 Most of us Punjabis, I don't want to say all but most of us Punjabis have this character deep down hidden within. We don't like showing it, we like to keep it hidden because we like to be sophisticated and all of that. But it's there. If you're North Indian, if you're Punjabi, it's there. Okay, with me today is Ram Kapoor on Candidate Conversations. He doesn't really need an introduction but for the sake of formality, he's a very famous actor. And the reason I'm interviewing him today is because he's part of this must watch series is what I will put it as running on Amazon Prime Video. It's called Jubilee. Ram plays the character of a producer called Shamshe Singh Walia. It's directed by Vikram Aditya Motwane but I'm going to stop talking now and I'm going to give over the reins to Ram. Ram, welcome to the show and how did you get involved in Jubilee? Hi, thanks for having me. So, getting involved with Jubilee was possibly the shortest work conversation I've ever had on the phone. I will literally tell you the details without even 1% exaggeration. I was in Singapore, it was during New Year vacation 2019, so 2019 New Year. And I'm in Singapore and the phone rings, it's Vikram and he calls and he says, hey Ram, hey Vik, what's up? Listen, my next script is ready. I'm starting in a few months and you're in it. And I said cool and we hung up the phone. Now, I'm not exaggerating. I didn't ask what it is, I didn't ask where it is, I didn't ask what the role was, I didn't ask anything. Neither did he feel it necessary to tell me anything because I worked in which very first product which was Udan, 13 years back. And the trust that had formed between Vik and me then was enough. Certain people you will work with because of them, because of who they are rather than what they are offering you. I had a very similar short conversation with Meera, I don't remember when she offered me a suitable boy. All she said, it wasn't even her, her assistant email was saying Meera is doing something for BBC, she wants you to be a part of it. And I said done, without finding out what it was. Vikram is like that, Vik knew that whenever he is ready to offer me, he could tell me any of the details. So it was literally that short a conversation and that's how I became a part of it. Okay, leaves no scope for me to ask a follow up question on that because obviously like you said it is that's exactly how it happened. And by the way, I love suitable boy, obviously I loved your role, I loved the whole series as such. Now, carrying on with Jubilee, now for the ones who don't know the ones who haven't seen it, Jubilee is I'll try to sort of say it in a nutshell in 10 seconds. It's based around the partition period, it is about some of the refugees who've come towards the Indian side. It's about an actor who's to be launched by a big production house headed by none other than what we in Calcutta refer to as Bumbada also known as the others as Prasimjeet. And of course, Ram Kapoor is a producer and there are many other characters now Ram, your role as the Punjabi film producer Shamser Singh Walia. And obviously I cannot use his catchphrase over here because YouTube is going to mark me for that. But how did you prepare for it? So, when I read the script, I realized what the character was and I had a few conversations with Vik and I asked him how does he want to play this character. And he said that he doesn't mind me going all out. He left it to me basically. See, because he had worked with me and we had spent so much time together during Udaan, he knew me. He knows my strengths and weaknesses. So, he gave me this role with certain thought process in mind. So, I realized that this character is a typical obnoxious, loudmouthed, opinionated, aggressive, not giving a damn about anything kind of a character. North Indian, typical North Indian guy. North Indian people, Punjabi people as it is loud and opinionated, but on top of that when you're rich and you have a lot of money, furthermore you don't need to give a damn about anything. So, that's what Walia is. So, I realized that I have to enhance that. So, most of us Punjabis, I don't want to say all, but most of us Punjabis have this character deep down hidden within. We don't like showing it. We like to keep it hidden because we like to be sophisticated and all of that. But it's there. If you're North Indian, if you're Punjabi, it's there. And I knew it was there within me. I just had to take it out. So, I just let loose. You know, I used all my weight, my body language, my size. And I just became my most aggressive, most opinionated, most obnoxious self. And when you do a character that's loud, there's always risk of going overboard. But because I trusted Vik so completely, I didn't have to worry about that risk because I knew that he will never allow any character or any product of his to go overboard. So, the minute I get to overboard, he would control me, which is why it was so easy to let loose completely. I literally just let loose and I let it happen. And Vik also trusted me enough where he just allowed me to do what I was doing and just guided me as well needed. It was a lot of fun and it didn't seem like we were working at all. It was just easy and it was fun. And you know what, anyone who's actually seen the series, if they look at the first sort of episode, you know, the way you described your character, loud, obnoxious, someone would even put him in the bad person category. But as the series carries on, gradually one sees to actually one surprise that this is a character who's actually very lovable, which brings me to my next question. You know, I found it very interesting that your character does not feel jealous when Nilofar starts getting involved with Jay Kapoor. Now, again, for the ones who haven't seen it background, Nilofar is this girl, this dancing girl who's come from Pakistan. She wants to become an actress. She tries to impress Waliya. Waliya gets impressed by her, gives her a house to stay, is