Abhishek Kapoor’s ‘Fitoor’ is slated to release on February 12. ‘Fitoor’ starring VJ turned actor Aditya Roy Kapoor, Katrina Kaif and Tabu in lead roles is an adaptation of Charles Dickens’ novel ‘Great Expectations’. The Action Replayy and Daawat-e-Ishq actor Aditya is excited about the film and his role. Actor who rose to prominence by playing the male lead in the highly successful romantic drama ‘Aashiqui 2’ talks to Sweta Ranjan about his latest film.
What is ‘Fitoor’ all about?
This movie is an adaptation of ‘Great Expectations’. Abhishek Kapoor has adapted it to Indian settings. It is one of those classic love stories. I was excited when I heard that Abhishek is going to be adapting it because I love his other two films and I thought that his sensibility is perfect to adapt this film. I feel it’s a very complex film about love and how the meaning of love differs for three important characters of the film. It is not a simple love story between a boy and a girl. It is about the extent that love can take you. My character in the film is continues to love a girl for years without even her love him. The character of Tabu is living in the past, an unhappy incident changes the course of her life and the third character of Katrina is brought up in a certain way. She doesn’t know herself. She is discovering herself. It’s a complex story but beautifully knit together.
Before the shoot started did you also read ‘Great Expectations’ to understand your character better? I didn’t want to read the novel because I think a novel and a films script is totally different. It can go wrong sometimes if I read the novel because scripts are not the complete adaptations of novels. If I read I might try to copy the character in the book.
So ‘Fitoor’ is a complete adaptation of ‘Great Expectations’? No, Abhishek has taken the story from there and has put his own take on this. Because he thought there are some elements that he could add to the story. Core of the story is same but may be a few things are either added or removed.
How was the experience of working with Katrina?
It was very nice. We did not know each other. While shooting for a film, the crew becomes your family for 6 to 7 months. We were very comfortable with each other. The team is very important on the set. Film making is such a crazy and tiring process and feeling of togetherness matters a lot. It made such a remarkable difference on the set. She is a very selfless actor.
You did her interview long ago, any memories of meeting her? I just remember her as a very sweet girl who I had met just for an interview. Now, of course there must be a great evolution in her. She has matured and so have I. she has gained a lot of experience. There is lot I have learnt from her. The way she goes about her work is remarkable. She genuine cares about the other actor.
Has Katrina been a great help to you in terms of dancing? She has so much experience in dance that she knows what to care about and what not to care about. She has a very practical experience about what is translating into camera while dancing. What you are doing and what camera captures are two different things. She guided me in a lot of parts .
You refused two films while working for ‘Fitoor’, why did you do so? This film required a lot of time and a lot of concentration so I could not fit anything in between.
Why did you name Katrina as a ‘Ninja Girl’? We used to call her Ninja because she is so quick and her mind works very fast. You throw 3 to 4 things on her and she will handle the stuff very calmly. Ninjas are Zen like. She also doesn’t let you know what she is thinking.
What special efforts you made for the film? A lot of things needed to be done for this film. First of all I had to change myself physically. It took me around 10 months to lose extra weight. I had to do a lot of work out and training. I lost 18 kgs weight. Because I am playing a Kashmiri boy so to get that kind of focus and concentration I had to change my looks. I am born and brought up in Mumbai which is very different lifestyle from Kashmir. I spent a lot of time in Kashmir, went there for a reiki to learn their thinking and mannerism. I had to do a lot of art classes and work with artisans to learn their work because I play the role of an artist.