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AreYaar

@AreYaar

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+ 19

Posted: 13 years ago

#281

Originally posted by: incandescence

I really love Kunal as a person off screen too not just as an actor...he's very non-celebrity like...no starry airs or arrogance...he's veryyy sweet and humble...

Yes, he's very sweet and humble and just so randomly goofy...dunno if you've seen all his other interviews or the random things he tweets...lol...Jzee keeps giving me updates...he's really hilariously random. And all that aside, there is just something very genuine about him...his thoughts have this awe about the world and the randomest of things fascinating him.

Btw I guess you never read all those blogs I posted about Kunal...those were really good reads...especially this one lady toh is a mega Kunal pankhaa...lol...and Jzee's blogpost on him was superfab too.

Now don't jump on me but I realized the other day that there is a slight similarity b/w him and MR...they both have that almost child-like joyful way of laughing😆...and their eyes go all crinkly when they do...lol

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incandescence

@incandescence

Sparkler

Posted: 13 years ago

#282

I don't think I have watched all but I have watched most of his interviews. I like him a lot too...he and his quirky randomness...he's just so cuteee! Hahaha...and no I won't jump on you at the MR comparison...in fact since MR, he's the first actor that I have found that awesome personalty wise...not that they are similar...where Kunal always manage to make me smile, with MR it's more of a sigh that exhale out of me whenever I watch his interviews...😆

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AreYaar

@AreYaar

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+ 19

Posted: 13 years ago

#283

Yes, they aren't similar...MR toh obviously has us more in AWE as an overall package...but you don't think their laughs are a bit similar? THe boyish aspect to them? Guess it's just me then...lol

Kunal generally makes me smile at his randomness...lol...he's in his own bubble half the time...lol...like in the RM interview, they asked him that question about what you don't have as a celebrity and he takes off listing his woes about not having a baai, no clean utensils...lolll...I love how he talks about his love for traveling and discovering new places/things too.

I'm not talking of watching video interviews...have you read the BLOGS on him I'm asking.

Edited by AreYaar - 13 years ago

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incandescence

@incandescence

Sparkler

Posted: 13 years ago

#284

You know there are only a few actors that have that kind of aura and charm to make me a fan of them off screen as well...warna I like NB and Kavi too...they were likeable as well...but I guess with both of them I was more in love with their on screen characters, Kesar and Rohan...

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AreYaar

@AreYaar

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+ 19

Posted: 13 years ago

#285

Originally posted by: incandescence
You know there are only a few actors that have that kind of aura and charm to make me a fan of them off screen as well...warna I like NB and Kavi too...they were likeable as well...but I guess with both of them I was more in love with their on screen characters, Kesar and Rohan...

LOLL oh Mash, I love how you make it sound like an EHSAAN when you like someone😆

Yes, I have to agree that even though I also have liked NB and Kavi offscreen but it was always their characters that took precedence.

In Kunal's case the thing is that he IS Mohan for the most part too so the line just blurs😆...but he really genuinely is a very sweet guy that just endears himself to you...he's got his own kind of charm.

Btw did you hear that dig Kunal took at other ppl who come to interview them just for bytes and have no real genuine interest in the show? LOLL and the RM ppl threw him a chocolate for saying that...hahaha

And I think it's really sweet how Kunal talks about the fan appreciation too...surreal he calls it each time...lol...like he can't believe it...ki why HIM😆...and how's all in awe of the VM makers too...you've seen that segment of him watching Jzee's VM on him? LOL it's adorable...and him and Aakanksha were SO sweet talking about my ek main ek tu VM too...that was an awesomely pleasant surprise to me...lol

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incandescence

@incandescence

Sparkler

Posted: 13 years ago

#286

Nahin main ne kabhi yeh similarity note nahin ki...in ke laugh ki...ab next time I'll not his laugh more clearly...loll.

Waise sometimes I feel Kunal is so like me about living in his own bubble...loll...of course I'm not that humble...

Ummm no I haven't read the blogs...

