EXCLUSIVE - Arjun Kapoor on working with Anil Kapoor: I have earned this opportunity by working so hard from the last 5 years

Arjun Kapoor is all set to be seen in a double role for the second time in Mubarakan. This will be the first time we will see the actor sharing screen space with his uncle Anil Kapoor and the actor is totally excited for it. 

We met the handsome hunk during the promotions and he spoke at length about the film, his leading ladies Ileana D'Cruz and Athiya Shetty, his next film and more.

Here are the excerpts from the interview...

You will be seen in a double role for the second time. How challenging is it to play such roles?

It is challenging to a point where you get excited and does not scare you. Firstly, I have done it once, so I was excited to do it again. It is difficult to do in comedy as there has to be a certain timing and place. This is not about mistaken identity or sharing screen space for one or two scenes. In the entire film, I have to be with myself. My favourite co-actor was me as I didn't have any choice. From that point of view, of course, it is challenging and new. But as an actor that's what excites you, right, to do things which are already difficult and do it with a double role. It was exciting especially because it happened so early in my career. 

As far as the comedy is concerned in an ensemble cast, the comic timing needs to be sorted. We had to make sure that when you have to say one line and Charan has to say the other one when conversing with Karan, there cannot be long gaps, it has to be very sharp. So, we had to rehearse a lot for it.

What attracted you towards Mubarakan?

There are several combinations of things, first one is the material, the second one being the director and the third being the ensemble comedy setup, of course, the genre also excited me a lot. Working with Anil Chachu was an amazing fact. There are so many things that came together. But, essentially it all came during the first narration. When I heard it, I fell down laughing. So, if I am laughing too much while hearing it, I am fairly certain that we will have an opportunity to make people laugh in the theatre. So, that's what actually got me really excited.

Tell us about your character in the film?

Karan is the older one, he is exactly a minute older than Charan. He is also is the one who lives in London. He has got an attitude, he is stylish and has a personality of being over smart. He has got an edge over Charan in terms of being the cool one. He is always the sorted one and is also manipulative and naive. Eventually, he is a loving brother but also a dangerous one, because he traps his younger brother in situations to get himself out of it. Karan is the one who is dominating and scheming. He wants to come out of the trouble and puts Charan in one while doing that. He is in love with Sweety (Ileana), but he is so scared of his mother to tell her about it because the mother and girlfriend don't like each other. So, for the world, he shows he is very cool, but he is actually a fattu. 

Charan is the boy who has grown up in Punjab. He has got some desi sensibilities, a family oriented guy and more of a nine to five person. He deals with his life on a day-to-day basis. He is very obedient, very respectful towards his family and doesn't do anything wrong. He is very shy, simple and very proud of being a Sardar.

How was it working with uncle Anil Kapoor, were you intimidated on the sets?

I was never intimidated primarily. If it would have been my first or second film, I would have been. The excitement to work with him was that I have earned this opportunity by working so hard from last five years to stand on the same set and work with him. My excitement was that ok I have become the person who is worth sharing the screen space with him. 

I was very happy on the first day, we shot the Goggle Song first. When I did see him next to me, I was very happy and had a smile. Regardless of being my uncle, working with Anil Kapoor was one of the things on my wishlist. I have grown up admiring him so much. There was a sense of achievement in a strange way and I looked at it like this is why I became an actor. Anil Chachu, being such respectful as a co-actor and is not somebody who interferes with your process. He has faith in the director and that he will get it right and the fellow actors know what they are doing. There are conversations, where you try, experiment and rehearse.

How was it sharing the screen space with two beautiful ladies Ileana D'Cruz and Athiya Shetty? 

It was fantastic, they are two people who were really well cast in the film. Ileana is playing this little brash, over the top Punjabi girl, who is very violent and how much she beats up Karan through the film. Whenever she gets angry, she doesn't control her hands at all. I was getting beaten up her throughout the film. And she used to always hate hitting me, as that's not her real-life personality. She is very nice, professional and very clear about how she wants to do her scenes. She will rehearse to one degree and take the scene to another degree. She is a team player which is extremely important in an ensemble film.

When Athiya was concerned, I was keen to see her do a film like this. When I heard she is doing it, I was totally excited. After her first film, she is doing an ensemble, comedy film which is a difficult genre. But full marks to her for her courage to enter this space. It is a mad family film, but the good part is she has an absolute straight character, who is simply well-behaved and down-to-earth. She brings out the normalcy to the film. She is a willing learner and keeps on observing on the sets before the scenes.

Both of them got along really well, which was a sone pe suhaga situation. There are two actors who are spending time with each other than with anybody else on the sets.

Do you have pre-release jitters?

Yaar mere do mahine pehle picture lagi hai, toh aisa lag raha ki main pichle saal bhar se promotion hi kar raha hoon. I have kind of lost perspective completely. When you are promoting films, you don't get the time to have jitters and to think about the film. You just speak about the film and go home and sleep. I have not even seen the film properly, I haven't really dwell on the faith of the film. I am actually quite excited because I feel it's a comedy. At the end of the day, to make people laugh, if you pull that of, you are in a good space. 

The jitters are that you want people to come and watch your film, want them to be happy when they see it, that's a very normal thing. But it's not more or any less than any other film that I have experienced. It is a difficult film.

What prep do you begin for Dibakar Banerjee's next film Sandeep Aur Pinky Faraar?

I will start prepping after the release of Mubarakan. I am looking forward to spend time with him post the release. I can't tell you much about it, but it's truly fascinating to see what he is trying to achieve this time. It's nice to have a director who is so excited about his material and also excited to work on it soon. 

How excited are you to share screen space with your first co-star, Parineeti Chopra?

It's obviously exciting, we were looking for the correct script to come together. We wanted it to be unique and different from Ishaqzaade.