There is a huge birthday bouquet — with pink and crimson balloons and roses — for Kareena Kapoor Khan, from Alia Bhatt, resting in the corner of the conference room. Another one from her “insurance advisor” sits in the other corner. White carnations and red roses are all over, outnumbering the posters of Saif Ali Khan films — Go Goa Gone, Happy Ending — on the wall and more flowers keep arriving as we wait for Khan for a post-lunch interview. There are piles of classics strewn all over, a book collection that could do any literature student proud. The study-cum-living room in which Khan eventually meets us also has shelves upon shelves of books. Relaxed, in a T-shirt, shorts and flip-flops Khan is in a party mood for his wife’s birthday later at night. “I’d rather not do any work tomorrow,” he says, when we ask him why he had planned press interviews on her birthday. We catch him in a thoughtful, chatty mood. Edited excerpts from an interview…
Despite being in the thick of the mainstream you have chosen to be at a tangent with films likeOmkara,Being Cyrus… Coming to Chef— how mainstream or tangential is it?
You are a victim of your sensibility. There are different things that drive us. If like a scientist or detective you were to analyse those influences and the past then it’s pretty obvious that one would have this outlook [to work]. Many of us come with different mental processes that define our choices. I would always be drawn to an interesting film that challenges me somewhere and also breaks the norm of run-of-the-mill commercial cinema. [Mainstream cinema] has a tendency to become the lowest common denominator, which is changing now.
It’s really important to have a good time at work with a well-balanced life. Everything else seems to be in place but what really makes me feel good is a creative and challenging job as well. There are the kids, there’s a wife you like. It’s quite a blessing to like your wife, some people don’t have that luxury. So everything — my mother, Pataudi — it’s all good. But late at night [when] I am learning lines for Sacred Games and Sartaj Singh — I feel there is a responsibility to create that role as well as I can. That completes my life. Work is very important cause it defines us, [choices] happen for these reasons. So Chef fits in. It could have been more commercial if commercial means youthcentric.
So is it more family-oriented?
I’d say it’s a modern, slightly unorthodox take on relationships. Whether it’s commercial or not nobody knows. It doesn’t have front-bencher kind of foot-tapping songs. It’s not Judwaa 2 . I think it’s a fresh film and a good film. It’s a touching movie and it’s about something. It’s a layered film and an intelligent film and it was very challenging to do. On paper, I think it is an appealing story commercially because it has potential to make money compared to the budget. It’s not an expensive film. It is not burdened by overpaid stars and [for] locations. Raja [Menon] has shot it really well.
On the surface it has all the elements — a North Indian guy and a South Indian girl and a kid stuck somewhere in the middle. It’s a modern take because it’s not about a divorce based on another woman but on selfish time management. If somebody gets a job in America and family has to stay back here — it’s a fairly common problem. He has to come back and live with her but in a guest room. She’s got a boyfriend and I thought that was quite interesting. There’s humour in that and there’s Milind Soman who can be the most annoying boyfriend for your ex-wife to have because he is so fit and handsome. He gives me lectures [in the film] on life, health, family, relationships which is pretty irritating.
The film is about a fairly common urban problem – how to give time to your children and your family and balance it with work. What happens when you lose your way with your relationships, lose passion for your job, if it becomes mechanical. You need something that you really believe in to keep you going. It’s a father-son story on one level. It’s about a guy who loses his passion for work and gets it back from the most unlikely source. It’s about ego and how that can damage you. Its set in Kerala, is a kind of road movie and it has got a setting that mirrors the mindset of the characters. There’s New York where things can get so cold and grey. Then there’s sunny Kerala which is colourful. As a journey you also get to see the different foods in these places. But it’s not about food so much as about relationships. It’s basically about a guy trying to figure out his life.
How does the original Chef(2014) fit in here?
Raja is not the kind of guy who would go for a remake. He is inspired but has altered it. That’s an indie film, nice small film. I think this is a wider cinematic experience.
Was it your idea or his?
It was our producer Vikram Malhotra. He had me and Raja signed. He just put us together. Luckily Raja also thought I’d be right for the role. I think I am lucky to have Raja. It’s a director’s medium. A story has to be told a certain way and only directors can do that.
It’s a very atypical profession to have in a Hindi film…
Absolutely. That’s part of the film. To have a passion or a job that’s unorthodox, something that makes you happy need not be something that will please your parents. It’s not just a father-son story with my son but also a father-son story with my father. There are these three generations of thoughts. Food also becomes a metaphor. How you cook, what you eat reflects how you feel about life. Some people live on pizza and coke. Some people come home from work and cook something, play some music.
Mainstream films don’t normally look at food in a metaphorical way…
Films have to reflect our society. The urban middle class is well represented in this movie. It caters to that sensibility. We are an industry with different sections of thought. Chef caters to the upwardly mobile section. As classes segment, movies will segment accordingly. There is that Dil Chahta Hai grown-up school of film.
It’s not a food film? Like say Ang Lee’s Eat Drink Man Woman or The Wedding Banquet that have so much imagery of food…
There’s a balance. There’s pasta being cooked in New York. It will make you hungry. There’s the chopping, cooking and alchemy of food, the smells and tastes of different kitchens — America, Kerala, Amritsar. Making tamatar ki chutney in a dhaba , cooking in South India, sweating over an open fire oven. There’s a father-son fight in the film and they don’t really know each other well. To make up, instead of talking, he cooks him something. The food truck [in the film] is a metaphor. It comes to him as a khataara (run down vehicle) and his girl tells him that he is also khataara. It’s not Rocky but it is also about second chances, priorities. People will relate, you will relate I think.