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AreYaar

@AreYaar

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+ 19

Posted: 13 years ago

#287

Originally posted by: incandescence

Waise sometimes I feel Kunal is so like me about living in his own bubble...loll...of course I'm not that humble...

Ummm no I haven't read the blogs...

LOL you are also like Kunal? LOL Jzee also feels the same and I do think she is😆

Anyways...READ

[quote]

Why do we connect with a cinematic character, a film, a television series, a poem, a phrase? Is it because we find in them something that was unarticulated in us? A longing? A deep hurt with tangled roots that we cannot pull out? Anger and demons and darkness we are too afraid to face? A sense of vindication we somehow did not get in real life? A desire that we never saw actualised except in wistful, unfinished dreams? Everytime something connects with us, it completes something, echoes something, answers something, heals something, stirs something. Kunal Karan Kapoor's Mohan Bhatnagar does almost all of the above in Na Bole Tum Na Maine Kuch Kaha, an unlikely love story between a crime reporter and a grieving widow on Colours.

***

As a critic, I cannot bring myself to laugh at films or plays or television shows that make people laugh or cry or are entertaining in a cleansing way. Critiquing is one thing. Dismissing is another. And always, I ask this, "why did this work?" It is not always about intellect, technique, smarts. Sometimes, what works tickles the surface. Sometimes, it goes deeper as during the days of contained entertainment when we watched rationed episodes of dramas like Hum Log and lived with those characters in our mind space and in those tacky sets. That show spoke to our fears, our concerns, our aspirations. For many of us, a show like Kavita Chowdhary's Udaan for instance was about strength and giving a fitting reply to poverty and misfortune. Somehow that title song played in my head, everytime I commuted back from my university to home in the lonely days after my father's death. It was the music of courage. Of hope. Of resilience.

***

That connect was lost as television grew up and we grew older. Films no longer dug deep. Television was loud, farcical and staged. And yet, a few nights back, as I chatted with a Facebook friend about Kunal Karan Kapoor, late into the night, I realised that somehow a connect had been made not just with the obvious talent of this unstarry young fellow but what he represents. And what does he represent? That answer is different for every viewer who watches him but what surprises me is that in this age of vacuous, bulked up, pretty cardboard actors on TV, someone actually looked at him and saw Mohan Bhatnagar.

***

A character that is acquiring cult status steadily in Na Bole Tum Na Maine Kuch Kaha. I am stumped that someone saw the actor in him. Hungry for a real part. A character that is not about staged glamour but about deeply felt pain, unspent longing, anger, courage, intense truthfulness and an emotional graph that grows, expands to become more and more not just about Mohan Bhatnagar but about us. He is someone we don't really see in our milieu everyday, if ever. He is an idealist and yet, there is nothing self-righteous about him. He is a bad singer but loves Kishore Kumar. His shoe laces are never tied. He is short but walks tall and with a swagger and has inviolable self-belief whether he is being slapped, called names or being misunderstood and persecuted.

***

There is something heroic about him even though he looks like a boy- next- door and yet when he faces the camera, you know that no boy- next- door can be as mesmeric. And that brings me to that question. What does he speak to within us? Why are bloggers writing about him and girls writing breathless messages to his videos? And to think that someone saw all this lurking within him even before he had smiled that lazy, unfinished smile into the camera or looked at the woman he loves with eyes that seem to make dialogue redundant! It is miraculous that someone saw what he would bring to Mohan Bhatnagar even before his gifts had manifested.And when you see the camera linger lovingly on a close up, taking in the carefully mussed hair, the eyes that grow silent and vociferous at will, you know that someone behind that camera knows just how good an actor he is and also that he has the gift of connection, yes, that word again, with those who act with him and also those who watch him.

