It was a long wait but when Anil Kapoor and John Abraham turned up for the select media interaction for Welcome Back they were well-prepared to take on the critics. “In the morning we read the reviews of Welcome and the average rating was one star. Comedy is serious business and the critics should respect this. If you will watch Welcome Back as a family entertainer you won’t feel disappointed,” said John, who stopped newspapers at home 13 years back. “I watched Hera Pheri with a seasoned critic. He was laughing through the film but at the end he was criticising it for lack of logic. I said but you laughed but it had no impact on him.” Having said that he says he has complete respect for critics.
One finds a paradox here. As a producer John has been making critic-friendly films. And Vicky Donor was in comic space. “As a producer I want to back films which I want to see. Its tone is comic but Vicky Donor deals with a serious subject.” John notes despite his action hero image all his comedies have been hits. “It has not been easy for me. When I turned up on the sets of Garam Masala my first scene was with Rajpal Yadav and Paresh Rawal. I had no clue how to match their timing. I sailed through because of Priyadarshan and Neeraj Vora.”
Still, John adds, he is not comfortable with dance. “You tell me to jump from here to there and I will keep doing but I have yet to crack song and dance.”
Dance and organic chemistry
Anil Kapoor’s struggle with dance has been legendary as well. Ask Saroj Khan and she will tell you how Anil made her suffer. “I was always comfortable with dance,” winks Kapoor. “See, I admire Shammi Kapoor, Dev Anand, Shivaji Ganeshan, Rajinikanth. I noticed they always do steps which come out organically from inside… jo unki body se nikalata hai wahi karte hain. It is not something that looks rehearsed. Even Bachchanji is like that. I said I will do what suits me. My hand movements should not look odd. I had my share of differences with choreographers but ultimately they got my point. You can see that the end result in Tezaab , Mr. India , Ram Lakhan and 1942 A Love Story. I told them don’t expect a Govinda out of me.”
Kapoor recalls that he had differences with Ahmad Khan when he choreographed the title song of Welcome as he expected Nana and him to copy the steps he created for Akshay Kumar. “I told him that he should create steps for the characters. Uday and Majnu bhai would not dance like Akshay and ultimately he relented.”
This year Kapoor created waves as the head of a dysfunctional family in Dil Dhadakne Do . He maintains Kamal Mehra and Majnu Bhai require different approach but both require preparation.
“In Mehra you see a lot of layers and texture but in Majnu there is only one layer. The pitching is different but still you have to make it somewhat believable so that the audience can laugh at his situation – a don who is trying to control his propensity to kill.” Kapoor jokes if you make a film on the making of Welcome Back it will be funnier than the film itself. “The video can give Bajrangi Bhaijaan a run for its money.”
Preparing for the second season of 24, Kapoor says his family production house is in full swing. “I am producing one film and Riya (his elder daughter) is producing two. It is great time to invest in content.”
On corporate houses catching up with family-run production houses, Kapoor says, “We were always ahead. Yes, they have caught up with us but we are taking corrective measures. Our productions will remain lavish but with a lot more discipline. There is no space for chaos anymore,” signs off Kapoor but not before reminding to watch Sonam Kapoor’s latest video with Hrithik Roshan on Aashiqui’s “Dheere Dheere”.
