Don’t do everything for external validation: Arjun Kapoor

PTI, Dec 14, 2019, 11:04 AM IST

Mumbai: Bollywood star Arjun Kapoor believes constantly seeking external validation through work rather than enjoying the process of acting can force a person to take wrong decisions.

Though the actor cares about results, he believes that alone should not be a deciding factor in one’s choice of roles.

“If I do everything for external validation and proving myself, then I will make the wrong decisions. In my career, I have realized that I can do anything if I have my conviction. We go wrong from time-to-time (and) that’s human.

“But I have to be excited as a person to tell a story. I will be lying if I say I don’t care about the results, we all do and we all must as it is a result-driven business but that can’t be the only deciding factor. I need to enjoy the process as an actor,” Arjun told PTI in an interview here.

The actor, who most recently headlined Ashutosh Gowariker’s “Panipat”, says he if he was looking at proving himself, he would have stuck to the action image that he established early in his career through films such as “Ishaqzaade”, “Aurangzeb” and “Gunday”.

Instead, he chose to experiment with his on-screen persona with films like “2 States”, “Finding Fanny”, “Ki & Ka” and “Mubarakan”.

“It’s a privilege to have the right to choose. I could get typecast in the early parts of my career just as an action hero but I wanted to do all kinds of the film also because there was a greed to learn from different people.

‘Panipat’ came to me at a point where I wanted to do such a film because it’s a genre that I always wanted to explore. Without caring about what people will say, I just jumped on to the film.”

Arjun’s last two releases “Namaste England” and “India’s Most Wanted” did not receive a warm welcome at the ticket windows while “Panipat” is getting a mixed response.

“Success and failure are not defined by Friday alone that’s a misconception. I am running my house I have x number of people working along with me, who are doing well because I am doing well. Because of me many houses, many kids (are) getting an education. To whatever degree, my life is a success because I have been able to positively affect the near and dear ones around me in the good way.

“If my success barometer is only my Friday then it will be a problem. Every time, I can’t think I am unsuccessful and think negative. Box office barometer matters but that’s part of life and not the end-all of existence. There is more to life.”

Growing up in a film family, the actor, who is the son of producer Boney Kapoor and the nephew of Anil Kapoor, believes he is better prepared to deal with the downside.
“I have grown up in this film industry so I have seen the highs and lows through my parents, so maybe being a star kid is that they prepare for the good and bad slightly fast. You get opportunities easily in the beginning. Maybe, I would have asked my father to pick up the phone and meet Aditya Chopra but I choose the path which I felt was right, meeting casting directors and going for an audition.

“Aditya Chopra rejected me three to four times and I don’t know whether it had anything to do with my surname. When he saw my photos, he said, ‘I can take you as a character actor’. Then I auditioned again for ‘Ishaqzaade’ and I got the film. I don’t think my surname had anything to do when he was rejecting me either.”

But Arjun admits that industry kids have an edge over those who come from outside to make a mark in Bollywood.

“Industry kids, for better or worse, have certain inculcated education about how to go about things and that’s the benefit of experience that we get by living within. So that’s the advantage. It saves your time and upsetting a few people. People who come from outside they really have it tough and I respect people like Ayushmann Khurrana and Vicky Kaushal for that matter.