THEY say rom-com specialists should steer well clear of any action genres. Their attempts to cross over can be hazardous. Enter Tusshar Kapoor and the critics shut up!
Khakee and Shootout at Lokhandwala proved that the man can shift gears and surprise not only his audiences, but reviewers too.
And his forthcoming, the sequel titled Shootout at Wadala will only increase his accolades judging from the pre-preparations the actor is going through right now.
Unlike most of Bollywood’s squeaky clean heroes, Tusshar takes tough to another level, a level of unpredictability.
That’s what makes him a complicated character, marked by his earlier movies.
Your first impression of Tusshar may be that he is a guy who doesn’t talk a lot but is often funny and, looking at his biography, you may even predict he has lost his mind.
To be honest, I’ve met him several times and if you ask me, his first impression isn’t his last.
We meet at Cafe Mangii in Bandra for a quick round of an afternoon coffee to talk about the mean streets of Wadala he is about to tread in Shootout at Wadala. Here’s the first hand info.
DEVANSH PATEL: Is being ‘bad’ the new ‘good’ for you?
TUSSHAR KAPOOR: I think being bad is the new good for me. There is a side to me that comes through more naturally; even being bad. My image is very ‘rom-com’ish. Maybe there is that angle to my personality that Shootout at Lokhandwala highlighted. That opened doors for me and yes, Shootout at Wadala will have the best of the bad for you to see.
DP: You were a part of Shootout at Lokhandwala too. Will Shootout at Wadala see being you even scarier?
TK: I personally think that Lokhandwala was more of a scary role for me than Wadala is. Shootout at Wadala is more interesting because he is a violent guy with a sense of humour. Martin Scorsese, Guy Ritchie and Quentin Tarantino have dark characters with brilliant humour embedded in them.
DP: Your character is based on a real life gangster. As an individual, did you try and research something about him in your spare time?
TK: The research for my character was done in the pre-production stage while the scripting was going on. I’d love to know a bit more about the role I am playing, inspired by a real life character, but I trust my director that he must have done full justice to it and so I didn’t feel the need to go online or find out any extra info about the real life gangster. They didn’t have a proper background of this character so we have fictionalised it a bit too.
DP: What shocked you when you heard a narration of your film?
TK: The thing that shocked me about Shootout at Wadala was the wholesomeness of it. It is also a dark film with lots of action and humour and that’s surprising too. Romance is an add-on. I think it will be the first gangster film that won’t cater to a niche audience. It’s not only focusing on style but it’s focusing on the real commercial content. We may most likely bring ‘Ganpat’ back too (laughs).
DP: Name your favourite gangster movies and which character would you like to portray if given a chance?
TK: My favourite gangster films are Godfather, Godfather: Part II and Casino. But if I had to play a character from any of my favourite movies I’d play Al Pacino’s Michael Corleone.
DP: What’s your look going to be in Shootout at Wadala?
TK: I went to the Dongri area with somebody who lives there to get the feel of the surroundings. It motivates you as an individual, and you get the sense of how the person I’m impersonating must have lived.
