(MENAFN- Khaleej Times) Sonam Kapoor is all set to play the bubbly girl next door in this weekends release Khoobsurat.
Photo: Agencies
When Sonam Kapoor was 22 director Zoya Akhtar once asked her why she always walked around like an art installation. Sonam was confused whether it was a compliment or an insult nevertheless she replied saying “I think I look amazing.” Today at 29 she is officially Bollywood’s most fashionable girl but Sonam clearly considers herself a misfit in the industry. “Anyone who knows me would know that I am always falling over myself all the time; Dressing up in a certain way that people now find fashionable. But when I joined the industry people thought I was crazy. I remember I was wearing this ridiculous dress in which I could barely walk around for an event. I was not doing it for anything else but because I did not want to be a blunt copy of every person that you see in the magazines. I was trying to do something different and now everyone is trying to do something different which is amazing and makes my life easier. Initially when I came in all I could hear was ‘Why is she walking around wearing that What is she wearing What does vintage mean Why does she do her hair that way’”
Identity CrisisHer forthcoming film Khoobsurat is a remake of the Rekha starrer Khubsoorat (1980). The movie is a quirky modern romantic comedy about what happens when a vibrant hopelessly romantic physiotherapist (Sonam Kapoor) meets a handsome young Rajput prince (Fawad Khan) who is the complete opposite of her and is engaged to someone else. Pakistani actor Fawad Khan makes his debut in Bollywood with this film. The classic 1980 film which was directed by legendary director Hrishikesh Mukherjee proved to be a game changer in Rekha’s career. She became a superstar who could carry a film on her shoulder post the release of the movie. As for whether the remake will redefine Sonam’s star quality in Bollywood remains to be seen.
This role we are told was written specifically for the actress as a damage control to the impression that one of her previous films Aisha had left on the audience. “After that movie my sister felt that everybody just kind of started thinking of me as Aisha a rich kid with a credit card using up dad’s money which is completely not true. I have been earning my own money since I was seventeen and I am not desperate to get married or get others married. That was just that character from Jane Austen’s Emma. Any intelligent person who has read Emma would know that’s what Aisha was. Unfortunately the audience and media felt that I was playing myself on screen. Honestly I think I did my job too well I don’t know. My sister felt it was kind of a disservice so she and Shashank (director of Khoobsurat) who has known me for five years said they wanted to make a film with me on the lines of Alice in Wonderland. We could not get funds for that film hence we went ahead with Khoobsurat. People who have written the film have basically written me into this character which is horribly annoying and scary. I was like you cannot do this; you cannot put me out there. When I read the first draft I cannot tell you I was upset because a lot of the way I speak and react every day was in this character. I was so annoyed. The only thing different about her is that she speaks in a Punjabi accent and is a Delhi girl. I was like that’s wrong and they were like “No no nobody will know that.” It is like taking me and making me into a character which is very irritating but it was very difficult to play myself. It is easy to play somebody else but not yourself.”
Even her quirky habit of changing the names of those she is close to has been used in the film. “That’s one of the other thing that my sister put into the film. I kind of take everyone’s name and destroy it. My mother’s name is Suneeta I call her Sons my father’s name is Anil Kapoor I call him Aks. My director’s name is Shashank and I call him Shanks. Sanjay Leela Bhansali I call him Sirji or Bossji. I am the only one in the world to call Ranbir Kapoor – Bir. Imran I call IK. I have destroyed my family and my friends’ name for long but that’s also because I love them!”
Though we have seen hints of Sonam’s acting talent in films like Raanjhana and Delhi 6 it largely remains hidden due to her fashionista image. “People respect me more after Raanjhana; they do not just look at me as Anil Kapoor’s daughter anymore. The kind of roles that I am getting whether it is Dolly Ki Doli or Disney wanting to make Khoobsoorat with me its all thanks to Raanjhana. People feel that I can hold a film on my shoulder; they feel I can act. After Raanjhana the perception about me has definitely changed. I change with every film. I hope I have grown after Raanjhana. People respect me more and talk to me differently. People think I have a little bit of a brain yes and I don’t think they think that I am a bimbo with my dad’s credit card.”
From across the borderKhoobsurat marks the Bollywood debut of popular Pakistani heartthrob Fawad Khan who already enjoys a huge fan following in both the nations due to his appearance in the television series Zindagi Gulzar Hai and the film Khuda Ke Liye. Fawad tells us that he has done lot of homework to understand his character of a Rajput prince.
“Classics come to my mind. Christopher Plummer as Captain Von Trapp; I took reference from Richard Gere’s character from Pretty Woman to understand his internal agony. I learnt how to carry myself thanks to my designer Raghuvendra Rathore who coincidently is from Rajput royalty so these people became my groundwork.”
The good-looking actor has only words of praises for this glamorous co-star “I have seen Delhi 6. Sonam is a beautiful gifted artist. Her reputation as a fashionista precedes her. She has a great sense of style and knows how to carry herself really well. I don’t have preconceived notions about people. I like to know them personally so when I met her I understood that she is such a beautiful person. We did end up being friends; she is a great co-star very supportive a great host and a wonderful human being. I am an introvert but that does not restrict me from getting close to people.” ‘Salman Khan is amazing’
Sonam on working with her childhood heartthrob in Prem Ratan Dhan Payo
Sonam will be working next with Salman Khan for the first time in Sooraj Barjatya’s Prem Ratan Dhan Payo. She tells us about her experience of acting with her childhood heartthrob.
“Salman Khan is amazing. There is something so positive and so grounded about him in spite of him being such a massive star. People would do anything for him. I do not think he realises it because he is so grounded. I have known him since I was a kid and I have grown up around him. He has not changed; he is still the same. He has become better and more evolved as a person. He gets better with age and sexier and better looking. He just fits right in Soorajji’s film. Both of us needed to do such a film. Doing this film is almost like a detox. Soorajji believes in all the values that he projects in his films. When you go to a Sooraj Barjatya set it is almost like a detox from the dirtiness of life because you see good people like that exist and this is what middle class India is because of family values. It is a beautiful love story. The title Prem Ratan Dhan Paayo means ‘I got the gift of love’. Salman has not done a love story in a long time; I have not done a love story as well. It is always a Raanjhana or Bhaag Milkha Bhaag yes Khoobsurat is a love story but Indians love stories like Maine Pyaar Kia Dilwaale Dulhaniya Le Jaayenge Hum Aapke Hain Kaun which we do not make anymore. I think only kids who grew up in the 90’s will understand what it means. It was my staple diet. I could not believe that I was in a Salman Khan film opposite Prem. It feels surreal.”
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