Wednesday, May 15, 2013

Arjun to Sashaa: How come we were not linked?


Arjun Kapoor asks his 'Aurangzeb' co-star Sashaa Agha. While she giggles, Prithviraj prefers to let his eyes do the talking
 
  It’s South star Prithviraj’s second outing in Bollywood after Aiyyaa. While this super hot man acted cool it is Arjun Kapoor who did most of the talking (Did someone say he’s shy?). In a hour-long session, the actors indulged in some serious talk and some banter... Excerpts of their conversation with the Hitlist team.

Arjun: I play a double role in this film, it’s like ek pe ek muft. We have been saying the same things at the promotions for the past few days and trying to make it as exciting as ever. But one thing I have realised, an actor may be having a bad day or whatever but you have to put up an appearance. You are there because of these people.

It’s exactly a year since my debut film Ishaqzaade released. When I was offered Aurangazeb, I was initially keen to do the role Prithviraj has done. But Adi (producer Aditya Chopra) put me in my place ke bhaiyya tumhe double role mila hai.

Prithviraj: I play a cop... something that I have done umpteen times before on the screen. For three months, I had a Hindi tutor and even during the shoots I would rehearse the lines with him.

Arjun: But he still does all the talking with his eyes. You have to watch him.

Prithviraj: I think now my Hindi is ekdum shuddh. And unlike Aiyyaa, I have a lot of talking to do now.

Sashaa: Prithviraj and I don’t share any scene at all...

Prithviraj: In fact I met Sashaa for the first time just 10 days ago during the promotional rounds.

Arjun: Sasha was the last to be cast so she stepped in when we had almost finished the rehearsals and readings. But as I knew her earlier, there was this comfort factor.

Sashaa: I freak out when I hear loud noises. So Arjun had this habit of quietly coming near me on the sets and shout out loud in my ear and I would scream.

Arjun: Before enacting the emotional scenes, I used to crack jokes with her and when she used to start laughing I would become serious and say chalo masti mazak mat karo. Every one on the sets used to think that Sashaa is cracking jokes before the shot. Thank god we were not linked. How come we were not linked?

Prithviraj: (laughing) You guys didn’t work hard enough!

Arjun: Sashaa has this habit of giggling at everything. Even before she would crack a joke, she would laugh out loud. And how she loved applying nail polish.

Sashaa: As they did not want any fancy stuff, the only thing I could do for different scenes was to apply different shades of varnish.

Arjun: I used to wonder what she was thinking. The film’s subject is such. It was Atul’s idea to title the film Aurangzeb. It goes well with all our characters as how far a man can go to gain power. How ruthless he can be.

Prithviraj: The title has the element of intrigue. Reason enough to watch it.

Prithviraj underwent extensive workshops to prepare for Aurangazeb


Playing a cop comes easy to South superstar Prithviraj; however, the actor had quite a challenge at hand essaying his career’s 16th cop role, for his upcoming film ‘Aurangazeb’ under the Yash Raj banner since he plays a true-north Indian inspector ,for which the actor had to overcome the challenge of speaking in the local dialect.

Not only did he have to flawlessly deliver his dialogues while dubbing for the film but he also plays narrator in several parts of the film, for which the actor put in a lot of hard work to polish his Hindi diction and unlearn most of what he knew –Says Prithviraj, “When Atul (director, Sabharwal) approached me, he’d told me that giving the voiceover would be a bigger challenge than playing a cop in the film because that’s a role I have played multiple times in my films down south. I accepted the challenge and hope I’ve lived up to his expectations.”

Adding that, “Unlearning Hindi was tough. I knew how to read, write and speak the language, but my accent was different from a north Indian. So I underwent a four month workshop to perfect my accent and prepare for my role as the narrator”.
 

