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EXCLUSIVE: The Gone Game's Sanjay Kapoor: Didnt become industry's so called superstar BUT actor in me survived
In an exclusive chat with Pinkvilla, Sanjay Kapoor opens up on his career, reveals how the digital has helped actors getting their credit which somehow would get overshadowed in films due to its business module. He is seen in The Gone Game which premiered recently.
In 1995, Sanjay Kapoor made his cinema debut with Prem and went on to feature in many movies with Raja being one of the hit films. However, after a series of not-so-successful movie career, the actor also experimented with Television and more recently made his digital debut as well. Shot during lockdown, Voot Select's The Gone Game features Sanjay in a different light which he is very ecstatic about. In an exclusive chat, Sanjay opened up on the experience of shooting at home, the explosion of digital avenues and if somewhere the business module in movies hampered his career growth. Over to him:
How different was it to shoot for The Gone Game during this lockdown?
It has been an absolutely unique and fantastic experience. I am enjoying this right now and I would live this moment even a decade from now because this is something none of us have experienced where I have not met a single actor, ever in my life. I know all of them but never really worked with them. I have never met the producer of the show either. I have met everyone digitally only.
How did you get on-board for the show?
I was onboard when I heard the one liner. Gradually, I spoke to the director and realised his passion, and I knew he was very sure of what he wants and that encouraged me a lot to get into the groove. Good thing was that he wanted everyone to be on the same page because it is not an easy show to pull off. I think we have been successful in delivering. Being in this line for almost 30 years, I have seen a lot of good and bad stuff, of myself and others but this is something I feel we have done a good job at. For all of us, this is going to be at the top of our library shelf.
Since the shoot happened inside the house, did your family members help you with shoots given that to handle everything single handedly is a task?
The entire series was shot during the lockdown and needless to say there were limited resources to work with. So I was constantly getting help from my family to help me shoot and I actually had to bribe my son Jahaan with Rs. 10,000 to help me with the objective shots. Initially, no one was allowed to get inside the building due to lockdown, hence had to ask my son to help me out.
Nobody can judge you with the sales of the ticket. Earlier, the so called trade pundits would give importance to only BO numbers
Sanjay Kapoor
Speaking of OTT platforms now, do you think it has finally given actors the credibility they deserve irrespective of the commercial angle?
The advantage with the OTT thing is today when you do a show, if you are good, people don't relate it to how much your ticket sale was. Nobody can judge you with the sales of the ticket. The performance of an actor is what matters. The negative thing which was happening in the movies was that you could have done fantastic work, one of my film in fact, Luck By Chance, the film was as good as a Gully Boy or a Zindagii Na Miley Dobara, but we did not get so much credit for it that time, because the ticket sales were not as much as these two films. But it was not that it was not noticed by critics. When you see the film, even after 11 years, people love that character and film. So at that time, the so called trade pundits would give importance to only the collections of the film rather than the matter which we made. Obviously collections are important, it is your bread and butter, BUT you cannot take the credit out of the work which people do. You should appreciate their work.
What makes me really happy is that the actor in me has survived and not the star
Sanjay Kapoor
Do you think somewhere the flawed business module of the movies hampered your career?
I don't think so that was the thing. Every actor goes through a journey where they give blockbusters, hits and flops as well. And today, if I have survived for 30 years, means I must have done something right. Just because I did not become the industry's so called superstar but there are so many actors who don't even survive for a little while. Many others survive despite not being a superstar, and that's where I see myself surviving in the industry as an actor. That is what makes me happy, that the actor in me has survived and not the star. Today, I am doing lead roles in digital, so I think I have never been in a happy place.
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