Karan Kundra, the angry young man of television who rose to fame with “Kitani Mohabbat Hai” and “Gumrah”, is all set to explore a new dimension in MTV’s new show “Fanaah”, a love story set in a supernatural background comprising vampires, werewolves, witches and whatnot.
The actor known for his role as an arrogant and reserved Arjun Punj in “Kitani Mohabbat Hai” also has movies like “Hate Story”, “Pure Punjabi” to his credit. In his new outing “Fanaah”, he will essay the role of a charming vampire.
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The supernatural entities — witches, werewolves, vampires — might be the same, but to say that “Fanaah” is an adaptation of an American show would be a false statement. It’s like comparing “Final Destination” with “Aahat”. The genre is the same, while the content is entirely different.
How did you Indianise the concept to suit the audience?
When you bring anything to India, it becomes Indian. If we go back a few centuries, our Vedas contained a lot of supernatural elements that have been adopted by Hollywood. The show begins from the 1920s when sati was a common practice and evolves in the coming years. On a script level, this show is about a young girl from Dehradun who falls in love.
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Indian television has a comparatively low budget. So how were the superhuman transformations shot?
Hollywood movies like “Avatar” had got their VFX done by professionals in India. The country is nowhere lagging behind when it comes to special effects. Coming to the show, “Fanaah” is more of a content-based show depicting intense love, rather than the transformations that seldom take place. When it comes to content, budget is not much of an issue.
Tell us something about your role. How did you prepare for it?
Apart from staying fit and trying to look young, I didn’t have to work for it much. Vivaan is not a typical hero. He is not always right. He, like most of us, has his grey side too. He can be extremely evil and is always honest about it. We wanted to show someone very relatable, not righteous. Vivaan either loves like a madman or hates like one. For him, emotions are in extremities. Vivaan is very much like me. So, apart from the look, which is taken care of by my staff, I just had to understand the character — his upbringing and his place of belonging — and read the script again and again.
How did a boy from a business family take to acting, and what was it like working in Punjabi films?
Ekta Kapoor spotted me on Facebook and offered me my first role as Arjun Punj in “Kitani Mohabbat Hai”. Since then, there has been no looking back. The journey since then has been wonderful. My comparison is with myself. I make sure that my work is better than what I had previously done. Coming from a very secure family and a protected upbringing, the industry has been a place of surprises, a joy ride with a few setbacks too. I have done Punjabi as well as Hindi movies. Punjabi movies mean a long vacation. My family is in Punjab. They are happiest when I sign up a Punjabi movie as I get to visit them. It’s close to my culture, my heart.