunity to sing in this film. Aditya’s previous release, Fitoor with Katrina Kaif, was also a box-office disaster. He seems rather calm about it, though: “It hurts when your film flops and at times we are in denial even till Monday. But it’s important for every actor to introspect. It is an insecure profession by nature; you don’t know where your next job is coming from. It can affect your self confidence but it is important to have belief in yourself and if you know you have given your best then that’s all you can do.” “Before Aashiqui 2, both of our films hadn’t done well and now again when we have a release together. When I started out, two of my films bombed and I didn’t take that well, but I have learnt something from that and become little stronger now,” says Shraddha. Her next film is Haseena (the biopic on Dawood Ibrahim’s sister Haseena Parkar) and it’s her first grey character. Aditya, who has so far been seen in romantic films, would love to play a negative role or an antagonist. “I would love to do action films. I grew up watching them. I don’t want to restrict myself and not experiment at this stage of my career; I’m still exploring myself as an actor. But in the capacity of a leading man I haven’t done a light-hearted romantic character, so Ok Jaanu might be something new for me,” says Aditya, who despite having seen huge success is still struggling to make it big. “We actors have to just hang in there, our fate changes every Friday. I started with three films that didn’t do well and then my two biggest hits came around the same time (Yeh Jawaani Hai Deewani and Aashiqui 2). This was followed by another two of my films not working. I would like to work more and I am the happiest when I am on a film set; life then takes care of itself. I just need to jump into something even if I have liked 60 per cent of it. You can’t find perfect scripts," he concludes.