Not opposed to working in digital medium, says Arjun Kapoor
Actor Arjun Kapoor says he has no inhibition in moving to the digital medium as he is someone who has been experimenting ever since his debut with “Ishaqzaade” in 2012. While the actor is yet to make his digital debut, he said he is not opposed to the idea of heading to an OTT platform. “I have hosted a TV show before anybody else in my generation did. I have done a film in English (‘Finding Fanny’) and ensembles. I have done different themes in that sense, so I am not someone who will be too caught up to take myself seriously to stick only to theatre,” Kapoor told PTI.
The actor said in the current COVID-19 world, with many films heading direct-to-digital, lines between theatrical and OTT platforms have blurred further.
“You can’t be thinking so much about what, where and how, especially post-COVID. You have to keep looking for good work, as your work will find an audience. I am an actor who started with cinema. I will never be averse to perform for digital,” he added.
Several major theatrical releases of the year, including Akshay Kumar starrer “Laxmii'”, Anurag Basu’s “Ludo”, Karan Johar-backed “Gunjan Saxena” and “Gulabo Sitabo”, featuring Amitabh Bachchan and Ayushmann Khurrana, found a release on OTT platforms.
The move sparked a discussion if streaming platforms would eventually replace theatrical.
But the 35-year-old actor said for artistes, a theatrical release will always be their “bread and butter.”
“I am an amalgamation of the digital and analogue world. Cinema is for my old school charm of enjoying myself acting for the big screen. But digital allows you to speak of a lot of things that maybe don’t get accepted or don’t get the right audience for getting excited in a theatre.
I would always be open to speaking to the right audience with the right medium. There is no aversion to digital or theatre, it’s not one or the other, why not both?”
Kapoor believes the generation which is consuming content digitally will over the years come up with art which is reflective of the current sensibilities.
“We are a generation that is grown up loving cinema, there is a generation today loving OTT. Ten or 20 years from now, we will see that translate into content being created by those people, so it would be far more authentic as it is going to come from their core because that is who they are,” he added.
Kapoor will be next seen in “Sandeep Aur Pinky Faraar” and is currently filming the horror comedy “Bhoot Police”, co-starring Saif Ali Khan, Jacqueline Fernandez and Yami Gautam.
