Shock Treatment

BOI: Shahid, from what we saw in the trailer, your character goes through this epiphany. He goes from being a sneaky guy…

Shahid Kapoor: Kapti. He's a kaptikamina (Laughs).

BOI:Yes, that is the word being used. But he has a wake-up call that changes the course of his life…

Shahid Kapoor: Shucks, you just gave away the whole story! Actually, we gave out the whole story (Laughs). But, no, there is much more to it in the movie. I am most excited about the courtroom drama because my character is nothing like a lawyer. Much of the time, he is completely out of line in court. Like you said, he's one of those guys who is a little street-smart, a little over-smart but very emotional about life and things.

In the beginning, he thinks mere se better toh koi ho hi nahi sakta. He doesn't necessarily take the right decisions and is not a very responsible person, although he thinks he knows everything. He is very smart, though. He knows how to get the job done; a jugaadu kind of guy.

BOI: Hence, he is a lawyer!

Shahid Kapoor: Yeah, that is a good combo. A lethal one (Laughs). What happens is that he takes up the issue for emotional reasons without thinking about whether he is qualified enough to handle it. Everything he does in court has something quirky attached to it because he's a lawyer who is not really like a lawyer. He says things that are inappropriate but that's just his method.

He has an off-beat method of dealing with things and that's where the fun between Yami's (Gautam) character and mine comes across. She plays a really sorted, sophisticated, proper lawyer and she looks at my character and goes, like, 'You, really?' I love that it goes from being really funny to really serious and it is not preachy. However, it hits all the points it needs to. The script is very smartly written. I am very excited to see how people react to it, especially the courtroom sequences.

BOI: Shraddha, can you elaborate on your character's arc?

Shraddha Kapoor: My character is Lalita Nautiyal, also fondly known as 'Nauti'. She is a fashion designer and thinks she is the most amazing fashion designer. Actually, her designs are very OTT (Laughs). Aside from that, she has a lovely relationship with her two best friends played by Shahid and Divyendu (Sharma). She is fun-loving but when it comes to certain issues, she takes a very firm stand.

For example, when her friend's electricity bill is way higher than it should be, she stands up against it. She is extremely and deeply moralistic. She will call out someone who is doing something wrong and unethical. She always stands up for what is right.

BOI: The film is based in Uttarakhand and you speak a certain dialect. How do you walk that thin line, where you know one can end up overdoing it?

Shraddha: You have to be very true to what is written in the script. Our writers had done intensive research on Uttarakhand, on its people and the way that people there speak. It helped streamline the process of preparing for the character. Of course, it is finally the director's vision that matters, so he is the one who controls the intensity of the performance even though the preparation needs to be done by the actors.

Everything else is completely in his hands. He is the one who okays a take. He is the one who says he wants a little more or a little less or something completely different.

That said, the preparation was up to me. I had to sit with the writers and my director to learn how the dialect was spoken and to familiarise myself with speaking in that way. It was not easy. Shahid and I struggled during the shoot, in the beginning. We were, like, 'My God, this is so difficult!' Then, slowly, as we kept doing it more and more, it became a lot more familiar to us.

Shahid Kapoor: I hate overtly loud performances. Sometimes, they are great and really effective. But I also feel that Shree Narayan Singh, the filmmaker, has a very real energy about him. He likes to shoot things in a very real space. It does not look staged. It is not elevated in terms of its sur. He likes it to be very real. I felt very comfortable going for it. It went really smoothly. I had a lot of fun with this character. I enjoyed myself while playing this part.

BOI: Do you think an actor needs to shoulder more responsibilities when doing a social drama?

Shahid Kapoor: Now, issue-based films are becoming mainstream. If you look at films that have dealt with social issues… unless they are very dark or very restricted, they have been commercial films. If the filmmaker has the understanding and the need to make it wider and more accessible, then these films become very commercial. In my understanding, Batti Gul Meter Chalu is a very commercial film that talks about a very real issue. The relatability of the issue is what makes it wider. That is what I believe.

Shraddha Kapoor: The power of cinema is so beautiful that you can make such a big difference through this medium. It stimulates the way people or audiences think. I think it is a privilege as well as a responsibility for me to have been a part of this film. It is my first socially relevant film. It is very special for me to know that I can make a difference.

BOI: Shahid, you said at the trailer launch that it is important for movies with a social message to be made. But, as an actor, as you mentioned, you have to make sure from the beginning that the film is not preachy. How do you take a call when you choose a movie like this?

Shahid Kapoor: When you hear a script or when someone is telling you a story, you are either yawning, doodling in your head, or you are hooked. Then you ask yourself, did I laugh, did I cry, am I feeling heavy at the end of the film, and so on and so forth. You kind of develop a sense of being honest to the content that comes to you.

And it is not necessary that you laugh with every film that comes to you. There are various ways in which you can tell a story. It is equally exciting to watch something that is romantic or something that is larger-than-life or a suspense-thriller. There are multiple genres and films work in different ways.

This film entertained me throughout and said something pertinent throughout. So, I was like it's great, let's do it. There were a couple of small issues that we discussed but, other than that, it was pleasantly surprising.

The film had come to me as an idea at first, about issues with electricity. It was based in Mumbai at that point, and the character was very different. The tonality and the sur was very different.

Then Shree Narayan Singh got involved as did writers Siddharth-Garima. They said they needed three months to do some R&D. Uttarakhand did not figure in it in the beginning, none of that was there. But they came back with this story, with an entire film and the issue ran beautifully throughout. For me, for this film, I just said, let's do it.

Shraddha Kapoor: It is not like I look for anything in particular in a script. I listen to a script like a story, as if someone is telling me a story. The first reaction that comes to me arises from how I feel. There is no particular strategy to choose a script. I let my instincts dictate my choices. Sometimes, even I cannot explain why I said 'yes' to a film. It just has to feel right.

BOI: The film is about privatisation of electricity and the corruption surrounding it. Were you aware of this issue in detail?

Shraddha: No, absolutely not. In fact, our film is the one that brought these issues of electricity to light, quite literally (Laughs). I thought, 'These things actually happen!' People rob electricity as well? There are power cuts and people need electricity. I thought this is the kind of film I would be very excited to be a part of. Nobody had ever offered me a socially relevant film before.

Shahid Kapoor: Bill toh sabka high aata hai. Everyone is scared of a power cut (Laughs). The relatability factor for big cities is big. In Toilet: Ek Prem Katha, there was a realisation. But this is an issue that everyone knows about.

BOI: What was it like sharing screen space with Shahid, yet again, after Haider?

Shraddha Kapoor: It was fantastic! Apart from being a co-star, he is also a friend. There is a certain comfort that comes when you have already done a film with somebody, already been through a journey with that person. In that sense, it was exciting to be a part of such a diametrically opposite film. He has done a brilliant job in the film.