Not many survive missing their wedding anniversary. But Ram Kapoor has done so. On February 14 (his wedding anniversary), he was sitting at YashRaj studios giving interviews for his recently released film Mere Dad Ki Maruti .“I knew I’d be working so I gave my wife a surprise gift last night and had a few close family and friends over for a midnight party. So I am safe on that count,” he laughs. ‘Mr. Kapoor’ is the most sought after guy in the television industry after his eponymous role in Ekta Kapoor’s Bade Acche Lagte Hain and his films have catapulted him into another orbit altogether. Films such as Udaan , Ek Main Aur Ek Tu and Student Of The Year have added to his repertoire. “I am in a happy place and consider myself very lucky. But I have a long way to go still. I am not celebrating yet,” he says.
In director Ashima Chibber’s Mere Dad Ki Maruti (under the YashRaj banner’s youth films’ division – Y-Films) the actor plays Tej, a father who is enraged when his son loses their Maruti Ertiga which he planned to gift his daughter on her wedding. “I am the loudest guy in the party. I am annoying and I think that’s funny. My daughter is an angel and my son the biggest fool. That’s the film in a nutshell. It’s the story of a typical father-son relationship,” he says.
Ram’s TV trajectory notwithstanding, the actor says he wants to grow into a character ‘star’, adding that it was a conscious decision to move away from his lead protagonist persona on television. “In films, I am a regular guy who can make you laugh, cry and get mad at. I feel that after years and years of doing the same thing television had stopped my growth as an actor. After Udaan , I thought of breaking this monotony. I am well aware of my plusses and minuses, especially my weight. I would like to be in the league of Boman Irani or Paresh Rawal. They are not character artistes. They are character stars and I want to be one of them. In fact, whenever I meet Boman I tell him when I grow bigger, I’d like to be like him and he always asks me how much ‘more bigger’ do I wish to get!”, he laughs. The actor idolises Sanjeev Kumar, Balraj Sahni, Pankaj Kapur and Naseeruddin Shah, besides Paresh and Boman.
After this laugh riot from the YashRaj banner, Ram has three more films. One is Nagesh Kukonoor’s Laxmi where he plays the lawyer who takes up the case of the 13-year-old-girl who is a victim of human trafficking. “It is based on a real life story and my character becomes a father figure to her.” In Shaadi Ke Side Effects , Saket Chaudhary’s sequel to the 2006 film Pyaar Ke Side Effects , Ram plays the spoke in Farhan Akhtar’s life. There is another film titled Santa Banta in which he plays the villain.
