Conventional love stories can offer unconventional heroes. It’s this unconventionality that actors Sonam Kapoor and Anil Kapoor are trying to own, albeit with trepidation. In their upcoming film Ek Ladki Ko Dekha Toh Aisa Laga , Sonam plays Sweety, a young girl from Moga, Punjab, while looking for acceptance from her father, Balbir (Anil Kapoor).
The theme of homosexuality has been hinted at in the trailer, but when we meet the father-daughter team at a film studio in Mumbai – they neither confirm, nor deny it, appearing tight-lipped about the theme that perhaps needs a vocal shout-out. The PR machinery surrounding the film hints at a conventional love story.Anil reiterates that it is a love story that needs to be discovered by the audience without reading too much into the trailer. He is happy to elaborate on the dynamics of his working relationship with his daughter, and appearing together in it. “It could not have been a better story and a script for us to come together,” he says.
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Anil quells the rumour that he was once asked to play on-screen father to his daughter by the director-duo Abbas Mastan to which he retorted, “Do I look old enough to play her father?” He clarifies while saying working with her has been an inexpressible joy, “Abbas- Mustan never offered me a role to play Sonam’s father. Sometimes it is a lot of fun, and sometimes the stress of wanting for her to perform well gets me started,” he says. Sonam concurs and laughs that their working chemistry in the film is special. “It was lovely. I looked at him as a co-star, but I think it will be a while before he and I repeat this experience again,” she says.
Recalling the experience as surreal, Anil says that it was hard to separate their real and reel lives. “There was a schedule before her [wedding] and one after, and it was a very different kind of an experience working together.” Sonam married businessman Anand Ahuja in May 2018, while shooting for the film in which Balbir is trying to fix his daughter Sweety’s marriage.
About their characters, Sonam says, “Sweety is a reflection of each person in this world who is struggling to be who they are. It is as simple as that. Acceptance is such a huge part of our lives, whether it is going to college, to not studying engineering, getting married to someone from another religion, opting for a non-conventional career, sexual orientation – acceptance is so hard because Indian parents are brought up in a certain way which becomes cyclical in how harshly they treat their children. Sweety is that girl who is struggling to be accepted. Like when I told my dad that I wanted to be an actor, he accepted it, but my mother was not as receptive – she wanted me to go to college, to study.”
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There is some confusion between them about how they perceive Anil’s character. “Balbir is completely opposite [to me]. He works in the garments business, loves to cook, and lives in Moga. I have never been interested in cooking or clothes and have never played a character from Moga. He is a moderate-liberal kind of a person. I am not a moderate. I am a liberal at heart,” he says. Sonam differs slightly on his take, trying to blend the two personas together. “Balbir is very similar to my dad. He loves me so much, his acceptance comes from that and it does not clash with what I wear, who my friends are, and how I spend my time,” she reiterates.
Long innings
For someone who recently met the #10yearchallenge on Twitter with his own #AKChallenge, showcasing memorable roles in such films as Ram Lakhan (1989), Taal (1999) and Slumdog Millionaire (2009), Anil adds his role as Balbir in Ek Ladki Ko Dekha Toh Aisa Laga , to the illustrious list, redrawing the arc that has made him a bankable star for almost four decades.
The credit for that partially goes to new filmmakers he is willing to submit himself to. Debutant director Shelly Chopra Dhar had no prior experience in filmmaking when she approached him for Balbir’s part. He showed no reluctance in putting his faith in her passion. “New directors have fresher perspective and understanding,” he says. Anil says he was convinced when he saw that producer Vidhu Vinod Chopra was attached to the project. “He is not the kind of person to put his money on anybody. He is first a businessman, he loves his name, and he will not put his name on a project without conviction [about] that person’s talent,” he says.
Sonam feels that Shelly wants to tell the truth through this story. “I felt her honesty when she read the script to me. I was convinced that she would do a great job when I heard the line from the script, ”Agar tum apna sach batate ho toh log tumhe apna lete hain (People accept you when you tell them your truth),” she says.
Message in a bottle
After Section 377 was read down by the Supreme Court in September last year, decriminalising homosexuality, Ek Ladki Ko Dekha Toh Aisa Laga , is the first mainstream Hindi film that has the reach to debunk homophobia. “I am a huge advocate for LGBT+ rights. I do not want to discuss the plot. I would like people to discover it by going to the theatres. I believe there should not be any labels in this world,” says Sonam. Ideally, both actors are in a position to use the platform as well as offline media to expand on the theme of ELKDTAL but in a scenario that remains unconfirmed, we’ll make do with a grand proclamation -- that hopefully shouldn’t be hollow -- from Sonam, “My dad is a feminist. I am a feminist.”