Interviews

He jetted off to South Africa a day after Golmaal Returns released but even there, he asserts, the response to the film has been fantastic. “I want to be back in Mumbai and I’m planning to fly down this week so I can be a part of the success,” he says excitedly during a break in the shoot of Rumi Jaffrey’s Life Partner.

Life Partner is a social, the kind his father, Jeetendra, patented back in the 1980s in which he sports a Gujarati look. “Today, the audience expects something different from me in every film and directors come to me because I have no image,” he states.

Branded
In the Golmaal sequel, he played a mute again but this role was more difficult because there was no one to interpret his sounds and the sequences were longer.

Will he start speaking in Part 3 then? “No, they’ll never let me speak but I’ll come up with something,” he promises. 

“Rohit Shetty has already started working on the next film. Golmaal has become a brand.. like Superman and
Spiderman.”

Kapoor has turned selective. “I’d have one hit.. then two misses. Now I only want hits,” he laughs. Right now, his kitty includes Life Partner, Run Bhola Run and the Kya Kool Hain Hum sequel, which will definitely take off next year.

Own channel
Balaji hasn’t had much luck with the movies lately with Mission Istaanbul and EMI tanking. Kapoor points out that they were both co-productions.

“Now, we’ll get into partnerships only when we’re involved in the day-to-day making. Otherwise, we will make our own films,” he asserts.

He adds that after making big money for other channels, sister Ekta Kapoor deserves a channel of her own: “We’re not buying 9 x out as has been reported but we are collaborating with an American company to start our own channel,” he maintains.

He’s upset with the way Kyunki Saas Bhi Kabhi Bahu Thi ended. “Ekta was given time to wrap up Kahani Ghar Ghar Kii but Kyunki..’s exit took both her and the viewers by surprise. It was so unfair!” he says bitterly.

“The show had been on top for eight years, it was close to so many hearts. But the channel has its own modus operandi and only the mighty rule.”