Interviews

Purab Kohli

This was one interview I was looking forward to, not just because I'd rated Rock On five stars in my Observer series newspapers in London, eight months ago, but because I was too desperate to meet the 'Killer Drummer' Purab Kohli for I too tried to sing 'I will survive' in front of my friends. The trouble was I didn't survive a second. For me, he rocked and yet there was no mention of him in my review. Perhaps I over looked it. But not any more. Come to think of it, his ability to give grandiose and surreal characters soul is proof of his heapin' helpin' of pure uncut manly talent and frankly he's one slice of grade A man steak I wouldn't mind tenderizing. Anyway, Purab shows up as he opens the door to our Bollywood encounter with his curly hair, dressed in standard, more like any struggling actor-retro-grunge, flashing his 'Popeye muscles' trying to break free from his unbuttoned green and yellow chequered summer shirt adoring his brown vest. Extending his hand in salutation, he glides into a bar chair opposite me offering me something to drink on a sweaty Thursday. He urges me to have a ginger drink stacked up with ice. I accept. Then he immediately jumps off his chair and stands next to the door to enact a real life scene when Gattu aka Abhishek Kapoor danced and jumped in joy after reading the first ever review of Rock On which I'd written. That was a classic performance by a Bandra boy in full flamboyance. Where majority of the actors would've stayed away from a performance like that in front of a journalist, Purab didn't give a damn about glimmering the prudent history - He was hired to deliver, and he does deliver...KD style. He is just cool and always has been ever since he started his career as a Channel 'V' VJ... Dipping into the depths of his exquisite mind to discover his version of Purab Kohli, buried beneath the 'Killer Drummer', the actor goes back and forth into his past, present and the future as Bollywood Hungama's London correspondent and UK's Harrow Observer columnist Devansh Patel finds out whether or not Purab will survive in Bollywood after the super success of Rock On, his journey from 'Chicken' to 'KD', his ability to open up to his fans, his turn ons, Rangeen and A Rectangular Love Story - his unreleased films and his unexplored areas in acting.Is the Killer Drummer's charm here to stay for good I hope so. I think it's a part of me that a lot of people have liked. A lot of 'KD' in the film was me. I think we all as actors hope that we can retain ourselves in the business for a longer period of time to get more work, do more work and get popular.

From a mere 'Chicken' in Supari to 'KD' in Rock On, would you term your rise to fame as meteoric I still think it's a journey more than a rise. I was not someone who had an idea that it was acting I wanted to pursue as my career or to do a film like Rock On. If you look back at my career, the first thing I did in my life was act in a television series called 'Hip Hip Hurray'. Then I moved on to be a VJ on Channel V. I mean, today if someone was to come up to me with a film like Supari, I would've been weary to do it, thinking back that you want that good launch, you want that big producer, the right cast, etc. These are the elements which help you to climb up to be a star and it's not rocket science now. I've always tried and tested things in my life and it has worked. My rise has been a journey which ain't meteoric but after Rock On, you can definitely say so.Your ability to get people in your audience to open up to you is pretty astounding. What do you attribute that to I'm quite an open person. If people ask me questions about myself, I have nothing to hide because I choose to live an honest life. In terms of opening up to your audience and your audience accepting you for who you are is what they eventually see on the big screen. To a certain extent, 'Killer Drummer' was actually me in the real and reel life. That's the way I am and I have grown up playing the parts that I've played. I started acting when I was just eighteen and I'll be thirty in a few months. So for twelve years, I've contributed a lot to the roles I've played and vice versa. As an actor, you have to have an audience or fans opening up to you. You are catering to them because they want to see more of you. In good humour, I attribute Koel Puri for spanking my butt in Rock On. That's what got the beautiful girls all over the world to open up in front of me (laughs).Purab Kohli You weren't nominated for the Filmfare Awards. Many feel you deserved one. We feel something bigger than Filmfare is waiting for you Let's hope so. But I do crib about not being nominated. First the Screen Awards nominations came out and I was surprised not to see my name. As an actor, the least you want is to get nominated. I mean all those who've seen the film feel that I've done a good job and at least deserved a nomination. Plus, you want some kind of recognition for a performance which the audiences thought was fantastic. So one day Jitesh Pillai calls me up and invites me to support the Rock On team at the Filmfare. I go there and the next thing I see is my name being called out by Shabana Azmi to honour me for my performance in Rock On. It was a special certificate which was given to me by Filmfare and I was too excited for finally getting some kind of recognition. More so for the fact that it was Javed saab, Shabana ji and Ritesh Sidhwani who gave me the first reactions after watching the film. I remember, after watching the film, Ritesh comes up to me and pats my back, "Surprise package, surprise package."What's the turn on for you when you act I've sat down and thought about this for quite some time now as to what do I love doing most - hosting shows or acting? The answer is acting because it's the instant appreciation you get from the person who is directing you. When you get something and you feel it in your heart that this is the emotional scene you need to perform, right away, the director approaches you saying that he loved it and it came across so well. That's what I like about acting and that feeling is just so beautiful. That's what turns me on. There are times when I feel that I could've given more to the scene and that in itself is the growth of an actor. When you're playing a host, it stagnates because everyday you're being yourself. When you're playing a character, you're doing it as somebody else each time and with somebody else, whether it's your co-actor or a director.

