Pandemic has forced people in cinema to recalibrate, says actor Janhvi Kapoor, who believes mid-range movies need more support from producers and audiences. The 27-year-old actor, who features in the upcoming film “Mr & Mrs Mahi”, said she craves to play characters that are based on a story.
“The shift in the way the audience is consuming cinema post the pandemic has forced us to recalibrate a little bit. It is a good time,” Janhvi told PTI in an interview.
According to the actor, for mid-range films to get their due, they need to be incentivised by producers as not all movies need to be tentpole cinema.
In the romantic sports drama “Mr & Mrs Mahi”, she plays the role of Mahima, a doctor, who becomes a cricketer after her husband Mahendra (Rajkummar Rao) spots the cricketing talent in her and encourages her to chase her dream and becomes her coach.
Sharan Sharma, who directed Janhvi in “Gunjan Saxena: The Kargil Girl”, is also helming this project. “As actors you crave and itch to do films or tell stories like ‘Mr & Mrs Mahi’, so I hope people lap it up and enjoy it and we get to make more such films,” she said.
Asked whether she worries about the box office performance of her movies, Jahnvi said every film eventually finds its audience. “Eventually, what’s meant to happen with a film always happens and it might not be what you expect but it will be what a film deserves. Every film has a destiny. Sometimes you don’t get what you hope out of a film. I’ve been in many scenarios where I’ve put all my eggs in one basket and I’m like, ‘With this film, everything will be set’. But sometimes you don’t realise what you need out of it,” she added.
The actor, who is the daughter of late star Sridevi and producer Boney Kapoor, said she is “fortunate” to have had the opportunity to do great work in Hindi cinema but her effort has always been to do good films and fight the perception that one has about people of her background.
“If there was any obstacle and resistance it would be things like people’s perception and preconceived notions, and the baggage that one attributes with someone who they think comes from a place of privilege. So, (I’m) encouraging them to unlearn that perception and baggage that they come with. Sometimes, I feel it weighs heavily on the way they see my work,” she said.
With back-to-back failure of big movies, there is a lot of conversation in the industry about actors’ fee and the cost of their entourage. Asked about it, Janhvi said it can be managed by having a dialogue with the talent. “Our priority is to make a good film, the best way that it can be made and if something is proving to be a burden on the producer’s head, I’m sure we’ll make a concession,” she added.
The actor injured herself multiple times while learning to play cricket for “Mr & Mrs Mahi” but it was all worth it in the end, she said.
“I had two injuries which forced me to not do anything for three months so that added to the time. It was an overall process of two years.” The actor said it challenging to learn the nuances of the sport, adding she has learnt to play the cover drive, considered one of the most graceful shots playable in cricket, well. At the beginning, it took time, but I felt I was making good progress and was hitting 500 balls a day,” she said.
Produced by Zee Studios and Dharma Productions, “Mr & Mrs Mahi” is now in theatres.
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