***

His biggest gift is his ability to express something as inexpressible as unalloyed love. The kind.. all of us look for and the day he returned to Juna Mohalla on his bike, giving a slanting, close mouthed smile to his pretty neighbour who just happens to be the love of his life, ruffled his own hair in an unspoken apology, hugged a little girl who is his friend and threw his head back to ask his stuff to be carried right back into his house, my best friend smsed me exclamations at midnight from Chandigarh. Really, who could have imagined someone with such subtle and understated charisma could inspire this kind of response?

***

His is a very well nuanced character. The flavoured nonchalance in the Hindi dialogue, the casual way he dresses, the stubble to hide how young and vulnerable he really looks, the hair at a careful length to frame his face, the slowly gymmed up frame, the real or fake tattoo on one shoulder, the arrogance with which he talks to his peers and his house help cum buddy and yet the gentleness and sensitivity at the sight of pain and loss be it in the life of a woman he is drawn to or in a lost little girl searching for a father figure or even better a Spider Man who appears at the tug of a bell.

***

What brings Mohan Bhatnagar to life however are not just these obviously well-thought out details but his voice that really is as compelling in its pauses as it is in unrestricted monologues. This boy can deliver a line and I have not seen or heard that happen in television or even in cinema in a long, long time. One of my favourite scenes is when he is having a long chat with his ex girlfriend on the eve of her engagement with Megha watching on. Once the call is done, he is lost in something searing and painful within. He is knotted up as if all the pain and hurt she once gave him is revisiting him and he must experience it all… once and for all, before he can move on. Or when he wants to know why Megha won't let him go out of her life. There is longing and self-possession. Restraint and heedlessness. And it is just a TV series for God's sake and yet he is living each moment like his life depended on it and he is taking us right into the heart of his darkness and his light.

***

It surprises me just how much I notice when he does his thing. The way he draws his breath, frowns and the writer in me wonders again why he has registered after years of jaded TV watching. My reasons I realise are personal. He reminds me of Samir, the male protagonist of my book. When I envisioned him and wrote his stooping walk, slanting smile, caramel gaze and careless drawls, I had not seen Mr Kapoor and now if by some stroke of luck, the book ever becomes a film, I know who I will be chasing for a script reading. Yes, am smiling at the thought. That said, the series has been invested with thought, care, attention to detail and really good writing. And there is Kunal Karan Kapoor, Mohan Bhatnagar to many of us (and Monu to me and my best friend) who basically proves that magic cannot be predicted and can be found in the unlikeliest of places and people.

https://unboxedwriters.com/2012/06/kunal-karan-kapoor-an-actor-arrives/
[/quote]

And this was an interview this same person took of Kunal over the phone:

[quote]

It is a bit surreal to hear Kunal Karan Kapoor telling you over the phone, "I have just come home. Let me order some food and I will call you back." This is an interview that has been in the works for some time and today somehow, after a delay for which he has not stopped apologising profusely, things have fallen into place. I tell him as an actor who is going to be a very big star, he will be expected to keep people waiting and nobody will mind but there is no answering titter from him. He is obviously not looking forward to that moment. People, even if they are just voices are real to him, not just incidentals. Atleast for now. As we talk, the fan girl who has been exchanging YouTube links featuring Mohan Bhatnagar realises she is talking to a real person. A working actor who slogs around the clock. I wonder, if he thinks occasionally about what this moment in time means to him. About this cusp between success and what could be mega stardom. About this amount of investment into a role.

***

I realise he is not Mohan Bhatnagar but an articulate, well read, well- travelled young person whose life has never been formulaic but a journey full of surprising discoveries. His responses to my questions (even when the questions ramble) are not formulaic either. He says what he wants to as if he trusts that you will not misunderstand or misread. But yes, as someone who has struggled for long, draining years to be an actor, he will not talk about what it has cost him to come this far. "That is another story for another time," he says in a quiet voice, not willing to dramatise the "story of my life." Because, "I don't think I have grown that much to talk about it." Yes, he is different.

