Tusshar Kapoor On Shor The City, Dirty Picture & Gayab 2

After Shootout At Lokhandwala, you play a goon again in Shor.
This role is actually quite unlike my role in Shootout… My character, Tilak, is a smalltime goon who sells pirated books for a living. Tilak goes through certain events that change him. Later, he becomes determined to get out of this (life). His wife is a catalyst in this change. He realises that what they were enjoying, the life they lived, made them miss out on so much else.

How was the experience of shooting with the directors?
It was not fun, it was serious, hard work. Sometimes, it seemed like working for a television serial as the shooting was completed in just 45 days. The good thing was that the directors had clarity about what they wanted.

From the promos, Shor seems like a fun film.
It is serious fun. But it is also emotional, entertaining and edgy. It is actually difficult to define the genre of the film – it is a mix of a black comedy, thriller and also a slice-of-life film. It belongs to an emerging genre of films like Life In A… Metro, Peepli Live or even Love Sex Aur Dhokha. Shor is neither a masala film nor an offbeat film. It is a commercial film with an alternative sensibility.

How was it working with an ensemble cast?
Working with the cast was fun. Most of my scenes were with Nikhil Dwivedi and a newcomer, Pitobash. While Nikhil means business, Pitobash is a very wacky actor. I had very few scenes with Sendhil (Ramamurthy) as our characters hardly meet (in the film). Incidentally, the city of Bombay is an important character in the film.

But who is the hero of the film?
The shor of Bombay is the hero! The highs and the lows of the characters, their excitement, their anxiety form the epicentre of the screenplay.

You also have at least one more release this year, Love U… Mr. Kalakaar!
Yes, and there is also Run Bhola Run and Hum Tum Aur Shabana. After the success of Golmaal 3 last year, this is indeed a very unusual year for me, as I am doing a solo project after a long time. My solo film, Rajshri’s Love U… Mr. Kalakaar!, will be another surprise package.

There is also your sister’s dream project, Dirty Picture, in which you will be sharing screen space with Vidya Balan and Naseeruddin Shah.
Yes. After this, I start shooting for Dirty Picture. I liked the script of the film… it’s a biopic, and I have never done a biopic in my life. So, there’s both, excitement and nervousness. We will also be having an acting workshop for this film before the shooting begins. Contrary to some press reports, the workshop will start only one day before shooting and it will not be a workshop for passionate scenes.

How important is the character you are to play? Do you ever say “no” to a particular character?
Yes. In fact, I told Apoorva (Lakhia) that I couldn’t do Shootout At Lokhandwala. I was more into comedy films then. But he convinced me to do otherwise and it turned out to be a good move. I wouldn’t like to play characters like Gayab anymore. I don’t want to be pigeonholed into playing bhola roles or get typecast as the ‘comedy guy’. I did Golmaal as an experiment which turned out to be a good one. I was also offered Gayab 2 but I didn’t want to do it. Golmaal, on the other hand, hasn’t restricted me (as an actor) at all.

You are one of the few actors who have managed to keep their private lives away from the media glare. How do you do it?
(In relationships) Things don’t work out all the time. Anyway, I am a shy guy, and do not like to talk about matters close to my heart.