"I NEVER PLANNED MY ENTRY INTO SHOW BUSINESS; WHETHER IT WAS FILMS OR TELEVISION," IS KUSHAL PUNJABI'S OPENING LINE, AS HE GETS READY FOR A NO-HOLDS-BARRED CONVERSATION WITH SHOWTIME. IT GETS ME THINKING, THAT FOR SOMEONE WHO DIDN'T HAVE HIS CAREER CHALKED OUT NEATLY, KUSHAL IS ONE LUCKY PERSON AND SEEMS TO BE DESTINY'S CHILD. A MODEST CAREER IN BOLLYWOOD (WITH FILMS LIKE LAKSHYA, KAAL AND GOAL ) AND AN ACTIVE CAREER ON TELEVISION! WHAT ELSE CAN ONE ASK FOR? AND WITH HIS LOOKS AND ATTITUDE, IT WASN'T TRICKY OR REALLY DIFFICULT FOR HIM TO ENTER THE GLAMOUR WORLD.
ST: How acting happened to you? Were you interested from the very beginning or happened by chance?
KP: I was going to become a pilot, but the aviation school that I was going to attend, shut down due to some reason, so I was forced to give up flying. But I joined as a purser, just to get into airlines, as I was enamoured by the aviation industry. Simultaneously, I was also working as a dancer with Shiamak Davar. And the dancing went on very well because I was very passionate about it.
I won the best physique and the third place at the Gladrags Manhunt, in the year 2000. That got me fulltime into modelling and showbiz. During the Gladrags show, Maureen Wadia really liked me as a dancer and choreographer.
ST: What about your Casanova image in the industry?
KP: People define every relationship into an affair, a fling or an infatuation. I don't see myself doing that. I have more friends who are girls than boys, as I get along with them very well. This obviously puts me in the whole playboy or Casanova kind of an image. I don't deny it (the Casanova image). Being one doesn't mean any harm; it doesn't mean anything negative. The true sense of being a playboy should actually be taken as a very fun consideration – of a guy who likes girls and gets along with them. That doesn't mean he is having an affair or a relationship. Since I have so many girlfriends and friends who are girls, obviously, I will be close to two-three of them.
ST: Well, taking that explanation into consideration, I ask him again about his relationship with Amita, if it was a serious one or was she just one of his many 'girlfriends'.
KP: I was going out with her because we were doing the same show together. So we were travelling out together, dancing and all, but nothing more than that. Amita and I are now very close friends and we will always be.
ST: But we have heard tales that contradict his very words. When last heard, hadn't they had a very bitter break-up?
KP: No, we didn't. We are still friends; I can still call her and meet her. Last night she was shooting at Kamat's Studio; I can tell you that. I am friends with everyone and I don't have any bitter relationships with anyone.We didn't break up at all. For you, it could be going out but for me, it's not. It's as simple as that.
ST: A last question on her, I ask Kushal what does he think of Amita and her boyfriend Karan Patel, who supposedly posed as a couple only for the reality show Nach Baliye 3 even after their split?
KP: Okay, that's news to me. I think they are dating or at least they were dating. What do I say? I hope she finds someone else if not Karan and I hope she is happy.
ST: If you thought his relationship with Amita was just one of his television link-ups, you are obviously still in the dark. Next on the line is VJ Anushka Manchanda, who was also part of his show, Fun On The Run. And apart from merely being his co-contestant, she was rumoured to have been dating our man in question.
KP: I haven't spoken to Anushka for two months now, but every time we meet, we laugh about these rumours. We had done the show together and there, we were the only two people who were single. All the others were married or dating. Prior to the show, I knew who Anushka was and she knew who I was, but we had never met.
When we met, we thought there would be too much of an ego, but we got along like two children would, or like two boys who were watching a game would or like two girls who were going shopping together. We got along like a house on fire. I knew this (the link-up) would happen and so when we returned to Mumbai, we would go out together. Just because of our warmth and friendship, I knew people would misinterpret that.
ST: So was it just another gossipy tale?
KP: Yes, it was completely a rumour; I can give Anushka the longest hug and wish her all my best, but there is nothing else.
ST: If you reveal your secrets to the wind, you should not blame the wind for revealing them to the trees. Maybe next time Kushal should keep that in mind. After Amita and Anushka, he has been linked to Anchal Dwivedi, who is supposed to be a very 'close friend'. Is Kushal dating her?
KP: No, I am not dating her. I am very much single. The day I date someone, I will be open about it .Rumours start off because I am single. I am sure people must have seen some kind of attraction, which is great, because I am a man, I am single and I do get attracted to very beautiful women.
And if there is a woman who is single and I specify single, who is charming and who gets along with me, you will see the attraction. I might ask her out for dinner. But for anything to become a relationship, you have to first meet, go out and in that meeting and going out process, people start writing things. So it actually spoils everything.
ST: But these aren't the only three he's been paired with; the list (as he claims) is endless.
KP: I think people are confused whom to link me up with and I think that's really cool. This is just the television area. There are more (link-ups) as I am into fashion too, which is undisclosed. When I was in London shooting for the movie Goal, people linked me up there too but obviously it didn't reach the media here, which is great.
ST: And who was the girl in question?
KP: I can't tell you because it's fodder for nothing. There is nothing happening. I will always be linked with women till I finally settle down. The funny part is even the people who you link me up with will tell you exactly the same thing that I am telling you. So there is nothing to hide. You won't get any masala from here.
