Pankaj Kapur is anything but predictable. As he makes his directorial debut with Mausam, the versatile actor talks to Priyanka Joshi about his latest role.
Cinema buffs know Pankaj Kapur as a versatile actor – someone with the same DNA as Om Puri and Naseeruddin Shah. In a career of close to 30 years, he has acted in art house films like Arohan (1982), Mandi (1983), Ek Ruka Hua Faisla (1986), Yeh Woh Manzil To Nahin (1987) and Ek Doctor Ki Maut (1991); out-and-out commercial films like Jalwa (1987), Raakh (1989) and Roja (1992); cult film Jaane Bhi Do Yaaro (1983); new wave cinema like Maqbool (2003), Dharm (2007) and The Blue Umbrella (2007); as well as popular television serials like Karamchand and Office-office. He has won three National Awards for his performance in Raakh, Ek Doctor Ki Maut and Maqbool. Kapur has proven equally at home while playing a student (Yeh Who Manzil to Nahin), an underworld kingpin (Maqbool) and a hardliner priest (Dharm).
Now, at the age of 57, he is making his debut as a director, though he has directed a number of plays. Mausam, which looks like a period drama, is ready to release on September 16. The lead roles are played by Shahid Kapur (Kapur’s son from his first marriage with actress Neelima Azim), Sonam Kapoor, Kapur and Supriya Pathak (Kapur’s wife). Kapur has also written the script. “I had been writing scripts and stashing them in my closet for a long time now. It was like I earned my bread as an actor and then turned to scriptwriting in my off hours,” Kapur says succinctly.
Kapur did not launch his son but has decided to direct him now that he has become a star. “Shahid had been asking me to turn director and I thought it was the right time. While I had a few scripts, I decided to write a fresh one keeping a young man in mind and that’s how Mausam came into being,” he says. The film’s website is still under construction, though its release is less than a month away. Not a big Internet or social networking junkie, Kapur replies: “I am strictly the director of the film. I have left all the marketing functions to the producers and Shahid to some extent. I suppose they should have the website ready soon.” Kapur's film is produced by Religare Vistaar Entertainment.
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What do Kapur’s actors have to say about him? Sonam Kapoor describes her experience in a tweet (a message on social networking site Twitter): “Had a very productive day at shoot. Pankaj sir is the most nurturing (sic) director.” Shahid, too, has confessed on the same social media site that Kapur Sr. knows his script well and won’t okay a second-best shot. In a recent interview, Shahid said: “Often, Dad would make me do several retakes and do the scene exactly how he wanted it. So, I had to work that much harder.” Last month, Shahid described working with his father on Mausam as a “dream come true” on his Twitter page. Not only was Mausam Shahid’s pet project from the time his father wrote it, but the 30-year-old actor also participated actively in all the behind-the-scenes activities, including casting, producing, and now marketing, say people in the film’s unit.
As Kapur dons the director’s hat, he isn’t ready to hang up on acting. “I will always be an actor first. Directing a film is complicated and comes with loads of responsibilities. As of today, my priority is to get Mausam out in theatres on September 16 and then take a break with my family. The next film can wait till next year,” he says as he is driven to a suburban dubbing studio at 9 pm to give final touches to the film. Kapur takes pride in the fact that no one can call him predictable. “My comic-satire roles on TV, or my theatre acts, or even my film career has no set pattern. I did roles where I could unravel the character in my mind,” he reasons. That’s another reason why he chose to write a love story as his directorial debut and not a comedy or parallel cinema.
Having spent his college years training to be an engineer, Kapur chose creative arts over a corporate job. So he enrolled in the National School of Drama and pursued theatre for four years. He debuted in films with Shyam Benegal’s Arohan. The same year he joined actors like Ben Kingsley, Om Puri and Roshan Seth in Richard Attenborough’s Gandhi which went on to win several Academy Awards. He played Pyarelal, Gandhi’s secretary. At the moment, he doesn’t want to talk of anything besides Mausam, but a little prodding and he admits that he is glad he did roles like the ones in Ek Doctor Ki Maut and Maqbool.
Counting the days to his much-awaited family break post the release of Mausam, Kapur confesses that he’s a true romantic at heart, collects love letters and wants to turn his hobby into something good. “These are not just any love letters, but letters that women in my life have written for me. I would like them to be published as a book of love letters or love notes but don’t ask me when,” he surmises. Kapur, according to his friends, has preserved all the handwritten love letters he received since his school days. Kapur happily adds, “I am a very romantic guy and girls like me. Most of the love letters are poems, couplets or beautiful emotions.” His friends tell us that Kapur has a collection of more than 400 letters.
