The mysteriously titled R … Rajkumar is the latest directorial venture of the choreographer-turned-filmmaker Prabhu Deva. Shahid Kapoor and Sonakshi Sinha have leading roles in this epic dance-and-masala extravaganza that the director is famous for. We caught up with the actors on their recent visit to the UAE.
The film was initially called Rambo Rajkumar. Why was it changed?
Kapoor We started out with that name and didn’t think it would be a problem, but at some point we realised that it would cause copyright difficulties. Then Prabhu Deva said: “Instead of thinking up a new word to replace Rambo, why don’t we just use the letter ‘R’ and in the trailer we can tell the audience that if they want the full name of the film, they have to watch it when it releases?” [I laugh] See? If you are laughing, so will the audience.
Can you tell us about your characters in the film?
Kapoor I play Rajkumar, a tapori [street thug] who falls in love with Chanda [Sinha], who herself is a little bit of a tapori.
Sinha Chanda doesn’t want to have anything to do with Rajkumar, but he doesn’t give up.
What made these role interesting?
Sinha Even though Prabhu Deva and I did Rowdy Rathore together in 2012, he has made me extremely “rowdy” in this film – I am in action scenes, breaking people’s heads with bottles. It’s been a lot of fun, because even though I have been a part of action films before, I have not really got a chance to fight. But the love story has been given as much importance as the action bits, so it was a very interesting role for me.
Kapoor I have always loved the kind of action that Prabhu Deva does in his films – it has nothing to do with superhero powers, flying bikes or cars. His brand of action is real and raw. I’ve always wanted to do a film like that. We shot the film in about 90 days, 50 of which were spent shooting action. It was extremely challenging, but, at the same time, extremely fun.
Dance is so integral to any Prabhu Deva film – can you tell us about the film’s choreography?
Kapoor This is the first time I’ve had Prabhu Deva as my dance instructor – the ultimate choreographer when it comes to desi masala and the kind of dancing you see Sonakshi do. She is the veteran of this brand of dance – she can do it in her sleep. She remembers all the steps, kind of like on autopilot. It was an amazing experience for me. Also, I am used to picking up things fast; choreographers are relaxed around me and kind of think: “Oh, it’s Shahid, he will do it”, and then I saw Prabhu Deva standing there with this serious expression on his face. He is a man of very few words and he would just say “no” or “again” and that would go on while we rehearsed.
Which songs did you best enjoy dancing to?
Kapoor There are three main songs and they are all so different from each other. The first is Gandi Baat, which when I saw for the first time I was like “I can’t do that”. Then there is Saree Ka Fall, which is romantic, so the mood is different. Then there is Mat Maari, a nonsense song with very little dancing.
• R… Rajkumar is out in the UAE today
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