There has not been a better feeling for me when I tried singing 'I will survive'. The only problem was that no girls pat on my bum. You like bending your own rules, don't you?
(Laughs) I think I'm able to try very easily. I don't restrict myself too much. The societal ways of bending the rules would be in films like My Brother Nikhil, Awarapan and Rock On. Whatever Gattu had written in the script, is what you see in the film. 'I will survive' is one of the very rare occurrences that weren't in the script. Having said that, Prachi's song 'Ajeeb dastaan hain yeh' was in the draft. Now the question which was troubling Gattu was, how does Prachi get the mike. The whole party sequence was shot in Film City in three days. The first day while I was driving, Gattu calls me and says, "Tu 'I will survive' gaana gayega kya?" I said, "Yeah man, let's do it. It sounds amazing yaar". I came on the sets wanting to sing the song which every girl enjoys. The good thing is that all the junior artists who were enjoying the song in the film knew the song. So they added more fun and all started having a great time. Koel spanking me wasn't planned. It just happened because it was instinctive. For me, these are moments I'll always cherish.Do producers and directors still offer you roles with an image of a VJ in their mind Yes they do, and that's what I come with, isn't it? That's great but it also restricts me to a certain extent where there are some roles that they don't look at me at all, and that's what I am trying to break out of. I am focusing in the same path right now. Me and my agent are doing exactly that but my being a VJ has its pros and cons.

You're doing Rajat Kapoor's A Rectangular Love Story. You cornered (Laughs) The film is Rajat's take on a love story which has four corners. There is Gul Panag, Ranvir Shorey, me and Neil Bhopalam. We are the four corners. The film is really on a thread and even if you know a little here and there, there won't be any surprises left. But it's not a regular love story and not a slapstick humour. It is situational and crazy.Purab Kohli Do you think this film will add more punch to your career after the recent success of Rock On at all major award functions I don't know. Films like A Rectangular Love Story, Rangeen, etc are films I had said Yes to before Rock On released. Not that I would've not said Yes to them. They are fantastic films. I still stand by them. After Rock On, people expect a certain performance coming out of you, something better. All my fans on Facebook keep asking me the same question after Rock On - What next? Such is the market. At one level, it feels great that people are wanting more out of me but at the other level, I think, I better watch out what I'm doing now because I really don't want to disappoint my fans. That is there at the back of my mind.How has Rangeen shaped up for you Again, Rangeen is an ensemble cast film. It has Tisca Chopra, Rajat Kapoor, Tara Shamra, me opposite Koel Puri and Manurishi who won the best writer for Oye Lucky Lucky Oye at the Filmfare this year, he is acting. It's a Sharat Kataria film who is to debut as a director with Rangeen. He is the same guy who has written Bheja Fry, though it was an adaptation. He has a potential of being a big director in Bollywood as he has really got everything in place. From the first time I read the script to my last scene I performed, I was completely convinced. In fact, Gattu has got the similar kind of emotions in Rock On as he did in his first film Aryan. The same sentiments are there in Sharat.Which areas are still left unexplored by you I am hoping to do an action film but nobody is giving it to me (laughs). I am good at intense emotion but I'll be equally good in action. I am confident. I think there can be a stronger intense emotion coming out of an action flick if someone dares to make it. I liked the raw action in Ghajini. I love watching all Ram Gopal Varma films because his action films are a work of a genius. Sanjay Gupta too has some good caliber for action and then Sanjay Gadhvi does some good stuntly action films. Now this can be bizarre but that minuscule action in Aditya Chopra's DDLJ in the end was great. It was a nice action sequence. Hear me out guys and bring it on

