Karan Kapadia, who makes his Bollywood debut with Blank opposite Sunny Deol next month, is the late actress and designer Simple Kapadia’s son. After she passed away in 2009, Karan was brought up by Simple’s sister Dimple Kapadia. The gene for acting was already in his blood. His aunt, cousin Twinkle Khanna and famous Bollywood superstar cousin-brother-in-law Akshay Kumar gave Karan the josh to take the first step forward. It was Akshay who saw potential in Karan and to help the debutant with his Bollywood break, Akshay has even done a special number with Karan for Blank. Now in the first lap of promotions for his action-packed film based on terrorism, Karan is busy giving media interviews. He came across to the Peeping Moon office for a chat. On the way up in the elevator, Karan stared at himself in the mirror and asked, “Would you think I am vain if I combed my hair?”

Excerpts from the interview:   

You made a short film that you showed at Cannes and which came to Akshay Kumar’s attention. What was that film about?

It was about this deaf and mute brother. The story of two siblings. And how due to his handicap he faced adversities but resorted to this underground boxing (more like street fighting) to channel the aggression that was pent up inside him over the years. It was nine minutes with the backdrop of Hindu-Muslim riots. I acted in it. And Akshay Sir saw this film.
 
What did he say about it?

It was my first real experience on such a big scale. I was very raw and sort of finding my way. Akshay Sir was proud of the effort but he saw potential in me to do better. He told me there was a lot more hard work that needed to be done. It was grounding advice more than anything.
 
Why did you not get Akshay to launch you?

I wanted to try and make it on my own. Plus this nepotism thing is inevitable. The choice and decision to do this film was my own. So whether it succeeds or not, it’s on my shoulders. I don’t feel that extra responsibility because someone had to invest in me. I was also lucky the way it all panned out because Behzad Khambata (who’s directed my debut film Blank) and I go way back. We were assistants together on Akshay Sir’s film Boss in 2013.

 
Did you outdo yourself on Boss and show a lot of promise?

I was a terrible AD. I was really bad.
 
Varun Dhawan was an AD on My Name is Khan in 2010 and something he did there came to the attention of Karan Johar who cast him in Student Of The Year in 2012. Was this the same story with you?

No, it wasn’t like that. For me it was completely different. I was studying Mass Media and I wanted to act since I was 11. I thought I’d go to some acting school in New York because that’s what most people seemed to be doing. But then I got into some trouble at home. I was 17 and Akshay Sir told me he was doing Boss and I was going to assist on it. On the sets, I built up a rapport with Pranav (another AD) and Behzad. We had similar sensibilities on cinema and we always spoke about collaborating. I did the short film Crescendo with Pranav but Behzad was doing other stuff. It just happened that his project got green lit. Someone else was supposed to do it. That didn’t work out and Behzad called me. So that’s how Blank happened for me.
 
The trailer of Blank is very exciting. Do you feel that you have justified everybody’s faith in you?

I don’t think many people knew about me before the trailer. In a way it was good because there weren’t so many eyeballs on me and there was no pressure to live up to anybody’s name.
 

Did Akshay come onboard with this special number that he’s done for you after seeing the trailer or it was there right from the start?

It wasn’t there from the start. The whole thing was actually decided a week or so before the song was shot. Akshay Sir had already seen the trailer and he had seen large portions of the film and was pleasantly surprised, I think. He said, “This is just my way of wishing you good luck.” I’m extremely grateful. I never saw that coming.
 
Sunny Deol plays an Anti-Terrorist Squad cop in Blank and there are plenty of examples for him to study. How did you do a recce for the suicide bomber’s role?

There was no recce. I signed this film in 2016. I had two-and-a-half years to think about the character before we began shooting. To have discussions with Behzad and Pranav (the other writer) as to how they visualise the character and see me playing it. That time really helped to prepare me.

 
Did you see any films on terrorism?

Not at all. I didn’t want to emulate anybody’s performance. I wanted it to be my own as much as I could make it my own. And Behzad had a very specific vision of how he saw this character and this film panning out. So I just tried my best to do justice to whatever it is that he saw.
 
Akshay has done films on terrorism like Baby and Holiday. Did he quietly help you out with your role?

Not really. My character is not like any character he has played because he is essentially the hero. The character I am playing has a lot of grey shades. There’s intrigue to him. People haven’t figured out from the trailer whether he is good or bad. Akshay Sir hasn’t played a character like that. I just did my own thing; I actually never discussed my character or my performance with him.
 

What do you remember of your mother’s stint in Bollywood?

A lot, actually. My mom was a single parent and raised me practically on her own till she passed away. She was a costume designer you know?
 
And she got a National Film award for…

Yeah, she and my aunt won it on the same night, for the same film which was Rudaali. It was actually the year I was born so that was pretty cool. I remember going on sets with her. She was Mr. Sunny Deol’s costume designer as well in the late 1990s-early 2000s and so to share the frame with him 20 years after seeing him on the sets is absolutely incredible.

 
Mr. Sunny Deol is launching his own son Karan. Was that awkward for you or did he treat you like a son as well? 

No, it wasn’t awkward. We never really spoke about the other Karan as much. I know him, he was in my school, his pet name is Rocky so our names never really got mixed up as such.  
 
Were you able to match Sunny Deol in action?

I don’t think you can match  30-plus years of experience in your first film. I think you just get better with experience. So I can’t say I even hoped to compete with him in my first attempt, no way.
 
What after Blank?

I’m writing something that I’m extremely passionate about. I’ve been writing it for a year-and-a-half with Behzad and Pranav. I think it has the potential to bring about some change. I don’t want to speak too much because I haven’t developed it the way I want to yet. But yeah, I think my ideas are different and unconventional and I’m just hoping someone banks on them and then you never know.