At 65, Anil Kapoor still remains one of the most popular and bankable actors in Bollywood. The veteran, who is known for his fitness regime and has been coming up with some strong performances, will showcase his funny side with JugJugg Jeeyo which releases this week. In a conversation with News18.com, the actor talks about the film why he loves doing comedy, and the reason behind his successful career.
JugJugg Jeeyo deals with various topics like infidelity, difficult marriages, and divorce. How do you personally look at these subjects?
I would like to look at it from a different perspective and from a woman’s point of view. I feel if a woman is unhappy in her marriage and if she finds it is torturous living with the man, it is better she separates from him. Why go through this torture? She keeps suffering because now there are children in their lives but then how much can she suffer and sacrifice her happiness. But I have seen that today’s women are very strong. They have good friends for company, they have that willpower and they are brave enough to take some important decisions and make a life for themselves. Earlier I would see girls, and their families looking for good boys for marriage but for some time now the trend has changed. I can see that these days boys are desperate to get married, whereas girls are in no hurry and there is no pressure from families, too. They want to marry and lead lives as per their own terms.
Tell us about Bheem, your character in the film.
I related to the character in a way that I saw a lot of men who are like that. He has his wife but he is looking elsewhere. There are some people who keep thinking (of cheating) and there are some who do it and my character goes ahead and does it. But I feel everybody has a selfish streak to them unless they are saints. For some people, whatever instincts and dreams they have, they keep within themselves, they control themselves, but there are some people who don’t care. We are also very honest and true to the premise that we had set out to make. But it is good to play such a character with so many grey shades, I don’t want to do only goody-goody roles; it’s too boring. Also, these days, middle-aged characters are written in a more nuanced manner; I am enjoying playing my age.
You started your career with some intense roles but over the years you have been known for your comedy films.
I have been fortunate to have done so many comedies like No Entry, Welcome, and Mubarakan, in fact, my earlier films like Woh Saat Din, Biwi No 1, and Deewana Mastana… also had some great comic moments. In the past, we have had many films where only some portions were very funny while the rest of it was serious stuff. Then we started making films which were out-and-out comedy but I enjoy doing all kinds of films. I will keep experimenting with what I have done all my life, all through my career. I recently did Thar which is totally out-of-the-box, and I am also doing Jug Jugg Jeeyo, if I did an AK v/s AK, I did a Malang which is very out there, over-the-top in terms of performance. But nothing comes easy. You have to put a lot of hard work, effort and thought into whatever you do.
It has been more than four decades in the industry. What do you attribute your success to?
You have to go with your gut instinct; I don’t follow any trend. I believe consistency in my career is a combination of hard work and lady luck which is also very important. I made the right choices at the right time. When I got some good opportunities I grabbed those with both my hands and didn’t take them lightly. I worked hard on them. I learnt from my mistakes and tried not to repeat those mistakes. But there is also some element of destiny because there are people who are more talented, better looking, more hardworking, and more passionate but things don’t work for them.
You are soon going to become a grandfather…
I am very happy, it is an emotional moment. It is a beautiful feeling.