Eesha Koppikhar

On a hot summer day when you have to go and interview a hot actress, things start getting hotter the time you reach and ring a bell on that celebrity door. Then starts to cool down when you come to know that she has just declared her passionate relationship with her boyfriend open to the public and media. Welcome to the 'Home Sweet Home' of the Koppikhars. A maid opens the door and I see a scorchingly thin figure wearing a track suit in a wake up mood and mode. Took me a few seconds to figure out that the lady standing was Eesha. Sometimes a thin figure that makes clothes look elegant can seriously under whelm without the curvature the camera adds. But as Eesha escorts me to her small cute little sitting area, I'm braced for a complete showdown. Miss Koppikhar was mesmerizingly lovely because her no-make up-face complimenting the track suit made her look like the world's cuddliest actress. All that was missing was the leonine spark familiar from photos and TV appearances. What hit the jackpot though was her million dollar smile and her face looking as crisp as a lady pink apple. Unbelievably, this is how she looks in morning-after mode. But before we began our candid chat, she introduces me to her grandmother, father, mother and Mougli, her pet Alsatian, who comes barking towards me. "It's a friend Mougli", shouts Eesha. Mougli wags his tail in delight and accepts my greeting. Met the members? Now meet the pampered princess, for whom the greatest blessings aren't found in the cordoned-off VIP area but around her family and her loved boyfriend, with whom the actress plans to get married sooner or later and live a happily ever after life. UK's Harrow Observer columnist and Bollywood Hungama's London correspondent Devansh Patel gets personal over the most personalized chat Eesha Koppikhar has ever had since her acting career where she talks about her soon to be released two Mukta Arts Films, her most ambitious unreleased project, Shabri, the turning point in her career and the love of her life, the handsome hotelier, Rohit Narang and her way of keeping busy after marriage. Over to the self made woman who quotes, "I have no God father in this industry. Just one God, one father and one mother".How did your likeness for Rohit Narang blossom into love?
Rohit and I were in touch over the phone and text messages for more than two years now. We've bumped into each other at social gatherings and I quite liked him as a person as he seemed to have a positive frame of mind and an honest approach in what he does. I started going around with him from the longest day of the year in 2008, June 21. And as I got to know him, I discovered that he is a very generous soul and a helpful person. Whatever I liked gradually blossomed into love. So it's been a romantic journey since ten months now.

Post your new found love life, have you also found a new Eesha Koppikhar who'll be looking at films differentlyYes, I found a new love life and a whole new Eesha Koppikhar but after Shabri, Ek Vivaah Aisa Bhi and a couple of more films like these, with or without Rohit, I made up my mind that I am going to be more selective with the kind of scripts I'll be taking on. I want to do films which portray some kind of a message now, rather than just be running around trees. I want to be a part of serious cinema. I'm not saying parallel or cross over films but some serious, substantial roles which label you as an actor more than just a good looker.Rohit Narang, Eesha Koppikhar So you're saying that in your acting career, you've only had couple of films worth signingNot really. But the fact is that people still remember me for my Kya Kool Hain Hum performance. Having said that, I've never really been that happy with my roles in terms of performances as it's a male dominated industry where female actresses don't have much to do anyway. Nevertheless, if something really nice comes my way which may not be that performance oriented, I may take it on.Now you've got a helping hand at home, Timmy Narang aka Rohit Narang for your decision making.Of course. Timmy is a businessman and he is very analytical about what one should do. So he definitely throws in his inputs on how I need to handle my career. If it makes sense to me, I listen to him. If not, I don't (laughs).Not many know that a programme on Sab TV called FIR was inspired by your character in Kya Kool Hain Hum.You're right. FIR has Kavita Kaushik doing a Haryanvi accent just like I did in Kya Kool Hain Hum. The truth is that I met the director of FIR in Gold's Gym where he told me about his likeness for my role in the film and that he had created Kavita's role especially after seeing the film. That's an honour. Plus I've also had a few cops saluting me and saying that they want a character like mine in their police station.Brief us about your first time experience of working with Mukta Arts Right Ya Wrong is a suspense thriller where I play a grey character. It's a very mysterious kind of a role. Then I'm doing my second film with Mukta Arts called Hello Darling which is an out and out comedy. I play Satyavati Chautala who gets a job in Mumbai. There is Celina, Gul and Javed Jaffery in this nonsensical and a mad comic caper.