***

I ask him about the method and the madness in his performance in Na Bole Tum Na Maine Kuch Kaha (Colours). The detailing. He says, "Honestly, I went with the flow, with what was on the paper. There were inputs from producers, the director, the writer and then the instinct kicked in. I am rather confused as a person. If you were to ask me to define myself..I will probably take 15 minutes and then say one sentence through the haze . But when I confront a character, I know the character. There is clarity. That is what I mean by instinct."

***

For a Chembur boy, to get a small town journalist pat was not as hard as it could have been without that instinct. He says, "For Mann Ki Awaaz Pratigya (where he played a paan chewing baddie), we shot in Allahabad and I strolled out of the hotel and walked into a theka (a hooch shop) and it was interesting to sit and watch and hear how people conversed. I don't consciously study such things but if I can retain five percent of the body language, the mannerisms, the accents, it is enough. I love to travel and if I am in Indore, in one day, I will start talking like an Indori and pick up the nuances." And the quirks, ofcourse.

***

The kind he has put into Mohan's mannerisms and his patented exclamations. Does he realise he has created a cult following for Mohan Bhatnagar? There is a faint incredulous laughter on the other end. He says, "I honestly don't know if it is a cult character, We are shooting all the time but I do notice people noticing me a lot more on the road and in malls. And when Sudhir sir (Sudhir Sharma, co-founder of Sunshine Productions) called me about this character, it really sounded nice. Maybe it was the aura of the man. I wasn't really doing much at that time and he explained to me that this is a rustic character, "aise bolta hai..aise rehta hai," see what you can do with him." We did a look test, a kind of a show reel where I wore a Ganji and was pouring tea and even then the shot taking, the freedom I was given to improvise felt right, it felt good."

***

Has the success sunk in? "Well, I get offers I never got before.To endorse brands. To cut ribbons! But workwise, not much because everyone knows all my time is committed to this. Frankly, I have never worked so much in my life. I have itchy feet and I always made some money and took off and travelled but that was a few years ago. I also sat at home for an year and that was not pleasant. "

Talking about his obvious connect with Mohan and with the other characters on the show, he says, "We do story readings, look tests and people pick up cues about what or how a character will be. I give a lot of credit for how we come across to the writers. It is a well written show and the makers have a clear picture of what they want it to be because the story is very close to them."

***

Cinema?

He responds, "I honestly don't know if I will get to do it some day but I would love to. My future, I would like to believe will have exciting, adventurous moments but am a floater basically. I don't have any solid plans. And in the last one year, things have happened (on their own)." And maybe, more will unfold in the future on its own too. The state of Indian television, barring a few exceptions, including his own show bothers him. He talks about it without bitterness or malice or superciliousness but it is clear that as an artist who likes to take his time over nuances, this industry and its rough shod ways disturb him. He says, "Honestly? I don't like television or the way it is handled. It is a factory, a machine where actors after a while are not even expected to act but to just deliver because the episode has to be finished. I am fortunate that I work with a sensitive creative team but I wish the television industry would get rid of the pressure to complete episodes, and get into the format of seasons. I wish, it would not pull you down and give you time to develop and grow. The rut can kill you."

***

But if despite the pressures to chase TRPs, a genuine actor, a committed cast and a good story (despite occasional lapses) can survive the rut and inspire fierce loyalty in their followers, there is hope. One also hopes that he will soar on the wings of more opportunities and will travel within and without, as much as he wants. Because here is an absolute fact. Kunal Karan Kapoor is not a one splash wonder. There is a world within him that we have not yet glimpsed. And it would be an absolute privilege to see the unlived characters waiting for a life breath on a screen big enough for him.

https://unboxedwriters.com/2012/06/kunal-karan-kapoor-the-interview/#comment-16760

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incandescence

@incandescence

Sparkler

Posted: 13 years ago

#288

Oh oh...I have read this already...the blog entry and the interview too...very well written! I see the interviewer is quite a fan of his like us...loll...loveddd Kunal's answers to everything...'I'm a floater'..yes,we can see that, Kunal...lolll

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incandescence

@incandescence

Sparkler

Posted: 13 years ago

#289

Anu...do you know what's a ganji?

