The actor reveals why he chose to side with the producer of Welcome Back, rather than its director
Upala KBR (DNA; September 26, 2015)
While the producer (Firoz A Nadiadwallah) and director (Anees Bazmee) of Welcome Back were sorting out their dirty laundry in public through the media, leading man Anil Kapoor stood by Firoz and made sure that the film released on time. Here, he opens up about the financial problems the film went through and why he backed his producer. He adds that he wants to get more involved in his own production house. Over to AK...
Your last release faced financial problems and almost didn’t release on time.
Yes, There were several financial issues and complications. When I take up a film it’s important to me that it sees the light of the day, no matter what complications there are. I am an actor but also being a producer’s son, I feel for the producer. I remember Subhash Ghai telling me ‘Anil tu picture ka hero hai, producer nahi hai.’ I don’t want to go into details but too much of my time went into sorting this out. Initially, I went through a lot of dilemma whether I should get involved. The Dubai premiere didn’t happen as there were so many complications over there. In my experience when things are not planned well, it’s advisable not to travel internationally.
I was just stressed. There were so many issues. Then we all decided it’s better that the film releases at least. But because of the delays, it didn’t release in 300 screens, otherwise the first-day collections would’ve been even better.
These days, do you think from the producer’s view or an actor’s?
I have become less selfish. The change now is that initially, I would think more from my point-of-view. Everything was I, me and myself which is how every young person thinks and it is a very selfish way of thinking. But at the moment, I think more from others’ point-of-view and I have to be reminded constantly that I have to think from my point-of-view because I realised that I was going into every other POV except mine. There are people who protect me — like my managers and well-wishers who say that I can’t get carried away as people will take advantage of it. But I am an emotional person; I do tend to get carried away.
After three decades in the industry, do success and failure still matter to you?
Of course. It makes me happy when everybody recovers their money. There was a lot of speculation that I haven’t got money or somebody else wasn’t paid in WB, but I know Firoz is going to sort out everything. He has given me his word. Being part of the film industry, with my father (Surinder Kapoor) and brother (Boney Kapoor) also into production, I am more sympathetic towards the woes of the producer. It is a thankless job. Everybody feels that the producer is cheating and making a lot of money, but the actors don’t know what the truth is. I know my father and brother never made any money. I have not made money yet, as a producer! (laughs)
Why?
It is very tough for a producer to make money — the stars and their technicians charge too much, so I think there is no balance as such. There should be some trust between the actors and producers and the studios, where everything should be transparent, the way Aamir and Shah Rukh do and Akshay has done in a couple of films. Whatever their deals are, they are very transparent. I think everybody should do that. Where they don’t take their price, but become stakeholders. The film makes money and you make money. Slowly, that will be the future or it results in too much pressure on the producers.
There are reports that the third part of WB won’t have Anees Bazmee.
I am not aware about anything about the threequel. Of course, I’d love to be part of a successful franchise, the way that Majnu Bhai and Uday Bhai have been loved and appreciated, I am sure they’d love to see us again. But it’s not for me to announce Welcome Back 3. Nana and I love playing these characters and we joke and say that Majnu and Uday are not two but one character — one can’t do without the other.
Apparently, the leading actor Fawad Khan opted out of your next production Battle For Bittora as the script had steamy scenes?
There has been too much speculation over who the leading man is. I read somewhere that Fawad is there and then he was out. Then I read about Farhan Akhtar and Sidharth Malhotra being there... But to be honest, nothing has been locked as yet. I will be making the formal announcement in the next couple of months. No actor except Sonam has been finalised as yet. There were some changes that took place at the scripting level also... Hopefully, we will finalise the star cast soon. Now I am getting more involved in the production aspect than I have been in my earlier productions. There are three-four projects that are happening simultaneously. My first focus is, of course, 24 but I will give time to my film productions now.