What about your long awaited and anticipated Ram Gopal Varma film Oh God, yeah. Shabri it is. I play a gangster in the film. Actually a slum dweller, a woman who is spoilt and sandwiched between the Mafia and the cops. It is interesting to know that whatever films I've done for Ram Gopal Varma so far are all special appearances. A role like Shabri is given to you once in a life time. The role was so demanding for me that I had to be hospitalized after the film was over. You can imagine the amount of stress I got under to play a role of a slum dweller. If the role isn't done well, it can just fall flat on your face. I still don't know how the audiences are going to receive it but everybody I meet talks about when Shabri is going to release. Well, only RGV has the answer to that I guess.Do you thank Lalit Marathe for watching RGV's D.Yes, you can say that. Lalit who is still waiting for his directorial debut Shabri to be released saw me in D. He liked the scene from the film where I am washing the utensils just before Chunky Pandey gets killed. That's when he decided to cast me for Shabri of course it was also Ramu who had his say. In fact, even after the death scene of Chunky, I got a call from Javed saab and Shabana ji saying that they hadn't seen an actress cry like that in any film. I was really ecstatic that evening after the comment.Eesha Koppikhar But you were not Ram Gopal Varma's first choice for Shabri.I still remember the day when Ramu called me to his office where he showed me a promo of Shabri which was cut with Antra Mali in it. But for some reason, things didn't work out with Antra and the director. Ramu too wasn't keen. But we all know how Ramu is. He was in two minds before he finalized me for the title role. But once he saw the rushes, Ramu was convinced. He said, "I can't believe it. I thought you would be the one who'd stick out as a sore thumb". Even now when I look at my Don pictures and put them next to my Shabri pictures, I can't believe it.

We also hear about the Kali Mata's blessings in disguise which got you your dream role Shabri.Yup. This incident took place just hours before I got my role as Shabri. I often visit the Sitladevi temple. Just next to Sitladevi is my kuldevi Shantadurga and bang opposite her is Kali Mata's temple. I paid my respects to Kali Maa. There is a saying in the temple that only a crying baby gets milk. So I asked. Asked for a rocking film to come my way. Then suddenly a flower fell right in front of me and I took it with me as her blessings. The same day I got a call from Ram Gopal Varma to come to his office. The rest is history.What are the other things you've realized about yourself besides being an actor Apart from Eesha Koppikhar the actor, there are a lot of other things I want to do in my life. I love fitness and food. Timmy is an hotelier and I want to do something there as well. I don't want to work all my life doing just movies. So I am tapping different sides of my talent. Meanwhile, because of the current meltdown, I am also doing other activities. Like, I am appearing for my black belt in Tae Kwon Do. As for films, I am in and out of narrations, listening for new scripts, etc. My idea is not to do just anything to be busy and to keep my diary full. I want to do something like Shabri and Ek Vivaah Aisa Bhi. The fate of the film does not matter to me.

Aren't you fed up of the 'Khallas' song? I mean, you're still known in the media and your fans as the 'Khallas Girl'.(Laughs) Khallas was a benchmark song for me. That's the song I was and I am still recognized by. That was a monster of a song. People had not seen a song like that. I mean, there is so much of me than just that song. Love it or hate it but you can't ignore 'Khallas'. Again, thanks to Ram Gopal Varma.Elections are coming up Eesha. How secured are you today with what's been happening in our country I don't feel secured at all. I want a people's government. I don't believe in politics. I believe in policies. Having said that, if I want my type of government, I better vote. The government has just been making plans but fail to execute them. They need to bring back the lost trust in us, and now is the time. Post 26/11, things have definitely changed. I am a celebrity. I may not go to a mall but when my friends or family visit, I get scared. That's what the black day has done to me.

Any of your films which Rohit has seen and has likedHe liked Kya Kool Hain Hum, he cried seeing Ek Vivaah Aisa Bhi and loved Shabri. Me, Lalit and Rohit saw Shabri together. Rohit also said, "I don't know how this film will fare but you have done your best ever work in Shabri". I then told him, "You look like this YRF film hero. You're tall, smart and suited all the time".

Sumber: http://bolliwoodstories.blogspot.com/2009/04/interviews.html