‘You have to step out of the crease’
16 Feb 2014 9:58 PM GMT
What has it been like for you post the release of Krrish 3?
I have barely slept. We were all waiting for the movie’s collections. I am very excited and proud of my father and the entire team of Krrish 3. When we were making the film, we had no idea whether we would succeed. To be able to invest three years in one single project and believe in it, you need the support of various people. When the journey is long and hard, many quit along the way and some people stick by you. So I want to thank all our friends who stuck by us including those who stood silently by us. When the film released, we had to wait for a few days to actually gauge the reaction. I was finally able to exhale only when the first figures came in. I have slept like a superhero only after that!
If you look at my dad’s career graph, from Kaho Naa... Pyaar Hai, to Koi... Mil Gaya, Krrish and now Krrish 3, it has been an incredible journey. It is a matter of pride that he is able to cater to the new generation at his age. Kids love Krrish 3, women love the film, daadis love the film, chacha and chachis... everyone loves the film. I am very happy that he has finally achieved something which he felt was impossible.
What went through your mind on the eve of the release? Were you expecting the numbers that came in?
I can’t recollect what I was thinking; it was all a blur. I just prayed that we may get what we deserved. People were speaking very highly of the film and that was a positive sign. There was some discussion about whether it would have been better if we had released the film on 4 November, which was the earlier plan, and shatter records. My father thought he had missed out on the first-day opening shattering records.
But it seems we have still broken records and are marching ahead of the others. The collections from Friday, Saturday and Sunday are like a bonus. So I think the strategy worked and now it’s just about waiting and nurturing the baby and making it stronger every day.
You visited several cinemas. What was the response like?
The theatre visits were incredible. Mujhe bahut kum chance milta hai theatre visit karne ko as I do few films. Just one in two years or once a year. Krrish aayee hai do saal baad, so I thought I must go. I am so proud to be an Indian because the Indian audience opens their hearts to you. They shout, they whistle, they clap. I think this is one area where we are miles ahead of Hollywood. Where love is concerned... how to show love, how to receive love... only Indian audiences can do that.
I feel very sad for people like Al Pacino, Brad Pitt and Tom Cruise. I feel very bad for them as they will never experience this kind of euphoria over their films. Unless, of course, they want to shift to Bollywood! So I am absolutely delighted to be an Indian actor.
... and an Indian superhero?
Oh yes! That’s the tag now. It has become a symbol for me in my heart and head. We must live our lives as superheroes and it’s actually pretty simple. You just have to decide that no matter what happens, what problems come your way, you have to brush them off and move forward. That’s what a superhero does as he is always in the front row. Krrish has made a very great impact on my character. I am grateful to God and my dad and everything that has motivated us to keep pushing the envelope and thinking out-of-the-box, and doing what no man has done before. The lesson is, it works. Sometimes, you have to step out of the crease, be vulnerable and go for that sixer.
Which character is closer to you, Rohit or Krrish?
Rohit. A superhero is all about his super weaknesses. If you don’t have weakness, you can’t be a superhero. My entire childhood was about weaknesses. I was laughed at a lot, and I was teased a lot. I didn’t have friends when I was a kid, I didn’t want to speak to anyone, I didn’t believe in God. That’s where I come from in my mind. That entire segment of my life is an embodiment of Rohit. Many of the scenes in Koi... Mil Gaya mirrored scenes from my childhood, like the one where they break Rohit’s cycle. So when I play Rohit, it’s a part of me.
Krrish is that part of me that decided to overcome these difficulties, to fight back and say ‘I am going to do it no matter what obstacles come my way.’ So Rohit and Krrish are extremes but are different aspects of my personality. When I play Rohit, I play half my life; when I play Krrish, when I wear the mask, I feel a sense of power run through me, you know, the power to overcome my weaknesses.
Was it difficult to play Rohit after so many years?
It was quite difficult because I was wondering whether I would be able to get that same tone of voice. Since one changes as one grows older, I was wondering whether I would be able to get Rohit back after seven years. I took a long time to get his walk back, and his tone of voice. Now he is a father, so he needs to have strength and impart that wisdom to his son. It was a lethal and challenging combination. But, since Rohit is such an integral part of myself, it eventually just flowed. Once I did those two weeks of prep and got the make-up right, I was on my way. I knew Rohit was the hero of the film, even more than Krrish or Krishna. From Koi… Mil Gaya itself, it has always been Rohit, every story revolves around Rohit. I am happy that people loved him and sad that he is no more. Yes, he is within me but now there is also Krrish 4 and Jadoo. There are possibilities to everything. Once you tell a story with conviction, anything is possible. So Rohit will be back.
Of the three films in the franchise, which one are you most satisfied with?
As an actor, my first film, Koi… Mil Gaya was extremely close to me it was an eyeopener. It was the first time I had experienced the true flight of an actor. It was the first time I didn’t have to stick to my dialogue. It was the first time when after the shot got over, I didn’t know what I had done. So I experienced the true flight of an actor. We would check the monitor and be surprised at the things I had done, and I wondered how I did it all. We were like, ‘This was not part of the dialogue’! So I would choose Koi… Mil Gaya.
But as a student of cinema plus as an actor, and as a human being, a person who is striving all the time to achieve the impossible... in all those ways, Krrish 3 surpasses all the other films. It was a risky film, where dad and I had to sometimes push each other to make it. Dad had shelved the film three or four times because he was, like, ‘How will we make it? We don’t have the budget.’ The scripting had begun while Agneepath was being shot. So there were a lot of risks. There was a magnetic pull. I said to my father that, ‘Now that you have the idea and a script in place, it is your duty to make it.’ And he’d say, ‘But what’s the point? It will not make any money; you will not make any money.’
But I told him we had something great and that we had to be enthusiastic about it. That is why I am proudest of this film.
