A rare sizzle

They have two things in common — hot and fit bodies and the new thriller Malang, which for both Aditya Roy Kapur and Disha Patani, is their first action drama, a genre they both love. Correction: Disha has done the caper Kung-Fu Yoga, but that was a film essentially made by foreigners, as well as Baaghi 2, in which, however, she did not get to do any action herself.

Says Aditya, “I love action films! I was a fan of Van Damme and Jackie Chan, and only much later was exposed to what is known as ‘good’ cinema! I always wanted to do action, I think it was in my blood to do it!” He smiles wryly when we mention that Disha’s co-star in Kung-Fu Yoga was the same Jackie Chan!

Disha adds, “my dream project would be a film in which I get to play a female super-hero! I love action and today’s audience like to see a girl fighting as well! Of course, I also love thrillers and comedy.” Both the actors share an easy camaraderie that has translated into an electrifying chemistry on screen in their newest release, Malang. And they both attribute the way they have been presented to their director, Mohit Suri.

Disha, who has worked for the first time with Mohit on the film, says, “doing this role was hard, but Mohit gives you everything on a platter! He is open to ideas and is the easiest person to work with. The role and its emotional graph were challenging, but Mohit knows exactly what he wants, he likes to works on his lines and to do readings with his actors. He knows girls and understands them and no one shoots girls the way he does!”

And Aditya continues the eulogy. Having worked with Mohit earlier in the 2013 super-hit Aashiqui 2, he says, “Mohit’s emotional radar is still as strong, he is still as hardworking and as obsessed by his films. Of course, he is much more experienced today, but he is still the same, the passion is the same, and there is the same exuberance. He has two kids of his own now and they have enriched his life.”

‘An anti-sabbatical’

Letting us into a surprising secret, he says, “I was into Malang right from the time we thought of doing an action film together, and we were in Goa when we got this story idea. We both felt it should be developed, and so we got producer Jay Shewakramani on board and our writers Aniruddh Guha and Aseem Arora to start developing and writing the script. So you can say I am very close to the film.” And Disha came in three months before the film went on floors.

But for the actor, it’s been a release after a long while — Kalank released mid-2019, though he will now have three big releases in six months, the others being Ludo from Anurag Basu and Sadak 2 from Mahesh Bhatt. “I do not take up anything unless I am 100 percent convinced about it!” he tells you, and adds, “so as I finished shooting for Kalank two years ago, it turned out to be a sabbatical without my planning one. But last year, I shot and finished Malang, Ludo and Sadak 2, so it was almost like an anti-sabbatical.”

Learning from failures

Aditya does not brush his failures under the carpet and feels he can learn from them. Daawat-e-Ishq, Fitoor and OK Jaanu, like Kalank, were decisive flops. “There’s just so much that is in your hands,” he says wryly. On the other hand, Disha has been extremely fortunate in having every one of her Hindi films as a hit and even a 100 crore-plus grosser. M S Dhoni—The Untold Story, Baaghi 2 and Bharat, all did great business and Disha smiles and says, “I got lucky I guess. I started as model when I was 18 and had a lot of responsibility on my shoulders, so I had to take care of myself rather than ask my family for help.” Disha explains that she was a very shy girl and still is. “But, my shyness disappears in front of the camera, which was something I discovered when I was 18 or 19. When the camera is on, I feel no one’s watching me — I know it’s weird! There was a time when I did not even like being clicked. But soon, I realised that I loved acting and doing television commercials much more than being on the ramp.”

Small town girl

Disha finds it interesting that she became an actress because of destiny. “I am a small-town girl from Bareilly who is a B Tech and wanted to join the Air Force!” she smiles. “So I believe in Destiny.” But, Aditya has a different take on fame. “I do not like to be a public persona all the time,” he says. “I am not even on social media. I like to be in a total disconnect, to completely get away from it. I like my life to be more than just about movies.”

Disha has been also extremely lucky in having Salman Khan as her leading man twice in just half-a-dozen films — after Bharat, she is now doing his Radhe: India’s Most Wanted Bhai with him. “I love dancing, and I always wanted to do that one typical Hindi film song, which I got to do with the biggest star in the country! And yes, it was intimidating working with Salman, but he is so good, especially with his comic timing. He takes comedy to another level, and he was always guiding me, because comedy is the hardest to do!”