Janhvi Kapoor and Ishaan Khatter spread their zing with Zingaat at a press conference and showed that they were very sorted. By Team Viva
Glamour, paparazzi, gossip, hype and expectation come as necessary evils when you debut as a Bollywood star. Both Janhvi Kapoor, daughter of actress Sridevi and producer Boney Kapoor, and Ishaan Khatter, brother of actor Shahid Kapoor, have been used to it courtesy their bloodlines. But what makes the young leads of Dhadak unexpectedly refreshing is that they are remarkably sorted, aware that the halo is derived and not earned, and are determined to be like any other young Indian making a go at a start-up on their terms, with conviction, honesty and being their usual selves. Coming from the Karan Johar stable, they may have been prepped up a lot but during their promotions across cities and yesterday in Delhi, they looked effortless and at ease, reminding everybody to judge them purely on their craft and that they were realistic about their expectations.
As Ishaan said, “I will see how it comes. But at the end of the day, my aim is to learn and live a life that offers me a growth as an artiste.”
Janhvi very determinedly stayed away from too much talk about her late mother and chose to focus on talk about her work. Said she for the umpteenth time, “Yes, I am full of excitement as well as nervousness. I keep telling Ishaan that bhanda July 20 ko phootne vaala hai. We will know our fate then. Right now we can only hope that people like our work.”
Quite in tandem, Ishaan added, “We have created a beautiful and important film, and we have worked very hard to show it the way our director envisioned it. The film has been my most memorable experience and now the only unknown factor is the audience verdict. That is keeping us on the edge but we are ready to face the truth and take it from there.”
Then they chose to elaborate that the film, an adaptation of the hard-hitting and realistic Sairaat, was contextualised differently for the Hindi film market. It is set in rural Rajasthan and the protagonists had to speak in a Mewari dialect. “We had to work a lot with Shashank (Khaitan). We camped in Rajasthan to do research, talk to people, observe them and their way of talking and conversing with each other, their ways of living. Since the beginning, our director told us that since we weren’t making a regional film, the sensibilities should be pan-Indian and the lines should be easy to understand for the audience as well as for us to speak,” said Janhvi.
As the actors talked about how they worked hard to make the film exceed their director’s expectations, they also emphasised on the importance of the issue that the film revolves around. “It is a universal film and we do not just want appreciation. We feel the film should be debated and talked about since it is about a very important societal issue. People should be conscious of their surrounding realities and ask questions,” said Ishaan.
Asked why she chose the tested safety of an adaptation as her maiden film, Janhvi told us that she wasn’t cool enough “to choose something. This film chose me, for which I am very thankful. I was extremely lucky and blessed that I got an opportunity like this. Sure it is based on the story of Sairaat, but it doesn’t copy the scenes.”
Janhvi also articulated how they were equally sensitive to Sairaat and its fan base. “More than the pressure of comparison, we have taken it as a responsibility to capture the essence and tell a good story.”
Ishaan, who has already proven his acting chops as a drug peddler in Majid Majidi’s Beyond the Clouds and is now playing a film-obsessed lover boy, is a serious student. “My acting style changes according to the way a character is imagined,” said the young actor, who is influenced by many international superstars like late King of Pop Michael Jackson and French dancers les Twins, apart from Indian classical dance exponent Birju Maharaj. “I managed to make my debut with Majid Majidi whereas Dhadak is giving me a huge mass exposure. I just hope that I maintain the balance,” he reasoned.
So when there were questions about nepotism and how easy it is for star kids to come up without pre-defined struggles, Ishaan refused to answer, waiting to demonstrate his versatility and letting it talk instead.
On their time-out in Delhi, Ishaan admitted that he had gone shopping with Janhvi and had gotten her a pair of beautiful earrings.
Photo: Pankaj Kumar