From making his film debut with a serious role opposite Tabu in ‘Meenaxi: A Tale of Three Cities’ to testing his comic timing in ‘Luv Shuv Tey Chicken Khurana’, actor Kunal Kapoor has never shied away from taking up different roles. He will next be seen as a warrior in ‘Veeram’, which is an adaptation of Shakespeare’s ‘Macbeth’.
“Every actor dreams of doing a Shakespearean story. And add to it, Jayaraj sir (director) gave me a chance to play a warrior, something I have never done before,” he says.
The trilingual film in Malayalam, Hindi and English portrays the story of Chandu, a ‘kalaripayattu’ (a martial art) warrior, in 13th century Kerala. “When Jayaraj sir approached me with the script, I loved the characterisation. His faith in me only made me more confident,” says Kapoor.
The 39-year-old says he had to brush up his knowledge of ‘kalaripayattu’ to be “authentic” to his character. “Since I had learnt ‘kalaripayattu’ a long time back, it wasn’t difficult to practice the moves again under proper guidance,” he says. “But I had to put on weight to look like a warrior,” he adds. Kapoor also had to take lessons in Malayalam to dub for his character.
“Even though I learnt Malayalam within a month and a half under a dialogue coach, I had to first understand the lines of my co-actors to dub and emote better. That was more challenging,” adds Kapoor.
While he admits that warrior films are not new, he is quick to point out that ‘Veeram’ “marries martial arts to Macbeth”, which he feels is the perfect ingredient for a “solid film”.
Ask him if he plans to make a shift to South Indian films and pat comes the reply, “I am open to every kind of role. Language doesn’t matter.” ‘Veeram’ is scheduled for a theatrical release in late 2016.
Published 02 September 2016, 16:32 IST