Jhakaas Jodi

Arjun Kapoor: Enough is never enough when you are marketing.

Anil Kapoor: There is an overload of information and content on every platform, so you need to underline your film and stand out. And I think things are changing, I think things will get more structured soon because everybody is learning and adapting to what works and what doesn't work in films and marketing. Nothing is very wrong and nothing is very correct either.

I don't think there is a formula for marketing the movie.

Arjun Kapoor: At the end of the day, your content has to work. Even if you market your film relentlessly,Marketing always co-relates with what you have to say. That's why marketing is a success or a failure depending on the material you create. Marketing will possibly enhance your first day; beyond that, the film takes over.

Anil Kapoor: Every time an actor does a film, he expects it to do well. So I think this film should do well and be appreciated. Also, Mubarakan is not just an entertainer. Yes, first and foremost, we want the film to entertain but there is something more to it.

Anil Kapoor: Initially, Arjun was not a part of the film. A dear friend, Ashwin Varde, who was a part of your fraternity, messaged me saying there was this script and Sony was involved and backing the project, and that they were on board as partner-producers. He said he wanted to narrate the script to me. Since Ashwin is a friend, I said I must listen to it. I liked it in the first narration itself and said yes.

Anil Kapoor: First Anees (Bazmee) Saab came on board. Then we all felt that we should approach Arjun. So I made a call to him and said, 'The choice is yours but listen to it first." I just made one call, that's it.

Anil Kapoor: Arjun is not… hmmm… It depends on who the family member is. For example, Arjun is a very hardworking guy, he is very passionate about commercial cinema, mainstream cinema, and it was very important for this film that we have an actor who is as passionate about mainstream cinema as we were. He had worked with me and Anees as an assistant in No Entry. Boney and I have produced films together and he has seen those films, they have been usually successful, and he knows that there is a lot of hard work that goes into making films like this.

Arjun knows those sensibilities, so I was happy that he said yes to the film. Once he did, I was, like, now we have the correct cast of chacha-bhatija. If anyone else was my bhatija or my bhanja, it would have been equally good but it was perfect because he is my bhatija in real life too.

The equation was excellent. I have been connected with Arjun for many years, ever since he became this young man who had decided to work in this profession. He was an assistant during Salaam-E-Ishq also, so we had a connection apart from being related and that helped tremendously in the film. And, of course, he was experienced enough to come on board and deliver what the director asked him to deliver.

Arjun Kapoor: When you are working with family, there's no ice to break. At the end of the day, off the sets, between shots, you don't need to form any equations, you don't need to be wary of how to take conversations further. You can take the person just the way you know him in real life and he is the same between shots too. He is still going to be my chacha in the middle of two takes, and we are going to have normal conversations.

Arjun Kapoor: I try to observe and learn. At the end of the day, what you take away from the other person is entirely up to you. His energy is infectious and I used to try and adapt to it. Some people like to fight energies whereas I like to blend with it. It suits me, it suits the film, it suits the characters, the character is larger than life and he is out there embracing his character with full energy. So that energy allowed me to be energetic about my own character and I embraced that. I think this film needed that energy.

Most importantly, you have to be disciplined enough to know what you are doing, to make the other actor comfortable with you. It would have been terrible if I had come unprepared, taking it for granted that since he is my chacha, I could make mistakes and do what I wanted to.

If you come prepared, any actor would be happy to have a fellow actor to feed off. So I came prepared, so that I could imbibe the improvisation from him. I could give it back, I could take it back. It was always like ki agar main thik thak tyaari karke jaunga toh he will be more comfortable, he wouldn't have to worry about protecting me. So I put my best foot forward.

In a way, that was a tribute to my upbringing in the family. I have seen how he has worked over the years. So if he sees a reflection of that in me, he will obviously feel that it was worth investing time and energy in this project.

Anil Kapoor: I discovered a lot. I said, this guy is good, yaar. Yeh toh zabardaast hai. He is fantastic. He kept me on my toes.

Arjun Kapoor: Which is not easy. His energy on the sets is amazing. He is like a steam sauna spa for people. They feel refreshed around him. Something as simple as chalo khana khate hai, he can make it sound like such a big, positive event. People feel charged ki chalo main aaj khana khata hoon. He is encouraging about everything. His light transcends to other people. He gives out so much positivity. And it comes from the top, the most successful…

Anil Kapoor: (Cuts in) Senior…

Arjun Kapoor: No, the most unassuming person about his success, who asks the cameraperson and the spot boy about their well-being. So he passes on his positivity to every person on the sets and that translates onscreen.

Anil Kapoor: For me, once Arjun came on board, I knew everything was going to be fantastic. He is playing a double role. Each of these characters has to look different and be different and Arjun aced it, not only in terms of his physicality but in his attitude, behavior and dialogue delivery.

Obviously, the biggest advantage was that the material was so good, But once he said yes to the film, I got a very positive feel about the film. I was like, 'Yeh baat bangayi hai.' So every step of Arjun, in the film, has made me happier.

Anil Kapoor: This is one of the fastest films Anees has made. It was done in one shot. This film is fresh because it happened fatafat. Likha, conceive kiya shoot kiya, release kiya within six months. From February to July 28, it was done. The songs, the nuances, the performances, the content everything is garma garm.

Arjun Kapoor: We even shot it with a fresh mindset and this comes across in the film.

Anil Kapoor: And it has a lot of VFX too because of his double role, so there is a lot of post work as well.

Arjun Kapoor: We ended up speaking about things which we normally don't get time to speak about because he is busy with his life and I am busy with mine. As close I was to Sonam, Rhea and Harsh, I think they will be a little jealous of the fact that I have become closer to him now. Now we have become friends; it's gone beyond being just chacha-bhatija. It was never was a typical chacha-bhatija relationship anyway.

Anil Kapoor: That's what I am saying, working with a family member depends on who the family member is. For me, it is tough to work with a family member. For example, Sonam doesn't want to work with me.

Anil Kapoor: I don't know why.

Arjun Kapoor: She will change her mind after she watches Mubarakan.

Anil Kapoor: To be honest, I would love to direct her. Because I feel she is a kind of a canvas where there is so much to fill in, in terms of the colors.

Arjun Kapoor: Yes, after so many years, she still has untapped potential.

Arjun Kapoor: I was waiting to do a comedy and I was very clear that if I did one, I didn't want to be apologetic about it.

Anil Kapoor: Sorry to cut you off… I just feel that because the biggest advantage of Anees Bazmee is that his comedy is always very universal, very situational, and you don't really go out to do comedy-comedy. Nothing is forced. So, for an actor, I would always advise… any of the young actors… any of us also… or seniors… that it is important to work on content. Comedy needs to be very well written. Mubarakan has a well-written script, it is situational, it's not slapstick…

Arjun Kapoor: And it is challenging in a nice way. You don't have to do comedy, you have to keep a poker face and deliver your lines. Like, 'Chachu kya kar rahe ho marr jayenge.' People laugh but you do it with all honesty.

Anil Kapoor: Comedy is very naked, no camera angle, and you need good actors to feed off, to connect with. If you get stuck in a comedy with an actor who cannot give you the right timing, your scene will fall flat.

Arjun Kapoor: So I was in good hands. Anil chachu and Anees sir, allowed me to play.They allowed me to learn.