Baddie with a Heart

Tusshar Kapoor talks about the dichotomy of playing a gangster with a heart.

HE has been in the film industry for over a decade. Yet,Tusshar Kapoor is largely viewed as Ekta Kapoors kid brother and veteran actor Jeetendras son. While he speaks fondly of his family,the actor admits that this perception no longer affects him. Earlier,any kind of criticism would affect me. But now,I only listen to constructive criticism and filter out peoples talk about my perceived dependence on Balaji banner for work, says the actor.

He is part of a film made under the Balaji Motion Pictures banner,owned by Ekta,only when the directors cast him. Else,would I not have been in every movie they produce? says Kapoor,pointing out that his biggest success and recognition among masses came outside of Balaji Rohit Shettys Golmaal series where he plays a deaf and mute comic character.

While this role brought him popularity,Tusshars critically-acclaimed roles were of the intense variety in Khakee (2004) where he played a good cop,and Shootout at Lokhandwala (2007) where he essayed the role of a baddie. Now,the actor returns in a similar role in a prequel to the latter,titled Shootout at Wadala is set in the 1970s. Scheduled to release on May 1,it is based on the first registered encounter by Mumbai police,where gangster Manya Surve was shot dead in Wadala. Tusshar will play the character Sheikh Munir,who entered the crime world at the age of 11.

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For the role,Tusshar visited Dongri and met people to understand the body language and lingo of boys from that neighbourhood in the 1970s. Also,he relied on Husain Zaidis book Dongri to Dubai on which the film is based. But since very little information on Sheikh Munirs character was available,Tusshar interpreted him in his own way.

Sheikh Munir is a gangster who meets Manya Surve in prison and decides to start a new gang. Unlike my character in Shootout at Lokhandwala,this has shades of both good and bad. He is a merciless criminal,but he pledges his loyalty to Manya,a Hindu,when he starts the new gang. To back his friend,Sheikh Munir can lay down his life. The character is more human and real and explores the vulnerable side to dreaded criminals, he says.

While the character of Sheikh Munir was exciting to portray,Tusshar now hopes that he can further bring in versatility to his portfolio. I am very keen on doing a horror film and something in the dance genre. People have seen me dance,but I want to show them that I can be a very good dancer.

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