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AreYaar

@AreYaar

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+ 19

Posted: 13 years ago

#290

Originally posted by: incandescence
Anu...do you know what's a ganji?

It's like a vest...a baniyaan types😆...I think they call it that Bombay-Maharashtra side.

Ok have you read Jzee's blog on him too?

[quote]

A Serving of Mohan Bhatnagar!

"I've decided that today is going to be amazing. 1, 2, 3... GO!"

I have more than a sneaking suspicion about that being the thought Mohan Bhatnagar woke up to, the morning of 29th May.

Picture the scene... Sprawled across the parapet of his stingy stretch of a balcony in his usual king-of-the-world languor, he frowns when an annoying rooster crows. Once. Twice. Thrice. Somewhere in the realm between asleep and awake, he yells for Guru to shut the freaky bird up. And somehow, it works. Quiet prevails again. But unaccustomed as he is to things going his way, easily as that, Mohan snaps out of the semi-consciousness. Barely survives the fall of an entire storey between jumping to his feet and not slipping over the very edge, feels an immediate crick in the neck from the night's not so flattering position, and looks about skeptically to find what silenced his everyday enemy, that vengeful neighborhood rooster. Before his search can culminate however, his gaze is distracted by the fluttering of the curtains of her room. And unlike most of his days, today he does catch sight of her. Just for a second, just in time, before she flits past the dresser out of the door. The rooster crows again. Mohan rolls his eyes almost fondly at the return of normalcy. Looks in the distance at the intriguing blend of indigo and pink ribbons that form the pre-dawn sky. And just like that he decides... that today is going to be amazing. 1, 2, 3... GO!

But hold your horses right here. This post is not about a day in the life of Mohan Bhatnagar! Not even, if the day turns out to be as entertaining and goofy-grin-inducing as that from the episode of 29th May. To which, btw, the above was my mentally accommodated prelude...

But no. This post is only a means to finally blog about my current favorite Indian show. A post I was intending to make no later than last week, which marked the well reached milestone of 100 episodes completion for Na Bole Tum Na Maine Kuch Kaha. Since I'm altogether late for that now, but still wish to pay some tribute to the NBT team, I think I shall dedicate this post to doing what I do better than much else - gush about my favorite character from the show, a stroke of genius from the makers who have conjured a character this close from being real!

For the uninitiated, meet Mohan Bhatnagar. The cynical man-child who can outwit bad guys a dozen a dime, but not wrap his head around the rocket science that is tying laces. If you insist, he's likely to launch into some half baked theory about the (delightfully psychedelic colored) laces left purposefully untied in accord with current trends (in Mohan-land of course). But beware, lest you get talked into any such glib - even a precocious 8 year old (read: Nanhi) knew better than to! Still, if you choose to overlook the warning, I trust Mohan in all his klutzy glory to oblige. By dutifully and unfailingly stumbling upon his fashion-statement-waces - while still in the middle of excusing his goofy ways as "style" - and effectively proving otherwise.

But moving beyond my (evident) obsession over the waces...

It is just as well that I warn you at this point also, about Bhatnagar's self destructive knack of casting epic fail first impressions. In defense of his virtues though - his heart is gold, his affections precious and his witticisms priceless. His guard is impenetrable, as long as you're not tricking him with good homemade food to get your way past it. And that is curiously enough, not Achilles' only heel. If by some miraculous chance you come to be in possession of this mysterious blue bordered white female hanky recovered from his denims or backpack, hold onto it. From reliable sources it is known, that there are unbelievable extents he will go to, to get it back. Maybe, just maybe both his desperation and your luck are running high enough - that he will even trade his pehla pyaar dumroo in return!

If his cynicism stumps you, you haven't yet seen his candor. And if you think nothing could top that, you haven't seen his concern! His signature expressions of courtesy - sun naa, arey yaar, chal be - are (excuse the immodesty) a cult of their own, spreading like an epidemic among keen idolizers; the latter being a number on exponential rise.

