Just for KICKS

It’s a ‘Kick’ass film, very entertaining… I had a great time working on it. It was a joyride for me and it will be a joyride for the fans watching it. They will like the film. It’s very chilled out—cool, stylish.

Are reports of you playing a superhero in the film, complete with a bandit mask, true? And if not, then what can the audience expect from Devil?

I am not playing a superhero;the mask is just a disguise he is wearing. He is a guy who just wants to do everything for a kick. He does not want to do boring jobs. He just wants to enjoy, be on high. He finds different ways to rob money from corrupt politicians, baba -shaba dhol dhapangis and corrupt officers. If being successful in life is having money, then he feels that, that is the kick he should have. And one day he realises that all this is bullshit, the real kick is only in something that truly satisfies you.

What did Sajid Nadiadwala, a veteran producer and now a first-time director bring to the table?

As a director, he first got the producer to the table and he made the producer spend as much as the director wanted. When you have a chase sequence, pachchis gaadiyaan udengi but jab execute karne jaate hain toh teen udengi. Yahan par pachees ki jagah tees ayengi so that’s how you see the largeness—there’s great production value and then he obviously has had so much experience (as a producer) and he’s young at heart. He knew what to do and what not to do, he has a great sense of script and visual, he is a big movie fan and believes in combining yesteryear’s films and the new style of film-making. So, he’s a perfect blend. He knows that this film has to work for him otherwise how is he going to tell other directors ki “yaar ye nahin, aisa kar do,” something he does all the time. So that is what he is very conscious of. He has spent a lot of time in pre-production, DOP, shot division of scenes, VFX, everything was done beforehand. Because of the delay of Jai Ho, he had enough time to get the best men for the job. That was the biggest achievement and the most sensible thing to do.

And he even got you to sing for his film—was it a breeze? Will this foray be followed by a music album?

Singing is difficult. It’s easy if you are not afraid to make a fool of yourself in front of 10 people, and if you are confident enough to catch the sur and keep on trying and trying, then one can manage. And with today’s technique, equipment and technicians, you can achieve a soulful voice to sing. If you catch the sur, and go one notch up or down, they can manage it. So, if you have sung at 20 per cent, they can get it up to 50-60 per cent. Coming from a non-singer or actor is passable. I started singing because when you go for appearances, shows and all, you have the mic in hand, and we are singing in the singer’s voice, so I thought let me sing the song so that I can sing on top of my own voice. It turned out to be OK, after the technicians mixed it. (pauses) I will launch my own label.

The last time we spoke you had plans of an online entertainment channel so how is that progressing?

That’s taking time. I need to be very careful with it.

Meanwhile, you have been putting your presence on social-networking sites to good use by helping people get jobs. Tell us something about that.

I just feel Facebook and Twitter are all timepass and if something good is coming out of these timepass social networking sites, where people can get a job, then it’s good. See, there are a lot of people on my page and I am sure mostly all of them don’t have jobs. Millions of people say kaam nahin hai, so I asked people I have worked with and people I have endorsed brands for— they hire 25-30 people on a monthly basis, ki why don’t you hire my fans from my Facebook and Twitter page, and they agreed. Of course, the candidate has to qualify. He has to work seriously and basically, if he has got a job from here, he has to make us proud because he got a job from this platform.

And within the industry you are giving newcomers big breaks, so who is the next big launch from your stable?

Suraj (Pancholi) is ready so we are going to launch him—there is another friend’s kid who is training right now. That’s taking some time and then we will launch another one. Suraj is a very very big star. Suraj is what star sons like Sanjay Dutt, Sunny Deol are. Jackie (Shroff), though he was not a star son had the persona of a star—personality wise. I think these guys were the last three heroes; so Suraj has got that feel . He’s in a different league altogether. The camera just loves him. There are others, but we can’t tell you that right now.

You are now working with a whole new generation of actresses so tell us something about your heroines in your forthcoming projects: Jacqueline Fernandez (Kick) and Sonam Kapoor (Prem Ratan Dhan Payo).

I have known Jacqueline for the longest time, but this is the first time I am working with her. Great energy, a superb sense of humour and it’s high time she got her due. She’s been bajaoed for the longest time and now I think it’s time for her to turn it around.
There’s Nargis (Fakhri) too who is very impressive. I am definitely working with her. She’s lovely, she looks so amazing, she’s got great discipline. She is very chilled and very, very pure. She has no malice and is very sharif. I loved working with her.
Sonam is very sweet. She is actually the typical Sooraj Barjatiya heroine. Beneath all that fashion-vashion, she is a very simple girl. I think that’s also because of the way her parents are. What I like about both Jacqueline and Sonam is that even though they went through a bad phase, they really took care of themselves. It’s very important that when you go through a bad patch you should take care of yourself. Good times, you can still take it easy, but during a bad patch, toh, you have to be at your best behaviour, your best looks, most professional, and that always works.

Another hug with colleague Shah Rukh Khan has got everyone hoping that both of you should act together in a film soon. And then there is Aamir with whom you have shared screen space as well. How would you describe them as colleagues?

They are both my colleagues and they have very good qualities and god has given them so much. I am very happy for them and every time they go out and work, they really support a lot of families and I really respect that. They are actors par excellence And I hope the three of us remain the fittest for a long time to come.

priyanka.sinha@expressindia.com

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