Kunal Kemmu: You have to choose the right words to say a no, nobody likes hearing it

Actor Kunal Kemmu, who turns 40 today, talks about why he won’t take up double meaning comedy films.

He has gone over to the editor’s table from in front of the camera for a change, for his directorial debut Madgaon Express. But actor Kunal Kemmu, who turns 40 today, is intent on ringing in his birthday with his family — sans any work. “The day has just got so much attention around it that it stresses me out,” he laughs.

Actor Kunal Kemmu is going to make his directorial debut with Madgaon Express.

How is the editing coming along? “It’s a very unique experience. When you love what you are doing, you don’t realise how much time has passed,” shares Kemmu. But what about things that he doesn’t love — for instance, scripts that he turns down, especially after having been an actor for more than three-and-a-half decades? Does it rub people the wrong way? “You have to choose the right words. I don’t think anybody likes hearing a no. If it comes from the right place, they would understand. I have always said that I will be uncomfortable doing a certain role and won’t deliver the performance they will pay me for,” he shares.

Kemmu has always believed in changing things up. From being a part of hit comedies such as Golmaal Again (2017) and Go Goa Gone (2013), to a dark turn in Kalank (2019) and Malang (2020). Was this out of a fear of being tagged a comic actor? “The fear is not that I will get typecast, but that I might become repetitive. Sometimes, my brain needs to be stimulated by different characters, so I can take time off and come back,” says Kemmu.

Even with comedy, there’s one genre he stays away from. “When it’s double-meaning, sexual humour, that is where I get uncomfortable. That’s one thing you may have not seen me do,” he ends.