There’s a new Kapoor in Bollywood. Anil Kapoor’s son, Sonam and Rhea’s brother, Arjun’s cousin and Boney’s nephew – Harshvardhan comes with some serious industry pedigree.
The 25-year-old makes his big screen debut with Rakeysh Omprakash Mehra’s Mirzya, a film that the director has wanted to make for 25 years. But the debutant is not burdened by the expectations.
“There is not a moment in the film that I haven’t done what I thought would be for the good of the film.
There is a world of difference between the two characters I play both physically and emotionally.
If you see the two characters intercut with each other they don’t seem like the same person and that for me is a huge achievement,” Harshvardhan explains when we met him in the office of his director in the by-lanes of Bandra, Mumbai.
Harshvardhan has grown up watching his family deal with the ‘release stress’, but experiencing it for the first time is an eye-opener for him.
“Preparing for a film, making a film and then releasing a film are three very different and challenging parts of our business. Mirzya is a love story but it’s treated like a ‘regular’ love story. When you make something that’s genre defining, it takes time.
“The pressure that I am feeling because the film being so beautiful, I want to make sure it reaches every corner of the country and beyond. It would be a big opportunity lost if we don’t reach out to a 100 per cent of the audience.”
The millennial grew on a steady diet of films. He watched every film he could lay his hands on.
“I was watching films from across the world when I was 6-7.
I remember watching Kevin Costner, Eddie Murphy and Arnold Schwarzenegger films in the 90s. By 2000, I had moved to (Alejandro) Inarritu’s and (Alfonso) Cuaron’s early films. Then I discovered Michael Haneke’s films.
“I saw The Godfather when I was 13. I didn’t like it so much then. I watched it again at 19 in college with my girlfriend and I loved it.” By his late teens, Harshvardhan had started exploring beyond the films of his time.
“I saw Hannibal before I saw Silence of the Lambs. So, I guess I did things backwards. I discovered Charlie Kaufman after watching Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind, so I went back and watched Being John Malkovich and Human Nature.
“Then I discovered Gael Garcia Bernal and watched all of his films. I saw contemporary American and European cinema and then went to the classics. When I got older and went to film school, I started watching (Akira) Kurusawa and Satyajit Ray.”
He was watching world cinema, while simultaneously watching Dil Chahata Hai and his father’s films.
“I have ‘that’ sensibility but I am Indian and I have grown up in Bollywood so… I like to watch both.
My ideal scenario would be to make pan-India films that showcase at film festivals. It’s happening with Mirzya.
We are premiering at the London Film Festival and then releasing it in India nation-wide the next day. As a performer, my ultimate aim would be to tell Indian stories in newer ways.”
There was never a doubt in Harshvardhan’s mind that he would work in the movies. But he wasn’t very sure what he wanted to do.
“I couldn’t decide if I should start off as a writer-director and then give acting a shot or start off as an actor and then see how things go before moving to direction. I studied writing for four years. But finally, I went with the latter.”
Rakyesh Omprakash Mehra has wanted to make Mirzya with Harshavardan since 2008.
“I was in college and I felt like a child and under-prepared to be an actor. I wasn’t evolved enough to take on the responsibility.
In 2011, he told me that Gulzar is writing the script, but I still didn’t feel it was the right time. I think he liked that answer. I don’t think anyone had said ‘no’ to him in a long time.
When I come back from college, I did nothing in particular for a year and then finally in 2013 I reached out to him. This was before Milkha (Bhaag Milkha Bhaag) was released. That was the first time I actually got my hands on the script.”
The script required Harshvardan to be an exceptionally superior horse rider and archer.
“I had to gallop through sand and water while there were explosions going off around me; shoot arrows or gallop with Sayami sitting behind me. There’s a scene where the horse is galloping and I get pushed off the saddle and I am hanging off the side.It’s not the kind of film where they would cut to a close up and then the stunt man takes over. I had to prepare like how Farhan had to for Milkha.”
Harshvardhan spent almost two years just preparing physically for the film.
“I first went to Delhi for six months. I was a complete non-rider and I had to become a pro really quickly so I would go to the racecourse for two hours in the morning and evening.
Then I had to learn to play polo, which took another month-and-a-half. Playing polo is more difficult than mounted archery just because of the pace the sport is played at. It’s very fast-paced.
“I went to Seattle for a month-and-a-half and lived in a stable. I went to Ladakh with the action team a month before shooting started to map out the sequences.”
He is already shooting his second film, Bhavesh Joshi, with director Vikramaditya Motwane.
“I got the fresh script from him on July 1 and he wanted to start shooting on July 14. I kept trying to push him to give me more time, but he just refused point blank. He said I was mad. I managed to push him to give me until Aug 1,” he says with a laugh.
Star kids through the ages
When Raj Kapoor launched his son Rishi with Bobby (1973), the thespian started a tradition of leading men and women making movies with their children.
In the 80s, Rajendra Kumar, Sunil Dutt and Dharmendra followed the same template to launch their sons Kumar Gaurav (Love Story, 1981), Sanjay Dutt (Rocky, 1981) and Sunny Deol (Betaab, 1983).
Karisma Kapoor and Bobby Deol were supposed to be launched in the same film, but things didn’t work out.
Karisma was the first Kapoor daughter to act in films and she paved the way for Kareena to make her cinematic debut opposite another industry kid, Abhishek Bachchan (Refugee 2000).
Get a copy of tabla! for more stories.
