Ever wondered how our tinsel town stars fared at the acting school? Anu Gulmohar caught up with Kishore Namit Kapoor, a little after his visit to Delhi to launch a franchise of Kishore Namit Kapoor Acting (Lab) Institute, and brought back anecdotes galore of stars who look up to him...
Who’s Kishore Namit Kapoor?
Hrithik Roshan, Priyanka Chopra, Kareena Kapoor, Ranveer Singh, Imran Khan, Saif Ali Khan, Sonali Bendre, Perizaad Zorabian, Mahima Choudhary are all better equipped to introduce Kishore Namit Kapoor, as he is the craftsman who helped chisel their talent, and is in part responsible for the stellar performances they have delivered on the silver screen. You might remember seeing him in films like Kranti, Ashanti and Sarfarosh. “In those days art cinema was in vogue, so I was doing a lot of art films. Along with this, for my survival, I started to teach. And that’s when I realised that I’m a better teacher than actor!” he revealed to me. This Post Graduate from Films and Television Institute of India has a rare combination of skills, as he is also a Post Graduate in philosophy. As thoughts of method acting crept into my mind, I asked him if his studies in pilosophy had enabled him to be a better actor, and was surprised by his reply. “I was asked this question by Yash Chopra during an audition. He’d said, ‘You’re a student of philosophy and a Post Graduate and now you want to be an actor?’ I’d replied to him, ‘Shouldn’t actors be educated? After all, you do have to study your characters. And because of philosophy, I can understand my characters very well, for one of the branches of philosophy is psychology, and I did three papers in that subject. Earlier, actors were only judged by their personalities, but today, we have to portray the personality of the character, so we have to understand the psychology of the character. It gave me an edge over others and helped me a great deal.”
Kapoor personally trains every student who comes to him. While he teaches acting, he allows other teachers to coach students in areas like dance, action, language etc. I asked him if everybody can learn to act, after all, the glamour and money associated with the film business does call out to most of us! “Nobody can learn to act!” he dashed my hopes in a second, and continued, “Unless you have the commitment, integrity and passion. And the crucial part is if you have the talent. Only if the seed is there can a tree grow out of it, or only if there is a diamond can it be polished,” he reasons.
The star students
Plenty of star kids have trained with him. I wonder how many starry tantrums he would have had to put up with. “You would be shocked, for on the contrary, because they are born and brought up in the industry they know that glamour is a by-product, and it involves a lot of hard work. Because they have grown up in this environment, they are very humble. They know that they have to learn acting and are very focussed, and very disciplined. On the contrary, I witnessed a lot of attitude in Ranveer (Singh), which is surprising!” A little further into the interview, he did let me in to some rare insight on the young Saif Ali Khan. “Saif in the beginning was very careless and irresponsible. It’s only because he was from the industry that he sustained, otherwise he would have been out. He was so ‘Chhote Nawab’, and initially I had given up on him. I could not work with Saif because he would not come. And when he did come, he would say ‘sir, you’re like a hypno-therapist, and I want to relax for a bit!’ So, he would go up and sleep for six hours straight, because he would have spent the previous night in the disco.”
The so-far undisputed all-time topper of Kishore Namit Kapoor’s class is Hrithik Roshan. Throughout the conversation, Kapoor would keep coming back to Hrithik. Speaking about Ranveer’s attitude he digressed, “I feel you should always be humble. Hrithik especially is very humble.” The exceptionally talented actor and dancer is also the one in whom he has observed the maximum improvement from when he first stepped into his institute. “I would say Hrithik because he was really lanky, he was not muscular, he used to stammer, he had two left feet, he had a back problem and was so self conscious. He is still growing. In Guzaarish, I think he has given one of the best performances ever. He studied this character so much. They’ve given the award for My Name is Khan – Shahrukh is a friend, he’s taken workshops in my classes – but it’s not an absolute character, to believe the kind of character he played to be so well-kept, I can’t understand that,” he trails off, leaving me to conclude the obvious – that in his opinion Hrithik had given the best performance of the year. When I asked him about his all-time favourite student, Hrithik had to finally share the praise with other actors. “Hrithik, Sonali Bendre, Perizaad Zorabian, Mahima Choudhary are among my favourites. They’re intelligent and focussed people. They know their mind. They’re
talented and passionate,” he opined.
Hrithik’s success didn’t surprise him though, whereas the band baaja for Ranveer Singh has taken him off-guard. “Success usually doesn’t happen in the industry for people without a godfather or family in films. I kept telling him to keep pursuing films. He is very capable and has won all the awards. This was his very first film. It’s a very pleasant surprise.” Vivek on the other hand, is the actor he laments hasn’t received his due from critics and audiences yet. “There’s a lot of internal politics in the industry. Vivek is a tremendous actor. I don’t know why he is not working.” Perizaad Zorabian is another actor whom he feels is underrated. “She is tremendous,”
he insists.
First impressions
With the hope of making cinema’s superstars more real and human to the public bedazzled by the razzle-dazzle of films, I couldn’t help but egg Kapoor on to reveal how the stars were when they took lessons in acting from him, beginning with Priyanka Chopra. “Priyanka was overconfident, always. She also does not acknowledge people. I don’t bother, for teachers don’t work for acknowledgement, but to also not acknowledge your secretary… She had an attitude from the very beginning.” Clearly, the lady wasn’t this teacher’s pet! Kareena Kapoor fares better in his books. “Kareena used to perform so well that I thought nobody could be more spontaneous than her. Kareena is very sharp. Today, she has confidence,” said Kapoor. This acting teacher has not many glowing words for Aamir Khan’s nephew Imran though. “If he didn’t have Aamir’s support, I think he would have had to struggle for a long, long time. He is not a great actor. For lead, I think Ranbir is a better actor. Imran’s good for romantic roles but he can’t handle other roles. Though he attended all the classes… I think it’s not the right age for him yet…”
Life lessons
“Act as though you are living your life, and live as though you are acting!” is the mantra Kishore Namit Kapoor shares with us. This student of philosophy went on to divulge to us his personal take on the ups and downs in the industry. “Actors are not responsible for flop films. Flops should not bother anybody. Pick up any actor’s record, see Amitabh Bachchan or Dilip Kumar. They saw such terrible periods in their careers. The difference is that these people bounce back. In fact, we show our students a film called The Peaceful Warrior, and everybody must see it. One has to keep moving and be in the present. Whatever happens, happens. No compromises on your work. Love what you do, and do what you love and leave the rest to God,” signs off Kishore Namit Kapoor.
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