There’s ace and spontaneity that Bebo and PeeCee have in the first take: Arjun Kapoor

Having worked with co-stars of his age and even the ones with more experience, actor Arjun Kapoor says one has to be “young and vulnerable” to be mature and composed.

Arjun Kapoor is perhaps one of those lucky few actors from the younger crop who has been paired with leading ladies of his age and even from the senior lot. From Alia Bhatt in 2 States (2014) and Parineeti Chopra in Ishaqzaade (2012) and Namaste England (2018) to Kareena Kapoor in Ki & Ka (2016) and Priyanka Chopra in Gunday (2013) , Arjun has had the best of both worlds.

Actor Arjun Kapoor made his Bollywood debut in 2012 with the film Ishaqzaade.

Asked if he noticed any major difference while working the experienced set of actors vis-à-vis a co-stars his age, he says, “Of course, everybody with experience will get better, more relaxed, and more able to take direction, happier to deal with whatever comes their way. When you are young, you sometimes are not able to deal with everything; you react to everything happening around you. But, when you are a bit sorted and slightly more experienced, you are calmer through everything.”

However, the actor doesn’t want to dismiss the fact that he got to work with Alia and Parineeti right when they both were also starting out their journey in films. “So, I have worked with a different Alia, and today, after seven years, I’m sure she’s a different person. Likewise, Kareena and Priyanka must have been different people when they started out and were newcomers [in Bollywood],” he adds.

Having said this, Arjun is not one to hold himself back from admitting that there’s definitely some fundamental difference which can’t be overlooked. “The one thing I can turn around and definitely say is that there is an ace and spontaneity that a Bebo and PeeCee have in the first and second take, which maybe would take a Parineeti and an Alia three takes. That the only difference. Kareena and Priyanka would be able to pick up directions faster and react and respond quicker to a director. But that’s just a very vague way of putting it,” says the actor, who asserts that it’s only experience that makes a person wiser in an art form because “you kind of know what mistakes not to make. But, one can only reach there by making those mistakes. So, it’s a very strange thing to compare.”

Explaining his point further, he says, “For Parineeti to have Priyanka’s experience, she has to go through her own experiences. For Alia to have that kind of spontaneity that she reacts to a situation the moment she hears director’s instructions, she has to go through her experience. And only then she can reach a stage where how Kareena today — in one or two takes — gives exactly what the director wants. So, you have to be young and vulnerable to be mature and composed. That’s the way of life.”

Interact with Monika Rawal Kukreja at Twitter/@monikarawal