Aditya Roy Kapur on taking a break from emotionally conflicted characters: 'It can be draining'

  Actor Aditya Roy Kapur says he is still approached to play emotionally conflicted characters almost a decade after his debut as a leading man in " Aashiqui 2", but he is trying hard to not repeat himself.

In 2013's "Aashiqui 2", Kapur played a self-destructive and alcoholic pop star to critical acclaim. Since then, he has starred in movies like “ Yeh Jawaani Hai Deewani ”, "Daawat-E- Ishq ", " Fitoor ", "Ok Jaanu ", " Malang " and “Ludo”.

The 36-year-old actor said he is making a conscious attempt to not repeat himself and his last two releases -- action thriller "Malang" and Anurag Basu 's black comedy "Ludo" -- were steps in that direction.

"People think I am good with emotional, conflicted characters. So, that comes my way and I also like them. I enjoyed the comedy that I did in ‘Ludo’ and I want to do more of that. However, I want to do different things. It can be draining if you do back-to-back emotionally draining films.

"It is important to take a break and do something different and come back so you have more to give or else you will not have anything left," Kapur told PTI in an interview.

"Ludo", Basu's black comedy featuring four inter-connected shorts stories which was released on Netflix in 2020, helped the actor present a different side of his personality, he added.

"The film showcased a side that people hadn't seen before and it felt good that people liked me. I wanted to do a comedy and who better to do that than dada (Basu). I did sense that post ‘Ludo’, people’s mind opened and they said there is another side to me as an actor. It was quite beneficial," Kapur said.

Similarly, Kapur's 2020 action drama "Malang" helped him prepare for his upcoming movie "Rashtra Kavach Om ".

In the film, directed by debutante director Kapil Verma, Aditya plays a para commando on a mission.

Kapur recalled that he was approached for the film soon after the trailer of his 2020 action-thriller “Malang” dropped.

“Kapil saw me in that trailer where I was bulked up. He felt that’s my guy and they called me for ‘Om’. It is an action film and I am a huge action buff as I grew up like an action fanatic. I watched all the films of action greats like Sylvester Stallone , Jackie Chan and (Jean-Claude) Van Damme,” he added.

Kapur asserted that having worked on Mohit Suri ’s “Malang”, the experience of doing action came a bit handy to him.

“It helped me gain confidence because I had not done action before ‘Malang’. However, this film had another level of action. It was physically gruelling. I had to do three to four months of rigorous action training, where I was with a bunch of boys, who were teaching me the ABC of action,” he said.

The film was earlier titled " Om: The Battle Within " but the makers have quietly changed it to "Rashtra Kavach Om".

Asked about the reason for the film's title change, the actor said, "It is the studio and producer's call. Whatever they feel, (I am okay with it). They felt this goes with the story."

Kapur said that he is currently feeling nervous as there is box office pressure with the film's theatrical release.

“I am always nervous before any release be it on OTT or in theatre. There is another edge to theatrical releases because there is box office number involved. And it is important for me that the film does well even for producers and the studio.

"There is pressure. It is not something that I can control. What I can do is to promote it (well). It is important that the films I act in do well at the box office. The outcome is important,” he added.

Produced by Zee Studios, Shaira Khan and Ahmed Khan, “Rashtra Kavach Om” is set to release in cinemas on Friday.

Up next for him is " Gumraah ", the remake of Tamil hit “Thadam”, and the Indian adaptation of John Le Carre's spy drama “The Night Manager”.Sandeep Modi, who co-created and co-directed hit series " Aarya " last year, will direct the Indian version for Disney + Hotstar .

Kapur, who will take on the lead role of Jonathan Pine, a part previously played by Tom Hiddleston in the 2016 British limited series, said he is looking forward to the project.

"I was really excited to get into it because it felt like a rich piece of material that needed a lot of work. I am excited to see the reaction of the audience. I had seen the series when this came up,” he said.