Sonam Kapoor on her friends in Bollywood, seducing Salman on screen and on speaking her mind...
Upala KBR (DNA; November 16, 2015)
Sonam Kapoor’s latest film with Salman Khan, Prem Ratan Dhan Payo has taken a grand opening and she’s thrilled. The actress says that, the success party has already started in her head. The actress in a candid chat, talks about her chemistry with co-star Salman, her friends and why she won’t do television.
You play a princess? Did it come naturally. You are a bit of a princess, no?
I guess so… There’s a little bit of me in each role of every film that I do. Princess Maithili is a modern-day princess who knows what she wants from love and life. Her ultimate goal is to be happy and the only way to be happy, she feels is to communicate with her loved ones and Prem comes into her life and makes her experience love, happiness and commitment. Whenever I do a role I do not see myself in it. I have to create different personas because that is what acting is all about.
Your character is wooed by a prince and a commoner. Who would you choose between the two?
I would definitely choose someone who treats me as the most important person in his life and gives me respect. It does not matter whether he’s a prince or a pauper. That person who treats me like a princess, will automatically be my prince. The rest, like which background he comes from, how much money he has, etc. doesn’t matter.
This is your first film with Salman…
It’s the second actually! Everybody’s forgotten Saawariya.
How different was it?
That was just 20 days of work and this was 200 days of work (laughs). I didn’t get to know him that well during Saawariya because I was very new and nervous. In these 200 days that I worked with him, I realised that he deserves all the superstardom and good stuff that he’s got his way because he’s such a good guy! I think good people should always come first. There’s a saying that good guys always finish last but in Salman Khan’s case, it’s not true. It just reaffirms my belief in goodness.
Salman initially had doubts about you being opposite him in the film. Correct?
Yes. But I wasn’t upset at all hearing about it. I know the place where he was coming from and eventually he was very happy with my performance. I don’t know what Salman’s reason was, I just knew that Soorajji really wanted me in the film and since Salman hasn’t done an intensely romantic film in a really long time, he was hesitant about who he wanted to romance on screen. But Soorajji was quite insistent that I do the film. Salman, too, at the end of the day will go with whatever the director wants and eventually, we created such a great rapport that I hope he’s happy with the decision. Salman has this amazing way of never praising you to your face, but he will praise you to everybody else. I hear what he’s said about me to everyone and it’s very kind and sweet of him. That’s very good, otherwise he teases me a lot! (Laughs)
Did you recommend your Raanjhanaa co-star Swara Bhaskar?
No, I didn’t. Soorajji said that Swara is doing the film and I was super-duper excited about it! It was Baby (Alvira Agnihotri) who suggested Swara’s name. It was a combination of Bling (the agency) and Alvira that made Swara happen. She is the emotional content and backbone of the film.
You are called a godmother today as you have taken actresses like Jacqueline Fernandez and Swara Bhaskar under your wing.
I don’t think that’s true. I have not taken them under my wing. We are completely in three different spaces and Swara and Jacqueline are their own people, Swara is way more talented than I am and Jacqueline has so much to offer in terms of glamour, beauty and everything. We all three are different kinds of actors but have lots of things in common, and we are friends. I consider us all on the same page.
Who is your best friend in Bollywood?
My sister Rhea, Swara and Jacqueline in terms of women, but I have also lots of other friends in the industry. Sanjay Bhansali is my mentor. I think if there’s anyone who is my 4 am friend it would have to be my sister and Swara. I call Swara at 6 am or 7 am to ask her some strange thing, so yes. But my best friends are not from the industry, they are my school and childhood friends whom I have known over the years. My best friend is Shehla Khan and I have a gang of girls — Tanya Ghavri, Karishma Mirchandani, Samyukta Nair and Pernia Qureshi. And amongst the boys there is Kunal Rawal.
You are known to be blunt. Have you been trying to learn dipolomacy?
No. I won’t do that. It’s really important to be straight-forward and not just have your own opinion but voice it too. I may often say things in public which may be misconstrued but if I can have an opinion so can everybody else. Constructive criticism is always welcome but when it comes to trolling and hate, that is never welcome because when I give my opinion, or I am critical of something, it doesn’t come from a place of hate, it’s a constructive opinion.
What is the issue closest to your heart right now?
Intolerance is the biggest issue right now for me. There is a lot of intolerance that is showcased here, a lot of corruption and the state of affairs in India, in terms of artistic freedom and expression, is challenging.