ST: But doesn't he get affected with rumours doing the rounds?
KP: Not at all. I think it is very stupid. It's the 21st century and we have friends who are crazy, mad, stupid, intelligent, rich, poor, gay, bisexual or straight. It doesn't matter. As long as you're friends, it really doesn't matter. I think too much importance has been given and too much of a taboo has been put on the subject. If I am bisexual, I am bisexual. But I am not. I am straight. People link me up with women.
It is very evident as you can see. After linking me up with women and me denying it, maybe the next step is chalo, let's not link him up with women anymore; let's say he is bisexual. Which is also great; frankly I don't give a rat's ass. I do my own thing. And if I have to live with the fear or with the constant reminder that 'Oh, this is the link-up now', then how will I move forward?
ST: Quite understandable; but what about the reactions of his family and parents?
KP: My parents are rocking. They are so cool with me. They read rumours like this and laugh. We have family jokes about it. I think the reason why this doesn't affect me is because I come from such a close-knit unit as a family. My family, my close relatives; basically everybody in the family supports me. And they laugh at rumours like this because they know that today's media and the tabloid system is getting the masala out by doing this.
Whether it is real or not, it's a family thing, a private thing. They know the truth and today, I can proudly say 'Look I am straight, I am single and I have nothing to hide because that's the truth.' There is nothing to hide. By the way, all the girls that you just linked me up with, are friends of my parents. They come home and hang out. You just got three names; there are about 200 more.
ST: Leaving behind women and sexuality issues, Kushal speaks about his actor-friends in the industry, where he has been working for a long time.
KP: I met Chetan (Hansraj) during the making of a video, which is now very embarrassing as I recall it. We did a video for Shweta Shetty called Deewane Toh Deewane Hai. Chetan and I just look back at that video and laugh as to what the hell we were doing then! That's how I met Chetan, but he was also a contestant in the 2001 Gladrags. I trained and choreographed him in that show.
And he won the best physique then; the title he actually took from me, which I won in 2000. Today, we share a nice understanding between us. We don't meet or talk everyday but there is an understanding. Gaurav Gera and Purbi Joshi are two other very good friends. And like I said Amita, Anushka and Anchal are also there….
ST: His film Goal that released recently, may have received a lukewarm response, but he isn't bothered by the film's poor performance. There are talks about a sequel.
KP: I have read it in the papers, but I haven't been approached. I will take up the film if I am offered. I will do anything with sports or dance. Not that I wouldn't with drama or action. But I think I am very connected to sports and musicals. So I would jump to these.
ST: It is known that Kushal started his career alongside John Abraham and today if you compare their career graphs, you can see that he hasn't received his kind of adulation. Why is he doing character roles and not playing leads in his films?
KP: I am not being offered lead characters. I think in today's film business, a smart actor would understand the dynamics of the business before getting into it. If he understands the way distribution, exhibition and production works, he will also understand that a movie has to sell. And it's not as easy as a character on television. If I am offered a good production house, a good script, a good director and a good film, then I will take it up. I will not be lured into koi bhi aira-gaira film, just because I am playing the lead. I would rather do a cameo like I did in Farhan Akhtar's Lakshya, which I thought was a brilliant cameo to do, than do a lead in a film that no one is going to watch. So it's no point.
ST: And though most actors have taken the plunge from television to the big screen happily, Kushal is looking forward to doing TV alongside movies, albeit on his own terms and conditions.
KP: I will work on television. I will have a clause of say, maybe 15 days a month, so that it gives me time to work out and stay fresh. I don't want to pack it up with 30 days of television, which most of the television actors do. I believe whether you're doing daily soaps or films, you have to look fresh. Because apart from your performance, it is also about you looking good on screen. And you can only look good if you give yourself that time. That's very important to me.
ST: Television created hysteria when it gave rise to popular characters like the Bajajs, Tulsis and Parvatis; perhaps a phenomenon, which even films can't attain. Yet Kushal prefers films to television and is very blunt about it.
KP: Yes, I am not going to lie about it. Films take you on another level altogether. You can do one scene a day, because it's a part of history. You have a DVD in your hand and at the end of the day, you have a film to go to. With television, today's show is tomorrow's history. It's gone. No one's going to record and keep playing it.
ST: But he does think (very diplomatically) that doing daily serials 'especially the ones that belong to the Ekta Kapoor camp' are a good bargain.
KP: It is amazing how one woman (referring to Ekta) can set up such a huge, magnanimous production house like that and pull it off. I would work with Balaji in a slash!
ST: Doing those stereotypical boring characters?
KP: Boring? No, I think they are very interesting. Today, if you have to count the top 10 TV stars, nine out of them would be from Balaji. Why? Because those characters get to you. Whether you like it or not, people are watching her shows. So let's get real here. Ekta is doing a brilliant job and I am too much of a small person to say but she has created the way television is today.
ST: So what's currently on his agenda?
KP: I have recently completed two episodes of Shhh… Koi Hai, which is to be on air soon. Nothing else right now. I am not moving out of television, but it's a conscious effort to do something different. I am waiting and hoping for something different to be offered to me.
ST: You have also taken up a new show Santaan on Star Plus.
KP: Santaan is a great show; it's not like a Balaji show. It's not melodramatic; it's real. Whether it works or not, let's see.
ST: And he also has an untitled movie coming up by next year.
KP: It's one of the movies to watch out for in 2008.
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