Anil And Sonam Kapoor

HE IS THE ACTOR WHO SHOWED THAT COMMERCIAL VIABILITY AND CREDIBLE PORTRAYALS OF SCREEN CHARACTERS, ARE NOT MUTUALLY EXCLUSIVE. TODAY, ANIL KAPOOR'S DAUGHTER SONAM KAPOOR, READIES HERSELF FOR THE ULTIMATE TAKEOVER BID. THE GIRL WHO NEVER GREW UP CHANTING THAT SHE WANTED TO ACT, IS SET TO SURPRISE HERSELF.

From aesthete to actress, Sonam flies into the film firmament

If a modern palace had to be located in the concrete landmass of Mumbai, then anil and Sunita Kapoor's bungalow in Juhu would come close. As your eyes sweep over the richly layered decor, containing paintings, lithographs, playing cards from the Mughal era, silver decanters, beautifully maintained plants, plush furniture and panelled walls and ceilings, you know this is a family of sensibility and passion.

Anil Kapoor, who is busy between calls on his mobile and the drama of a cricket match splayed on the plasma TV in front of him, sits like a badshah in loose-fitting desi attire. There is an everyday charm that still sits about the charismatic actor, and his super-fit wife Sunita, who greets you in a form-fitting pair of jeans and a no-nonsense white shirt. This is a couple that has defied gravity and time. And though Anil Kapoor's art-filled, gold-gilded and marbled universe tells you the opulence of Bollywood, a world spun by dreams, surrounds him, by no definition is this space filmi. It has an aesthete's touch. Anil's words confirm this, "This whole atmosphere in the house is really non-filmi. My wife is a banker's daughter; she and her sister have always had a wonderful sense of aesthetics. They are very much into art, culture, decor, jewellery design, gardening. When we were courting, Sunita was always going to libraries and borrowing 20 to 30 books at a time. I used to wonder whether she was a librarian instead of a model! (He laughs). This passion for reading has come down to Sonam as well. She can read for 48 hours at a stretch. Once she goes inside a room by herself, she can finish four to five books and come out!"

So did Sonam really show any thespianic sparks, in those wonder years? He thinks hard, and says, "Well, yes, she always loved dancing, painting. In fact, she's passionate about dance. She's been training in Kathak since she was 12 years old. Dancing made her a kind of exhibitionist, there was always a certain kind of passion. I never really saw her taking to acting, it came as a surprise to me when she returned from college and said, 'I want to assist Sanjay Leela Bhansali'. I asked her, 'do you want to get into films?' And she said, 'Yes, I want to write and direct'. Even then, she didn't say she wanted to be an actress."

Anil made that crucial call to Sanjay Leela Bhansali, thinking his daughter would do well as an assistant. "She was in charge of props for Black, and she used to do all kinds of odd jobs on the set. When I met Sanjay, he told me 'She has a good aesthetic sense, a good sense of colour,' and I know she has taken both of these qualities from her mother and aunt."

Ask Sonam how the seed for acting was planted in her spirit, and she recalls, "The first time I went to meet Mr. Bhansali, I was 86 kilos. His mom was sitting in his home and he was nowhere to be seen. I had gone to meet him to join him as an assistant director because I thought maybe I can make or write films someday, and she said, 'Why don't you become an actress?' And I thought, 'here's a lady who's the same age as my grandmother, telling me this in all seriousness. I went....hmmmmm. Then Mr. Bhansali came in and said, 'So you don't want to be an actress?' And I said, 'no, I don't know how to act.' Then a month-and-a-half later we were shooting with Mr. Bachchan and Rani. I realized I was more interested in what was happening in front of the camera, as Mr. Bhansali was directing Amit-ji or Rani. The whole process of acting seemed just so fascinating!"

Clearly, when Anil Kapoor entered the movies, the 'scene' was a lot more vaudeville, full of a hit-and-miss attitude, where heroines were little more than eye candy. Anil agrees. "One thing that is definitely in Sonam's favour, is that the entire industry is going through a turnaround, where directors, scripts, stories are concerned. Saawariya is produced by Columbia Tristar, which alone shows you the globalization process. When I entered this world, I found myself surrounded by very few like-minded people. Today, I can relate to many more, in fact most of the people, and I am enjoying my work much more now."

Even so, it could not have been easy for Sonam to go from being a pampered princess to Bhansali's assistant. At home, all Sonam has to do is look over her shoulder and her every wish is her staff's command. She is surrounded by luxury, by friends, by the ever-protective presence of mom and dad. Anil is quick to admit, "Sonam is the most family-oriented of my three kids; wherever she goes, she must call once a day." Sonam slowly admits that flying the nest has not been easy, even when she went to Singapore's United World College, (a family tradition ignored by her siblings).

"Things changed for me. I was never a fat child. In fact, till the 10th grade, I was underweight. But when I went to UWC, I got really depressed. I am a homebody, who can't handle being away from my parents, even though I admit, I had a wonderful time and made lots of friends. I started eating a lot, hogging like a pint of Hagen Daaz ice cream, pizzas, Chinese, Japanese, American, Mexican food -- anything and everything. Singapore is one city you can't afford to get fat, because you don't fit into anything. I came back extra large, and worked for a year to knock off the weight. I started living a healthy life, exercising, dancing, sleeping early, drinking water."

But this was the easy part. Stepping into today's cinematic world, which pushes the envelope on acting each day, and carrying the mantle of being Sanjay Leela Bhansali's protege, and Anil Kapoor's daughter, must have felt a bit like getting a PhD in a day. What all did she do to groom herself?

"I had to take Urdu lessons, because in the film industry, we speak a language called Hindustani which is a combination of Hindi and Urdu, which we normally speak. Then, I had to work on my acting, voice and body language. Mr. Bhansali groomed me to be aware of everything to do with getting into character, camera angles and how to conduct oneself in front of the camera. Mr. Taneja Saab ddi a lot of improvisations with me, and Jayati Bhatia (who performed in Vagina Monologues) did a lot of workshops with me, which also helped. Then I had my diction teachers, my dad, and my dance teacher Miss Uma Dogra."

Any help from dad? "Obviously. For example, if I had a difficult scene the next day, my mom would go crazy, because she would be sleeping and suddenly I would be in their bed screaming and shouting. I would discuss scenes with my dad at lunch."

"She was completely raw, and that's what I told Sanjay, you have to groom her completely from scratch."

Sonam adds, " have worked with Mr. Bhansali since I was 17, starting out as an assistant. It's been four years now. Half a year in training, one year in filming, and all this, after I served as an assistant in Black. So basically, I have done my university in Indian cinema, with him!"

Did Sonam now display a more mature understanding of father's profession? "Definitely," says Anil. "We discuss films a lot now. I am quite amazed at her instinct. For example, I was supposed to be discussing the best film of the past 60 years, on a programme on NDTV. Sonam said, 'Dad, it's got to be Mother India, that film has so many layers and such depth. Look at the values, how the woman and the mother figure stood by those values. It's a complete Indian film, since the vast majority of our people are still poor. I got convinced and changed my answer to her answer." Touche!