Finding the real Arjun Kapoor

I didn't know I had a fan club in Peru!' That's the first thing Arjun Kapoor tells me when I talk about his recent obsession - Twitter! Ever since the young actor has joined the microblogging site, his peers and friends have been commenting on his playful tweets. During the course of our conversation, we talk about his forthcoming release Finding Fanny, his favorite films growing up and his 'babagiri' with BFF Ranveer Singh. Here are excepts from the chat...

Talk to me about your fascination for Twitter. You seem to be having a good time..
You know it's amazing how you can connect with people all over the world, especially when you are talking about your film to them. I didn't know I had a fan club in Peru or Africa. It's incredible the way you get to interact with people in places you never imagined your work was being watched. I am very happy I joined Twitter and am glad people are finding me entertaining. For me it's just an extension of who I am. You can't pretend to be different, then you are just fake. For me it' just about being myself. There are very few places you can be yourself, half the time you are acting in front of the camera, the other half you are trying to follow certain protocols, this is one place where you can say and do what you feel like.

Tell me what kind of films you watched growing up...
Besides Bollywood, I saw loads of films growing up. I have an aversion to horror, the screechy slasher types. But barring that, I saw everything. The film that changed my life when I was in 10th standard was Lock Stock and Two Smoking Barrels. That day, I decided I wanted to be an actor. The energy of the film just got me because it was devoid of any stars, it was just great interesting characters with a lot of twists and turns and great performances. That film woke me up and made me realise I wanted to act. Then there are films like Snatch, Goodfellas, Scarface, Godfather, Who Framed Roger Rabbit, which left a huge mark on me. Shawshank Redemption is the first film I cried watching alone at home. Forrest Gump I have seen on repeat a million times. I think I was blessed that my father and uncle (Sanjay) had a huge LD collection back in the day and I would steal them and watch it on my room. Then it evolved to watching DVDs. I remember watching back-to-back films at night and not going to sleep. I have seen two of the coolest films back to back - City of God and Pursuit of Happyness. I used to watch movies and then go to work as an assistant. At home I recall sitting and watching Ram Lakhan, Mr India with Anil chachu. It started off with his films and then went to Govinda and David uncles films. I used to go to the theatre and watch all his films. I never missed a single David Dhawan film and now I get to sit with him and chat about his movies which is so cool!

What kind of impression have these films left on you? Do they affect the kind of choices you make as an actor?
Yes, subconsciously they do have an effect. I don't think I have hit upon all the genres I mentioned, but Gunday was one such example where it was a throwback to all the Hindi movies that I watched growing up, so I instantly connected to it for my love of cinema. As young actors, we don't get such a big canvas where we mount something on such a big scale, so I did Gunday for that subconscious love of larger-than-life cinema that I grew up watching. Aurangzeb also was an extension of that, it played out like Sopranos, or Casino and Goodfellas it had that undercurrent of action without being a maar-dhaad film. So I feel every film has had a trigger in my head to something I have grown up watching.

Even Finding Fanny ?
With Fanny, there is no such reference I can give you, but the closest comparison would be Motorcycle Diaries in terms of a road trip film. But I was very keen to know as a movie lover, what Homi would make next. I was supposed to work on Being Cyrus as an assistant which nobody knows. I knew him for ages, but what struck me was the fact that he watched Ishaqzaade and came and offered me Finding Fanny. Nothing had released after Ishaqzaade, I was just about to start shooting for Gunday and 2 States when he offered it to me. He had no reference apart from that film, and watching it he thought I would be apt for the role of Savio in Fanny. I thought this guy has some interpretation of me that I don't know, which is great, let's try it. That's how Finding Fanny happened. I took a chance on Homi's vision of me, am glad I took this chance. Finding Fanny just happened because he came to me and said I have seen Ishaqzaade and I want you to play Savio. Also, I didn't think he would like Ishaqzaade, which was interesting because I realised that Homi is a cinema goer, he's not some guy who lives in this niche world.

