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HT Brunch Cover Story: Play that funky music
Actor Aditya Roy Kapur's new year resolution for 2023 is to put his passion--and talent--for music front and centre
For actor Aditya Roy Kapur, 37, the phrase ‘new year new me’, falls short. Because it may be the new year, but the things he has planned have been in the works since he was a child. His maternal grandparents, Sam and Ruby Aaron, were the first certified dance teachers and examiners in India from the Imperial Dance Masters’ Association, UK, and the Federal Association of Teachers of Dancing, Australia, and are credited with introducing the Latin-American samba to India. His mother, Salome Roy Kapur, is a renowned dancer and a choreographer in musical theatre and films, and held many of her rehearsals at home, giving young Aditya and his older brothers—producer Siddharth Roy Kapur (whose movie, The Last Film Show is India’s official entry to the Oscars) and actor Kunaal Roy Kapur, known for his comic timing—an early introduction and education in music and dance.
“Growing up, the influences were a lot of old music, ‘cos my mom and my nana would teach dance forms like the waltz, the foxtrot, the jive and Latin American dances like the rhumba, cha-cha and samba,” he explains. However, that didn’t mean that music and movies were something he always wanted to do. Quite the contrary.
“My elder brothers were stage actors and I was the kid who was always running away from this. I was more into sports; I never had any aspirations of becoming anything in the performing arts,” Aditya lets on. Of course, the rest is history, with Aditya eventually becoming a Bollywood heartthrob and a household name.
This year, though, he’s also resolved to release his own music album.
Pursuit of passion
Most people know Aditya as an actor, but few know about his passion for music. “That actually started before acting,” reveals Aditya. “It kind of started when I first started playing the guitar, in my ninth standard.”
He taught himself to play the guitar and never took any lessons. However, his talents don’t end there: Aditya is a singer, too! He’s even sung in his own band. “First year of college, in Xaviers, a group of us started a band. I was the vocalist,” Aditya shares.
“That band continued on—I left Xavier’s after the first year. Or, had to leave, to put it more accurately,” he laughs. “But that first year of college was when my love for music was cemented.”
ven then, music wasn’t something that Aditya wanted to do professionally. “The band was just something teenagers do. I don’t think I did it for long enough to start feeling like this could be something concrete. I thought I’d go study abroad but that never happened. Then VJ-ing happened. The guitar then became something I’d just do at home, or jam with my friends. But I never really looked at it as a career option, to be quite honest,” Aditya says.
As it happened, Aditya then went on a chance audition and ended up becoming a successful VJ with Channel V. “I went for an audition to be a VJ out of nowhere and then my life took a massive turn. I don’t know what I would have been doing if that hadn’t happened,” he muses.
His music may have taken a backseat, but it was something that he always returned to. “I’ve been continuing to play and write songs since that time, but it’s only in the past eight-nine years that I’ve been feeling the urge to put it out there,” Aditya shares.
Come together
Creating an album is a task in itself. But when you add the pressure of already being a well-known face, leave alone a Bollywood actor, it can be all the more daunting. Being vulnerable, being in a position where he’s bound to find haters at every step, is the actor a little bit afraid of taking the plunge? “It’s a funny new feeling,” he chuckles. “It’s a new sensation. Because when you’re in films, someone else has written it, you’re acting like someone else—it’s not supposed to be you. With this, it’s all you. These are your thoughts, your words. You’re baring yourself in a way that is definitely unlike film. And more than in film, in some ways.”
It’s tough to pin down what exactly Aditya’s sound is, or predict what the eventual album will be like. As a fan of everything from Limp Bizkit to Air Supply, the influences on him have been vast and varied.
![Aditya says, “Over the years, I’d play [the guitar] to keep myself entertained. It’s been my constant companion, I would say, for the last 19 years now. It’s been a while!”; Denim shirt by Space; Top by Saaksha & Kinni; Bottoms by Struct; Boots by Escaro Royale](https://images.hindustantimes.com/img/2023/01/06/original/c9855e8a-8dd2-11ed-adb6-e1c1c079a616_1673025449606.jpg "Aditya says, “Over the years, I’d play [the guitar] to keep myself entertained. It’s been my constant companion, I would say, for the last 19 years now. It’s been a while!”; Denim shirt by Space; Top by Saaksha & Kinni; Bottoms by Struct; Boots by Escaro Royale")
“Growing up, the influences were a lot of old music, ‘cos my mom and my nana would teach ballroom Latin American dance,” he explains. “My eldest brother is 11 years older than me, so I would also listen to a lot of stuff that he would listen to. When my friends were listening to Backstreet Boys, I was listening to Depeche Mode, a lot of Air Supply and The Beatles.”
“In school, I got into the alt-rock scene; Limp Bizkit and Korn,” Aditya continues. “At that time the pop music scene was also amazing. You had artistes like Madonna and Michael Jackson! I guess my music is an amalgamation of all those influences, along with old classic rock that I grew up on, which is kinda ingrained in me.”
There’s one particular song that has stayed with him since he was a child, though. “La Bamba!” he laughs. “That’s the song that my mom would teach to...”
These different influences and sounds are maybe why Aditya finds it hard to box himself into one category, be it his music or his acting. “To be quite honest with you, I really don’t know how to explain it [my music]. Even when someone asks me, ‘tell me about your character, I’ll say “he’s a guy... he’s a young guy...’ With my songs also, I don’t know. I guess they’re all kinds, there’s some that are introspective, some that are more upbeat, some that are happy, some that are a little sad. These are simple words, but more than that, I like to stay away from putting labels on anything,” he observes.
Future proof
2023 isn’t just going to be the year that Aditya releases music. He’s also shooting for Anurag Basu’s Metro: In Dino, a spin-off of the 2007 film Life in a Metro, alongside Sara Ali Khan and actors Anupam Kher and Ali Fazal. Also slated for release this year is the remake of the British TV series The Night Manager, and the crime thriller Gumraah, in which he’ll be sharing the screen with actor Mrunal Thakur.
Aditya even hints that, “There may be a trailer out next month.”
While it does seem like all is well, that doesn’t mean Aditya is content or anywhere near complacent.
“I’m really passionate about and enjoy my work; I look forward to it, so in that sense, I am happy and content,” Aditya notes. “I have the opportunity to do what I love and express myself the way that I want to. There’s so much more I want to do in film and there’s so much more to explore. More genres, more roles. And with my music, it’s just a start. I can’t claim to be content at all.”
This desire to do something different, to explore newer genres, may be why he’s been taking his time choosing his movies. Is he holding out for something different? “I’d definitely do horror,” Aditya reveals. “I love watching horror movies. Straight-up comedy is also something that I’ve been dying to do. I haven’t found either, so far. I guess one can say I do take my time doing films. But I love being on set, I love working.”
Whether films or music, the actor seems to have his hands full in 2023.
“What I can say is I’m happy that I’m finally doing this,” Aditya says, matter-of-factly. “I’ve given a bunch of interviews down the years saying this year I will do music, and it never happened. Now it’s happening. This is the first interview I’m doing where I’ll actually back it up.”
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From HT Brunch, January 7, 2023
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