1985 born Sonam Kapoor is celebrating her 35th birthday today. To mark her birthday, we at bollyy.com and Mayapuri reproduce this interview taken 8 years ago of SONAM KAPOOR by JYOTHI VENKATESH where she confesses that was not at all ambitious to become an actress, when Sanjay Leela Bhansali offered to cast her in his film Saawaria
Sonam Kapoor
What is your role in Players?
I play the role of a funky badass called Naina Braganza, who likes computers as well as fast cars, though she is basically an idealist in Players. Naina, who catches hackers legally, falls in love with Charlie Mascaranhas, who is very hot. Abhishek Bachchan plays the role of Charlie. The rest of the guys are bad and hence I become a part of Charlie’s group. I have seen both versions of The Italian Job earlier though I was a kid when I had watched them. In a way, you can say that Players is Naina’s revenge story.
To get into the skin of your character, would you too put on weight like Vidya Balan did?
Vidya Balan was lovely in The Dirty Picture. She could put on weight and do a role like the one she did in The Dirty Picture. I want my health to improve. My problem is that I cannot put on weight since I am on insulin. Though I feel that I am quite slim now, in front of Frieda Pinto I feel like I am a giant because she is very short and thin. Considering the fact that I have the tendency to put on weight, I should say that I am quite happy with the way I have been able to maintain my physique. I am neither fat nor thin. I take a lot of precautions too. It is almost ten years since I have stopped eating junk food, though earlier I used to go out quite a lot and gorge on junk food. I was fat once and hence not completely comfortable to eat anything and everything outside.
To what extent have you been inspired by your illustrious father Anil Kapoor?
My dad always tells me to exploit my looks as an actor. In fact, I am trying to follow my dad’s footsteps. He is one actor who does an Eeshwar as well as a No Entry. I feel that you have to make a brand of yourself if you want to do all kinds of roles and films. I think I have succeeded to some extent since I have to my credit both Mausam and Players. I think I have a long way to go since I had started acting at the age of 21, just four years ago.
Who do you feel is your competitor?
My father says that if you do not compete with yourself, you will not be able to learn. Instead of getting scared about competition in the form of other actresses, I think I have to compete with myself. I am a workaholic like my father, who keeps on telling me that I should work in both art house films as well as commercial films. I am keen on doing a film with David uncle or dance to a number like Bipasha Basu did in Beedi Jalaile in Omkara. I also want to do comedy like Juhi Chawla because all said and done, I know for a fact that no one wants to pay and see a depressing film.
Do you have reservations about appearing in a bikini, like Bispasha Basu in Players?
I have a glamorous role in Players. Though I have not sported a bikini like Bipasha Basu does in the film, I wanted to look hot, not nanga, without revealing. Frankly speaking, though I am called a fashionista, I confess I do not have the best body in the world to wear clothes like Bipasha does and hence I become conscious. If at all, I do an item number, I’d do it for an outside film in a special appearance, not in my own film. I compete with the heroes in Players, not Bipasha Basu.
On what basis do you choose a film?
I want to do a film if there is a good character or/and a good director. I have till date worked with all the young heroes, be it Ranbir Kapoor, Shahid Kapoor or Abhay Deol or for that matter Imran Khan I have done stunts in Players without harness. I have also kicked and punched. I wore 8 inches high heels.
While assisting Mr Bhansali, did you ever think that you would turn into an actress?
I had this gnawing feeling that Sanjay Leela Bhansali Sir was actually training me in acting when the shoot of Black was on. You would not believe this but the fact is that besides me, everyone in the unit knew that I would be cast in Saawaria. I had no say in my life at that point of time. I was 18. When Sir told me that he wanted to cast me in his film Saawaria, I actually suggested to him that he should ask my father’s permission. When Sir asked my father, he told him that he could not deny me the opportunity when it came to me on a platter especially as the film industry has treated him so well.
Is it true that acting was not actually your goal in life?
It was not my ambition to be an actress when I sought my father’s help to ask Sanjay Leela Bhansali to take me on as his assistant. Frankly speaking, acting was not my goal at all. I was weighing all of 55 kg and also very skinny and was wearing a pair of thick spectacles. In fact I was quite fat and had put on extra 30 kg after eating a lot of junk food when I was in Singapore. I couldn’t have hoped to be an actress at that time. It was only after I started shooting for Saawaria that I was back to my original weight when I was 16.
To what extent do you get affected by the success and failure of your films?
As an actress, I do my best in every film in which I am acting. Though I have had my share of praises when my films like Aaisha and I Hate Luv Stories both clicked at the box office, I was equally happy when people said that I was good in films like Dilli 6, Saawaria and Mausam eventhough the films did not do well at the box office. I do not at all agree that there is no point in playing if you do not win, because I feel that destination isn’t as important as the journey since that makes you wiser. I am of the opinion that if you do not run after things, you will definitely get what you want.
How would you describe yourself as a person?
I am quite impulsive. I do what my heart dictates, whether it is good or bad. What I like the best about me is that people know that I do not tell lies. I know for a fact that I will never be diplomatic because in that case, I’d become jaded, hard and what’s more two faced. I have turned down films but sorry I would not like to divulge the names of the films because I know that then producers whose films I turned down would not like it.
How do you spend your free time when you are not required on the sets?
I have three dogs at home. I have named them Bacardi, Coke and Feather. I had adopted all of them when I saw them roaming around the footpath outside as stray dogs and given them shelter. I like to spend my free time sitting at home with my dogs. I also go out to see my nani as well as dadi. Though I used to make it a point to shop earlier at Elco Market in Bandra, I have stopped going there altogether ever since I became a known star because they have started asking for huge inflated prices, which I refuse to pay them.
Which are the actresses you look up to?
The actresses who I look up to are Nutan, Waheeda Rehman, Kajol and last but not the least Sri Aunty. I have learnt a lot from different actors, besides my dad, like Zeenat Aman, Sridevi aunty, to keep on re-inventing myself. I want to do dynamically different roles like Sri Aunty did in Sadma as well as Chaalbaaz. I am of the opinion that as an actress when you set out to wear your clothes, your nature also undergoes a rapid transformation automatically. I take tips often from Sri Aunty on eyebrows, my make up etc. Sri Aunty even advised me not to place demands on my producers because I also hail from a production house. It was almost seven years ago that she had asked me to lose my weight. Though I had long hair when I had acted in both Saawaria and Dilli 6, I cut my hair for Aaisha.
Who are your favorite filmmakers?
Sanjay Leela Bhansali, Rakeysh Om Prakash Mehra, Anees Bazmi, Rajshri Ojha, Pankaj Kapoor and Abbas Mustan, with whom I have worked in films like Saawaria, Dilli 6, Thank You, Aisha, Mausam and Players are my favorite filmmakers.
Which are the films of your father that you like the best?
Among the films in which my dad has acted till date, the ten I like the best are Slumdog Millionaire, Pukar, Woh Saat Din, Mr India, Tezaab, Chameli Ki Shaadi, Eeshwar, Virasat, My Wife’s Murder, Lamhe and Kishen Kanhaiya.
What next, after Players?
I have a couple of films on hand after Players but I will start work on them only after I start working on Rakeysh Om Prakash Mehra’s Bhaag Milkha Bhaag in which I have been paired opposite Farhan Akhtar. I am in talks for a Tamil film too. Right now, I’d say that I have more time to experiment as a youngster.
