Getting BOLD

Tusshar Kapoor,who till now has taken the safe path in terms of his roles,will get gritty in Shorr In The City and shed his inhibitions in Dirty Picture.

Tusshar Kapoor,who till now has taken the safe path in terms of his roles,will get gritty in Shorr In The City and shed his inhibitions in Dirty Picture.

From being almost invisible in Ram Gopal Varmas Gayab to playing a petty criminal in Shorr to blissfully making love to Vidya Balan in Dirty Picture,Tusshar Kapoor has indeed come a long way. However,the actor may have grown professionally,but as a person he remains the way he was a decade ago. Tusshar doesnt get overly excited about his work or talk incessantly about it,but is sure how to move ahead. He went about getting his photographs organised during the release of his first film Mujhe Kucch Kehna Hai,and he did the same now. The tone too is calm and gathered as he talks about his films,even if its a Shorr In The City,his first attempt at doing alternative cinema.

Shorr will give a new school of thought to Indian cinema. The directors,Raj Nidimoru and Krishna DK,have sensibilities that are international in nature. I had seen 99 their last film,and liked the tangy,tongue-in-cheek way they had weaved the story of India-South Africa cricket betting scandals. The entertaining way they handled the controversial issue will be evident in Shorr as well. The film is Mumbai-centric,but with an unusual setting. Shorr does not talk about the underbelly of Mumbai,neither does it focus on

the urban youth. It tells the story of the city through petty,street- smart characters and the chaos and energy that they possess, says Tusshar.

The actor reveals how he grew up in Mumbai but had never seen the side of the city that he saw during the shooting of the film. He had heard about people living in five-by-five feet shanties and two-feet narrow lanes. He saw all this for the first time when he shot in places like Bhayandar,Charkop and Chembur.

Tusshar plays a petty criminal who steals books from bookstores and sells their pirated copies on the roadside. He also resorts to extortion at times and whatever else that will bring in a few bucks. I have played a tapori before,but this guy is a whole new thought. I read the script a couple of times to digest the intricacies of his character,and saw foreign films like City Of God Mexican and a whole lot of Spanish films. Films in both these languages have smart characters who are glib,nimble fingered and extremely clever. I picked up nuances like the way they flit their eyes to see that no one is looking,and the way they move so stealthily, reveals the actor.

If he gets into a character so deeply,it would be interesting to know Tusshars prep mode for Milan Luthrias Dirty Picture. Here he has a passionate and volatile relationship with a porn star,Smitha,played by Vidya Balan,with some steamy scenes thrown in. Getting cosy with a female co-star will also be a first for the actor. How bold the scene is going to be I will come to know when I start shooting in April, he laughs,but yes Vidya and I have a love-making scene in the film and we will be kissing too. But I will tackle the scene like any other- trying to get it right.

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If one thing is definite about Tusshar,it is that hes very sure he wants to do different roles,something that will be seen not only in Shorr and Dirty Picture but also in his upcoming releases,Love U Mr Kalakaar and Hum Tum Aur Shabana. Sahil of Kalakaar is a very laidback artiste,and someone I could not connect in terms of attitude. But it was interesting to get under the skin of his character and his world. Whereas the ambitious corporate of Hum Tum8230; is so perfect and proper. I am getting a chance to play such a variety of characters, he says happily.

geety.sahgalexpressindia.com