Prithviraj Sukumaran: AURANGZEB has a lot to do with megalomania








Prithviraj is coming back to the Hindi film arena with AURANGZEB. A film which is primarily an ensemble affair, it has been in news for Arjun Kapoor's double role appearance. However if one digs deeper down, it is revealed that AURANGZEB is not just there in Arjun but every actor character that the film features. No wonder, Prithviraj finds himself to be an integral part of the affair, what with the film actually being narrated through his voiceover. 

 "Yes, the title AURANGZEB is significant to every character in the film. Same holds true for my part of Arya as well. In fact in the film, Arjun and I are required to take split-second decisions without keeping our respective families in mind. We do what is right though deep inside, there is a lot to do with megalomania as well. Each one of us out there has a desire to own power and this is the reason why all of us are pretty black characters with perhaps a hint of grey," says Prithviraj who is making his second Hindi film appearance after AIYYAA, which had released last year. 

 While AIYYAA had a fantastical element to it, AURANGZEB is touted to be as real as it gets. Now that becomes further interesting considering the fact that Yash Raj Films has seldom ventured into the kind of territory that this Atul Sabharwal directed film does. 

 "AURANGZEB is a very real film and there is nothing filmy that you see in there," says Prithviraj, "The way scenes have been shot, it is obvious that an effort is being made to show people the world that they live in. No one is trying to fake anything here."

We would like to see that as well when the film releases all over this weekend. 

Prithviraj made to audition for 'Aurangzeb'

 
 South stars don’t have it easy, do they? After making his Bollywood debut in Aiyyaa, Prithviraj is all set to appear in the upcoming Aurangzeb. The Thiruvananthapuram-based actor interestingly bagged this particular role after going through an audition for the first time in his career. What’s more intriguing is he’s playing a cop for the 17th time!

   According to the 30-year-old who made his screen debut in Malayalam cinema in 1999, it was YashRaj Films casting head Shanoo Sharma’s idea to make him audition for the action film.

“I remember going to her place and sitting across the dining table. The next thing I know she’s taking her iPad out and clicking the record button. I had a few lines to deliver and that’s it. It was an interesting experience because I’ve done more than 70 films so far and never before had I been asked to audition or ever auditioned for a role so it was amusing as well as exciting,” smiles Prithvi.

The actor further says he wasn’t worried about repeating the police act although he has played the man in uniform for almost three dozen times now. “It’s not like you’re playing the same character again and again. Just like actors are different, cops are different too. Like in Aurangzeb, I’m playing a north Indian cop for the first time so the idea is to seek something you haven’t tried before. Similarly, every role brings with it an essence of newness. Or else, why would I agree to them in the first place?” 

Prithviraj to star in Vasantha Balan's next

 
As his latest thriller 'Mumbai Police' which is now running hit status, Prithviraj is very much excited.

The movie did open to some negative reviews due to its climax, but the latest reports suggests that it has hurled over the initial opinions and more and more youngsters and coming to watch it as they really loved it and the performances.

Prithvi is also eagerly awaiting the results of his second Hindi flick 'Aurangazeb' which opens next weekend. 

Prithvi will now join the new Tamil movie by Vasantha Balan who made such inspiring tales in 'Angaditheru' and 'Veyil'. Prithvi is thrilled with the subject which he rates as a fantastic one.

Was uncomfortable working with Prithviraj in 'Aurangzeb': Rishi Kapoor

 
Mumbai: Noted actor Rishi Kapoor says he felt uncomfortable calling his co-star Prithviraj Sukumaran by his first name -- because it is the name of his grandfather, the yesteryear thespian Prithviraj Kapoor.

"I was uncomfortable working with Prithviraj for the first two days as it was my grandfather's name. But later, it was ok," Rishi Kapoor told reporters here at the promotional event of upcoming film `Aurangzeb'.

Kapoor and Prithviraj will be playing cops in `Aurangzeb'. 

Kapoor was all praise for the co-star Arjun Kapoor.

"He is very focused as an actor. His passion towards acting was seen in his work. Passion for work is very important. Hope he does good work and make your parents proud and happy," he said.