At the promotion of Ki & Ka, Arjun Kapoor and R Balki explained why the movie is more about issues other than role reversal and why it is important to let people chose what they want to do without looking down upon them. Shrabasti Mallik reports
Trailers are meant to be a glimpse of what a product is going to be all about — a medium to generate interest about what’s coming. Going by the trailers of Ki & Ka and the groovy High heels track, one expected a hard hitting and revolutionary story about role reversal. And to tell you the truth, it is so and also much more.
The movie is the story of Kiya and Kabir and it traces their ideologies in life and their mutual agreement of prioritising their married life. While Kabir wants to stay away from the burdens of providing for a family and stays back and becomes a homemaker, Kiya agrees to work and be the bread earner.
But the movie is just not about role reversal where man and a woman does what the opposite gender is supposed to do. According to Arjun Kapoor, when the film was on the floors nobody thought that that they were doing a documentary or trying to create awareness amongst people or to bring a revolution, “because cinema is not enough to do that alone.” At a press conference, accompanied by Kareena Kapoor Khan and director R Balki, the actor said, “A film merely projects what is happening in society.
After that, if it brings a little change in the thought process and engages a dialogue about male homemakers, it is a bonus. There are many men today who lend a helping hand in the house but they hesitate to speak about it because society does not approve of that. But I think that this film will give people the courage to talk on this matter in the open without inhibition. What the film is trying to say is that we should not differentiate on the basis of gender, instead, we should be able to give people opportunities based on their capabilities. And people should be free and independent, according to the Constitution of India, to decide how they want to live and what they want to do and nobody else has the right to decide what is right or wrong for them.”
Of late there were rumours about where Balki got the inspiration for such a concept-based film. The director rubbished them right away and said that it was an imaginary story. “This film is not inspired by anybody’s life. I do not believe in borrowing things from real life but believe that films should add something to life instead,” he pointed out.
When questioned about the sustainability of a subject as different as this in the present day Balki explained that sustainability is for two individuals. “It’s about two people who are comfortable in their relationship. It is not so much about role reversal as much it is about identifying with the characters. Imagine a man identifying with a woman’s character — it is something that has not happened before. It’s more about the human aspect of it. You do not necessarily have to be a woman to identify with a woman and so on,” he elaborated.
Kareena added that the movie has come at a very right time and that everything in the movie is very relevant to the present day. “One of the reasons I agreed to the role was that it was really relevant to the time we are living in,” she said.
Although the cast and the crew claim that the movie was not meant to deliver a hard-hitting message on society and the changes in the definition of a homemaker, they are hopeful that, if not anything, the movie will make the audience think. Arjun said, “Even men who live in their own take care of the house. It is a skill set that exists but society has conditioned you not to use it. A man is supposed to go out there and provide. He is not supposed to clean up and to take care. But the youth of India is intelligent and will find things to take back home. Even if you can take away even a tiny portion of it with you, if you can go home at the end of the day and thank your wife for what she goes through while you are at work — it goes a long way.”
We asked Arjun about the pressures of portraying a character so different yet strong, and he instantly replied, “I thrive under pressure. I have always been an underdog. I have always been told that I would not be act but I never gave up. When I came to host a television show I was told that I would not be able to do it. I enjoy the oppression and the real treat in life is when you can out do people’s expectations because of the belief that you have in yourself.”
photo Pankaj Kumar