But don't be so impressed. On days of his life - when he's not busy being adorkable with Chawanni, playing knight and confessing love to her feisty mother Mirchi Vyas, being encountered by the ever-stalking Vyases, being advised by insufferable know it all biwi Guru, or being patronized by moody Maa - Mohan does have a mundane life of his own, in which he is a star crime reporter. On his less eventful days, he can be found chasing witnesses or villains down highways and narrow alleys alike. His phone logs will usually be equally divided among Karan, Tawde, and Guru. Sometimes he can be found looking dorky in glasses as he doogles information about the goons. If there is nothing at all happening, boredom can compel him to land in a supermart and seek out transient action in disturbing peaceful shelves of order.

So really, Mohan Bhatnagar is a noone-special-nextdoor.

So how come that extensive fan following, you ask? It reminds me. In all my rambling I forgot to mention that the lesser known Mortal Bhatnagar is also available in the form of his invincible superhero alias - SpiderM(oh)an!!!

And just because I'm a nice fan who doesn't feel so territorial about letting others in on trade secrets, I will have you know that the exclusive rights to contact Spidey belong to Nanhi. Rumor has it, that Spidey only responds to an archaic ring-a-bell mechanism, set up personally by him, to cater to his very own chota bomb!

Did You Know Trivia:

- His nickname is Monu. He will deny it, even at gun point. But that is the truth, and honestly he should quit running from it! Of course, there is a catch. Any guesses for the one person who gets away with calling him Monu? No, not his mother, duh! And before you even go there, Mirchi finds much more appeal in calling him "musibat"! Guru is too biwi-minded to address him by a nick name - oh the sheer blasphemy! Which leaves only one. Chota bomb!

- Mohan's favorite color is a point of contention. Teal is his earliest known favorite. In more recent times however, he set his mind on black. But if the latest hints are anything to go by, I say he's warming up to yellow. Of course it has nothing to do with Mirchi's choice, psst!

- Milk is definitely not his drink. There is no evidence favoring bhaang either. If it was on me, I'd put money on masala chai, preferentially served half-a-cuppa! Okay fine, I wont deny Mirchi's credit for this one.

- Mohan's greatest competitor comes in pocket-size. Goes by the name of Piddi Vyas. When they're not up against each other in a perpetually lasting war, they do have their rare moments of "bonding". The exact terms and conditions of which are tricky to explain...

- He's not usually one with a taste for flowers. Nanhi never approved of his choice for starters. There are witnesses to his once upon a time physical assault against respected Mrs. Renu Vyas with a beautiful bunch that he all but sent hurling at her. But recent events have changed that. And you just have to see the look on his face at the sight of a cactus in bloom, to believe when I tell you - Mohan does love some flowers. And some butterflies, while we're at it.

- The famous Mr. Bhatnagar is his mysterious father. A man he shares an inexplicable love-hate relationship with. I haven't really figured out this one to be honest. If I may, I doubt Mohan himself has figured it out yet.

- He doesn't like jalebi or laddoo or gulab jamun so I'd say he's not much of a sweet tooth. No surprise, given that he does chase after a woman he fondly calls Mirchi Madam!

And that's enough for a start. If you haven't really gotten to watching this show yet, I say you do it now. If you're a non-Hindi speaking blog follower - I feel for you. Mohan's magic will be quite lost on you, because no subtitles do justice to vintage Mohanisms.

Finally, to the entire team of NBT - you people just get what entertainment is about. Enough said. Here's to a long innings, that never feels too old! Keep it rolling!

To Kunal Karan Kapoor - Who would Mohan be, if not you? No. Change that. Who would you be, if not Mohan?! Yes, that's a trick question :P

---

And I had better get back to understanding the life and styles of Parisian salons in the 19th century. Yay, exciting! *insert emoticon per your perception of my sentiment here*

J.[/quote]

There was another one that was not as gushy as the previous two...lol but that was a good one too.