What has been your biggest revelation about the Finding Fanny cast from Deepika to Dimple...
With Deepika, I knew her when she came in and became a star overnight. I knew her then. And I always tell her that now she's an actor-star which is a huge journey for a girl like her to undertake who doesn't come from a filmi family. She's learnt on the job, her professionalism and the way she goes about her work, her smile that melts hearts all over, it's all amazing. She has just evolved into a graceful woman who has command over her performance which is amazing to watch. I had seen Yeh Jawani Hai Deewani and her movies, so it was quite a treat to watch her act live, to work with her it was amazing to see how far she's come in the business from when she started.
I was always very nervous about working with Naseer sir because I have a lot of screen time with him and a lot of conversational scenes with him. I always wondered if he would be excited to work with a new actor in that sense. Would he still have that hunger and drive in him to go for it where I am concerned. But he was so nice and made it so easy for me to feel like we are friends, because our characters are friends in the film. We never had any ice to break, I was sitting by the pool one day and he just came and say hello and that's how we started working.
With Pankaj sir also I had heard so much about his work. He's so calm, mellow, into his work, and really down-to-earth. He's so disciplined, so I got to see the meticulousness with which he approaches his work, always talking about the scene, discussing the script, and still being so hungry after achieving so much, was very exciting to watch.
Dimple ma'am and me and are supposed to hate each other in the film and I couldn't get myself to hate her, she's such a lovable soul. She's so full of life, energetic and has a positive outlook on everything. She radiates so much goodwill that being around her it is amazing. She got into her character and starting doing her Goan act even before the camera would start rolling.
It was amazing to see how all of these actors never took anything for granted and everyone put in so much handiwork and grit to make sure they delivered. They just made me a better actor by being in the same frame as them. I keep telling Homi he took me back to acting school, it was free-of-cost acting school for me.

Was it difficult doing a film in English ?
Well, Homi wanted to keep the whole vibe of the film casual and conversational. It had to feel like there is a flow to the narrative and the way in which these characters are talking. Because we all spoke in English, there was this risk of it being too theatrical and over-the-top. But it is a regular Hindi film which has dialogues in English. Homi didn't want me to perform the lines, he just wanted to me to say it like how we are talking, it had to be natural and smooth.

Your biggest discovery as an actor during the making of Finding Fanny?
You know I just shut off when I was making this film. I went there for 45 days non-stop and went on this emotional switch off. I shot for Fanny after I finished 2 States and Gunday back-to-back. I was relentlessly working round-the-clock and didn't have a single day off, I did around six-seven outdoors for both those films in around six months, so I was both mentally and physically exhausted from both Gunday and 2 States. I reached the Fanny set four days earlier as Homi said, 'Just come and chill. So I was just hanging out with Homi with Pankaj sir and Deepika were shooting. I started wearing my character's clothes, got into the look, started driving that car back and forth. I had become Savio for that period. Also, Goa doesn't have too many people wanting to take photos and intrude your privacy. So I had a lot of time to myself. I went off the internet, my phone, I would just be by the pool, go to my room have dinner, sleep, I had created my own little world in Goa. That was a revelation for me that I could still do all that. I also got a lot of time to reassess many things in my life, because when you are alone then you start paying attention to these things.

Your friendship with Ranveer has remained rock-steady, what do you make of the attention this bonding gets...
I don't know what to make of it. We are two regular guys in the same profession. Also, there can only be a rivalry if you want it to be, if you wish well for each other, there never can be any animosity. There were reports that we have fought and will never work again, but we just had a great time shooting in Romania. We knew each other before we were actors so that's not going to change just because we are professionals. It is very important to be sensible enough to draw a line between professional and personal life. You can't let it get the better of you.

If there was a film called Finding Arjun, where would it be set?
It would have to be in New York! I would love to disappear in New York, it's been a while since I've been there!