Do you cook yourself?
More than I have before. I have cooked a bit. I once tried to make a hamburger and it shrivelled and my mother thought it was kebab. The kebab is great, she said. I can now cook different kinds of pasta, dal, some seafood, prawns…
Are we to give Raja the credit for it?
He wanted me to look proficient in the kitchen. Cause this guy [I play] is a top chef, he is an artiste who has lost interest. We went to Marriott [Juhu] and [was taught by] Chef Himanshu and three four other chefs. I used to go there to learn cutting, cooking, just to get comfortable. Thank god the training was all local. I hate travelling. I want everything to be in Bandra. I want to shoot an entire film in Bandra next. We can you know. It’s so cinematic. Why travel?
How long did you train?
About a month. We are from the 90s and it’s like do you want to be a lazy star or committed actor. I think Raja was really impressed with how committed I was. Honestly I used to be like “Oh God” but every day I’d get there. I had a lot of fun and time would fly by. I had always enjoyed cooking. I used to cook with friends in London. Those kitchens are different and weather is different. So a nice glass of wine, put on some really nice music, I’d cut onions and my very good friend would make spaghetti. He gave me the dirty job. It’s really therapeutic and I’d love to cook more. Cooking for family, friends, it’s a nice way to be.
Have you cooked for your kids?
I have cooked them pasta and dal and stuff. Taimur is too small but I look forward to doing that for him. I cook for Kareena sometimes and Soha.
Do they like your cooking?
They have been polite. My mother is a great cook. The Bengali food — she cooks just anything. She is a proper chef…
She did appreciate your shrivelled hamburger so you must be quite good…
It was ok. There’s a fine line between a hamburger and a kebab yaar…
Are you an eater also? Do you like good food or do you just eat to live?
I wish I only ate to live cause then I’d be thinner. I enjoy the taste but I am aware that it is a sensory pleasure. If it’s an unhealthy meal I regret it too much afterwards. It’s unprofessional for me, causes me a lot of mental trauma. Trauma is too strong a word. It causes me a lot of unrest. Once a week I eat what I enjoy, like a pizza. I even enjoy the taste of healthy food. The fact that it doesn’t make me feel guilty makes it taste better. Like a light fish and vegetables feels really good coz I know I can eat it and I am not gonna regret it. That should be applied to all aspects of life. Whatever you do, if it makes you feel good you should also consider whether it will make you feel good later. Any kind of sensory pursuit. Anything that won’t make you feel good afterwards should be tempered I think.
Food is such an important part of life but you do not notice it or comment on it. It’s come to me from my mother or father, to thank the cook when I have enjoyed a meal. You have to appreciate it but all too often it’s something that goes on in the background. It’s highlighted [in the film] but it is to show bonding and connection. Seeing an artiste at work is such a pleasure. There’s a hairdresser friend of mine. Seeing him do hair is like watching a magician at work, like a surgeon. It makes you see a person in a different way. That’s what happens with me and my son in the film.
Do you eat at home kinds or do you go out often?
Mostly at home. Sometimes we do go out.
That must be in Bandra only?
I don’t want to go far. Sometimes my wife wants to go to Wasabi. My favourites are Pali Bhavan, Royal China, when it was open, was great, Olive. There are few other new restaurants which have opened now in BKC. Hemant [Oberoi] — I want to go there. There is no need to leave Bandra I think.
I want to make you write on Bandra one day…
I will. My Kaalakaandi is shot mostly in Bandra. A lot of films I am doing have been shot in Mumbai.
In choosing tangential roles there are also ups and downs, some of them may not work…
I have got used to so much not working, unfortunately. Most of the films we make tend not to work. If we get emotional about it, we’d be wrecks. It is disheartening but we have to keep going, try and get better and be positive about it. When it comes to these films I have worked with the smartest directors — Akshat Verma, Vikramaditya Motwane. Navdeep Singh and Nitin Kakkar who I am working with. These are smarter movies, the interaction with them is deeply rewarding. If the budget is right and a film makes even a bit of money to justify its existence I’d be the happiest. I think I am finally beginning to understand my sense of style as an actor. I am developing my craft, understanding what acting and communication is.
I am watching Al Pacino every day. He is heads and shoulders above anyone else I have seen. And in a commercial way. The mania that comes to him in a speech. Indian actors need to learn from him. We also need that kind of amplitude. In that sense I am in a really good space. I am quite happy not to be dancing and singing. That’s not been my scene from the bottom of my heart. It’s not something I ever really related to. If I can just act seriously in a nice role. There’s promoting movies before a release, there is so much more to being an actor it seems. If I can get away with not doing that. I’d be very happy even if I get paid less.
I’d rather have a sensible group, intelligent conversations. Vikramaditya Motwane doesn’t seek praise. He takes so long to block a shot. But of course it’s the main thing. How should I shoot this? One is learning and growing. I am happy. The situation we are putting the actors. Someone needs to just take them out of the box and put them in real spaces.
It could be the best phase…
In terms of personal growth, yes. Films are also changing. It’s a reflection of our economy and society. Because it’s all digital you can go into a Bandra flat, you don’t need so many lights. I shot a night scene in a Bandra flat and it looked so real. Even if you look at the 90s Hollywood, there were a lot of set-centric films and they looked shit. We shot in a bathroom. I did make them clean it though cause I nearly died. It looked amazing — the peeling wall. You won’t get that [in a set]. It’s a really exciting time in that sense.
