January 18, 2018
Abhishek Kapoor successfully launched Farhan Akhtar and
Sushant Singh Rajput as film actors. The director, whose next movie "Kedarnath"
will mark Sara Ali Khan's debut, says he chases his characters instead of
actors.
"Newcomers have an infectious energy and unpredictability and
give the audience a surprise. Having said that, it's not that I mind working
with established actors provided they are as excited about portraying the
characters that I would like to see brought to life. I can only chase my
characters, not my actors. Sometimes it is not possible to do both," Kapoor said
in a statement to IANS.
Sara is the daughter of actor Saif Ali Khan and
Amrita Singh, and her debut is much-awaited with "Kedarnath", a love story set
against the holy temple town of Kedarnath.
Kapoor, whose maternal uncle
is veteran actor Jeetendra, said: "I have gone through my share of struggles and
have understood that it does not matter whether you start as an 'insider' or as
an 'outsider'. What matters is who you are and what you bring to the table in
terms of your creativity and your work ethic."
He said his journey to
make films was his own choice.
Often one to refrain from being spotted
with a particular camp, Kapoor said: "When I was growing up, my mother's brother
Jeetendra was a major Hindi movie star, and we do know a lot of people from the
movie business. But as with everyone, the decision to be in films and my journey
in film was my own, and has been a fairly challenging one too.
"Knowing
people is not an automatic all-access pass to success. Very early on, I saw a
lot of failure, so any sense of entitlement I may have had about my place in the
business, was quickly knocked out of me."
Having directed "Rock On!!",
"Kai Po Che" and "Fitoor" earlier, Kapoor is now looking forward to "Kedarnath".
On how the film happened, he said: "In my house, spirituality has been a
guiding principle. I am a big believer of Shivji and the cosmic forces that
oversee us.There are two kinds of people in the spiritual world. Those who are
believers and and those who are seekers. A believer has trust in the universe
and a seeker is one who isn't, but is trying to gain that trust.
"I have
made many trips to Vaishnodevi, and I have seen people trekking up mountains on
these pilgrimages, on these arduous trips to find God. What I have observed is
that on their journeys to seek God, they usually experience God at some point
along the way."
The flash floods that wrought death and destruction in
the Hindu pilgrim destination Kedarnath in 2013, left an indelible impact on
Kapoor.
"The incident of the floods in 2013 also could not leave my mind,
due to the stories that came out of it -- devastating and remarkable in equal
measure. I had to go ahead and develop a film set against that backdrop. I
believe it is one of the most important stories I can tell for modern India,"
Kapoor said, without divulging anything more on the movie.