On special arrangement with Box Office India
I have barely slept. We were all waiting for the movie’s collections. I am very excited and proud of my father and the entire team of Krrish 3. When we were making the film, we had no idea whether we would succeed. To be able to invest three years in one single project and believe in it, you need the support of various people. When the journey is long and hard, many quit along the way and some people stick by you. So I want to thank all our friends who stuck by us including those who stood silently by us. When the film released, we had to wait for a few days to actually gauge the reaction. I was finally able to exhale only when the first figures came in. I have slept like a superhero only after that!
If you look at my dad’s career graph, from Kaho Naa... Pyaar Hai, to Koi... Mil Gaya, Krrish and now Krrish 3, it has been an incredible journey. It is a matter of pride that he is able to cater to the new generation at his age. Kids love Krrish 3, women love the film, daadis love the film, chacha and chachis... everyone loves the film. I am very happy that he has finally achieved something which he felt was impossible.
What went through your mind on the eve of the release? Were you expecting the numbers that came in?
I can’t recollect what I was thinking; it was all a blur. I just prayed that we may get what we deserved. People were speaking very highly of the film and that was a positive sign. There was some discussion about whether it would have been better if we had released the film on 4 November, which was the earlier plan, and shatter records. My father thought he had missed out on the first-day opening shattering records.
But it seems we have still broken records and are marching ahead of the others. The collections from Friday, Saturday and Sunday are like a bonus. So I think the strategy worked and now it’s just about waiting and nurturing the baby and making it stronger every day.
You visited several cinemas. What was the response like?
The theatre visits were incredible. Mujhe bahut kum chance milta hai theatre visit karne ko as I do few films. Just one in two years or once a year. Krrish aayee hai do saal baad, so I thought I must go. I am so proud to be an Indian because the Indian audience opens their hearts to you. They shout, they whistle, they clap. I think this is one area where we are miles ahead of Hollywood. Where love is concerned... how to show love, how to receive love... only Indian audiences can do that.
I feel very sad for people like Al Pacino, Brad Pitt and Tom Cruise. I feel very bad for them as they will never experience this kind of euphoria over their films. Unless, of course, they want to shift to Bollywood! So I am absolutely delighted to be an Indian actor.
... and an Indian superhero?
Oh yes! That’s the tag now. It has become a symbol for me in my heart and head. We must live our lives as superheroes and it’s actually pretty simple. You just have to decide that no matter what happens, what problems come your way, you have to brush them off and move forward. That’s what a superhero does as he is always in the front row. Krrish has made a very great impact on my character. I am grateful to God and my dad and everything that has motivated us to keep pushing the envelope and thinking out-of-the-box, and doing what no man has done before. The lesson is, it works. Sometimes, you have to step out of the crease, be vulnerable and go for that sixer.
Which character is closer to you, Rohit or Krrish?
Rohit. A superhero is all about his super weaknesses. If you don’t have weakness, you can’t be a superhero. My entire childhood was about weaknesses. I was laughed at a lot, and I was teased a lot. I didn’t have friends when I was a kid, I didn’t want to speak to anyone, I didn’t believe in God. That’s where I come from in my mind. That entire segment of my life is an embodiment of Rohit. Many of the scenes in Koi... Mil Gaya mirrored scenes from my childhood, like the one where they break Rohit’s cycle. So when I play Rohit, it’s a part of me.
Krrish is that part of me that decided to overcome these difficulties, to fight back and say ‘I am going to do it no matter what obstacles come my way.’ So Rohit and Krrish are extremes but are different aspects of my personality. When I play Rohit, I play half my life; when I play Krrish, when I wear the mask, I feel a sense of power run through me, you know, the power to overcome my weaknesses.
Was it difficult to play Rohit after so many years?
It was quite difficult because I was wondering whether I would be able to get that same tone of voice. Since one changes as one grows older, I was wondering whether I would be able to get Rohit back after seven years. I took a long time to get his walk back, and his tone of voice. Now he is a father, so he needs to have strength and impart that wisdom to his son. It was a lethal and challenging combination. But, since Rohit is such an integral part of myself, it eventually just flowed. Once I did those two weeks of prep and got the make-up right, I was on my way. I knew Rohit was the hero of the film, even more than Krrish or Krishna. From Koi… Mil Gaya itself, it has always been Rohit, every story revolves around Rohit. I am happy that people loved him and sad that he is no more. Yes, he is within me but now there is also Krrish 4 and Jadoo. There are possibilities to everything. Once you tell a story with conviction, anything is possible. So Rohit will be back.
Of the three films in the franchise, which one are you most satisfied with?
As an actor, my first film, Koi… Mil Gaya was extremely close to me it was an eyeopener. It was the first time I had experienced the true flight of an actor. It was the first time I didn’t have to stick to my dialogue. It was the first time when after the shot got over, I didn’t know what I had done. So I experienced the true flight of an actor. We would check the monitor and be surprised at the things I had done, and I wondered how I did it all. We were like, ‘This was not part of the dialogue’! So I would choose Koi… Mil Gaya.
But as a student of cinema plus as an actor, and as a human being, a person who is striving all the time to achieve the impossible... in all those ways, Krrish 3 surpasses all the other films. It was a risky film, where dad and I had to sometimes push each other to make it. Dad had shelved the film three or four times because he was, like, ‘How will we make it? We don’t have the budget.’ The scripting had begun while Agneepath was being shot. So there were a lot of risks. There was a magnetic pull. I said to my father that, ‘Now that you have the idea and a script in place, it is your duty to make it.’ And he’d say, ‘But what’s the point? It will not make any money; you will not make any money.’
But I told him we had something great and that we had to be enthusiastic about it. That is why I am proudest of this film.
On special arrangement with Box Office India
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