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'Jeena Sirf... will do a lot for Kareena and me'
Tusshar Kapoor has his hopes pinned
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Soft-spoken and gentle, Tusshar Kapoor is hassle-free and controversy-shy. He is your regular hard-working dude trying to make his place in the sun.
So what if his last film
Kya Dil Ne Kahaa sank without a trace? The promos of his new film Jeena Sirf Merre Liye look interesting and promising.
Tusshar has got his
Mujhe Kucch Kehna Hai costar Kareena to brighten the marquee. And he sounds chirpy,
says Subhash K Jha:
Is Jeena Sirf Merre Liye an extension of Mujhe Kucch Kehna Hai?
Both films belong to the romantic musical genre. But the similarities end there. The two films are not connected in any way. Although it is the same cook and the ingredients, the dish is entirely different on this occasion. The story and characters are very different.
What went wrong with your last film?
Everyone thought I did my role convincingly. In my first film, I could not confess my love. In my second film, I couldn't say yes to marriage. I think my character in Kya Dil Ne Kahaa came across as slightly negative and radical. He was too wayward.
But the audiences liked me. I enjoyed working on this film. The best part was I got to know Esha Deol during the making.
How do you react to your link up with Esha Deol?
Both of us laugh off these rumours. She is my pal. We meet at work and after hours. It is quite common for two people who are working together to get friendly because of the long hours they spend together. When they appear friendly on the sets or off it, people begin to link them romantically. We are not going to to act formal just so that people don't misunderstand our relationship.
We are close friends.
Esha and I started our careers together. Our parents [Esha's mother Hema Malini and Tusshar's father Jeetendra] worked closely together, I didn’t know her before. We only got to know each other during Kya Dil Ne Kahaa. In the film industry friendships between a man and woman can mean only one thing.
I am now in the middle of a large schedule of my sister Ekta's film Kya Pyar Karoge Mujhse with Esha. I am very excited about the film. moves into new territory. It is a campus thriller with a romantic triangle. It is a very different screenplay with a peculiar time frame in the plot.
Not only does my dad play my father, but one of his best friends and finest actors, Rishi Kapoor is also in the film. He is a very close family friend.
Are you friendly with your father's friends' children?
I know Rishi Uncle's son Ranvir very well. I am very fond of him. He will be a major star. I am fond of Rakesh Roshan Uncle's son Hrithik, though I don't know him well enough. Ranvir is six years junior to me. Hrithik is three years my senior. But because of the family connection we wish each other well.
Didn't your father recently win a lifetime achievement in New York?
Yes. We were all there. He went to the loo when his name was anounced. No way would we allow him to miss this award. My dad is such a long-lasting actor. Maybe he didn’t get awards in his heydays . But he’s never had a dearth of media coverage. It was always his choice not to be featured on magazine covers or have his say in umpteen interviews. He was never interested in making himself look larger than life. He was very satisfied and secure in his career.
Your sister Ekta Kapoor's film Kya Pyar Karoge Mujhse went through a directorial change...
Yes. The new director is very thorough and sensitive. Though he has joined midway, he knows the script in and out. He directs me and and my dad without nervousness. My sister has chalked out every detail in advance. I usually give a hundred percent of myself. This time I am giving a 150 percent for my sister’s sake.
You seem to be doing a lot of remakes.
My first three films are all remakes. Teja's Yeh Dil is also a remake. It is a very realistic film. Teja inspires me as much as Satish Kaushik did during Mujhe Kucch Kehna Hai.
My sister's film Kya Pyar Karoge Mujhse and Anant Mahadevan's Yeh Dil Maange More, which Farida Jalal is producing, are not remakes.
Is Jeena Sirf Merre Liye a remake?
Not really. We saw a South Indian film. But we didn't really take much from it. We have taken more from Mehboob Khan's Anmol Ghadi. As an actor I treat a remake as an original.
I certainly didn't keep going back to Anmol Ghadi for references.
How was it working with Kareena the second time?
The comfort level was higher. We understood what we had to do much quicker and worked out our scenes easily. Like Esha, I didn’t become friendly with Kareena just because our parents worked together. If the parents' relationship mattered, then I would have hit it off with Kareena from the start.
I remember I shot with her for the first time in June 2000 for Mujhe Kucch Kehna Hai.Jeena Sirf Merre Liye was smooth sailing all the way. The film is as important for her as much it is for me. Her last few films have not succeeded. She considers our pair lucky. She keeps telling me that we must repeat the magic of Mujhe Kucch Kehna Hai.
We share a good chemistry on camera. When she was doing Mujhe Kucch Kehna Hai I hardly got to know her. She was doing a number of films at the same time. She would breeze in and breeze out after the shot. Even in Jeena Sirf Merre Liye, we had to struggle for her and my dates.
Yet, we managed to finish this film in six months.
How important is Jeena Sirf Merre Liye to your career?
It is really important. Though I wouldn't say I am in deep trouble just because Kya Dil Ne Kahaa flopped. I did that film primarily because of my dad's long relationship with the producers Padmalaya. The director Sanjay Chhel had written hits like Rangeela. I had full faith in him. Whoever saw me liked me.
But yes, failure does affect any actor. To that extent it is important for Jeena Sirf Merre Liye to click. Then I have my home production coming up. Kareena was constantly on the SMS from New Zealand where she was shooting for Sooraj Barjatya's Main Prem Ki Deewani Hoon asking about the progress with the promos. I think Jeena Sirf Merre Liye will do a lot for both of us.