funding her, giving her acting projects. Jay Kapoor is another director actor and he gets involved with Nilofar. So my point is, I actually, I mean everybody would have expected that Waliya being Waliya would have said, I will destroy you. But actually, he's like taken it in his stride that these things do happen. Because Waliya is despite being obnoxious and loud-mouthed and aggressive and opinionated, the reason he's so successful in the industry is because he's also very smart and sensible and he knows what's what. He doesn't let emotions get in the way ever. He's too smart and too calculated to let emotions get in the way ever. So a business deal or transaction is very different and emotions have no place in it. That's what Waliya is. Which is why things like jealousy and stuff over somebody like that, it's out of the question for somebody like Waliya. Now, vis-a-vis the other point you made, see, no matter what character you're playing, no matter how bad or how sleazy or how horrible he may be, when an actor is approaching the character, he has to find the humanity in that character. You can't play a bad guy just for the sake of being bad. You've got to give reason and rationale why he became the way he is, what were the reasons behind who he is today. And if you give enough to be handsome and you believe that he is the way he is because of whatever, then the audience will get to see the humanity. Everybody has all kinds of signs. Nobody is only bad or only good. So in the beginning the audience might see him as... But then as you get to see other sides of him, when you realize the wholesome personality, then I'm hoping most people realize, listen, he wasn't that bad a guy. That's the ultimate that any actor needs to achieve, no matter how pathetic the character he's playing. Even a serial killer, if you're playing a serial killer, you have to go back to his beginnings and from his childhood and figure out why did he become the way he did. No child is born to be a serial killer. So what was the path that made him what he is? And then if you believe that and you immerse yourself in that, then the audience gets to see it too. True and that is something the whole aspect of gray shades is something which comes out on different characters. I mean without giving up the story, there's one character who is the epitome of innocence by the end of the first episode and by the end of the series, you see so many different shades in him. Moving on, Ram knows what I'm talking about, which character I'm talking about. Ram, in your entire career, some interesting fan reactions, like you know you've gone out in the public maybe to a market to see a movie, buy something Gulab Jamun from outside and some interesting, the way his fans approached you or the way they greeted you, some interesting experiences. I have been lucky to be a working actor for 25 years now, so I've had a lot of these experiences. The two that come to mind, one is a very embarrassing moment and one is a very special moment. I'll tell you the embarrassing one first. I was in, my son was really little at that time and I was in an underway store trying to choose under and I actually had a pair of jockeys in my hand, like this, trying to stretch them to see how comfortable they might be and a group of these teenage girls carried me and insisted on clicking their photographs and talking to me and all of that while I was surrounded by underwear with actually a man. I found it very embarrassing but they didn't seem to care, they had a lovely time. So that is definitely one of the embarrassing experiences I had. And then another experience, I was at a bank waiting in line and I realized that behind me in line somebody, some child was got excited because he saw me, I didn't turn back right away. So first I just heard a child talking to his mother saying, oh my God, Ram Kapoor, Ram Kapoor. We are used to this, so I let it happen, I didn't turn around and the mother was trying to hush the child because it's a bank and it's a quiet place but the child was getting very excited, very excited, mama please, mama please, Ram Kapoor and the mother was trying desperately not to disturb me and not to disturb the bank. This kept getting more and more and more till that child got a little bit out of control. Little bit of irritation I turned around and I realized it wasn't a child, that with down syndrome, who got so excited that he couldn't control himself and then the mother really apologized and that excitement in that person's eyes when I hugged him was definitely one of the most special feelings I can ever have. It was more fulfilling than any award that I've ever won or any praise because this adult with down syndrome was so happy to see me and so beside himself when I hugged him, he was shivering and I will never experience how special I felt that he loved me so much. Yeah, I think there's a certain level of innocence and purity which is there which really you can't find in a lot of other places in the world. I completely understand what you're saying. Now is it true, I mean sometimes I have to check what I read on Wikipedia and the internet is true or not, nowadays you never know. Is it true that Charlie's aunt was your first play when you were in school and what role did you play in it and what's this Charlie's aunt all about? So that was my first big play. So I was in Nenital which is really known for his theatre program Bachchan Sahab, Mr. Amitabh Bachchan is also from Sherwood. That's how big our theatre program is. So I was involved in the theatre program right from I would say the 8th or 9th standard so I used to do house plays. It was my first play but once a year we used to do a very big stage five act play where all other schools used to come and watch it. It was a very big deal. And Mr. Amir Raza Hussain of Stage Door Delhi used to come and direct that play and in that play I got cast, that play was Charlie's aunt and in that play I got cast is Jack Chesney who is one of the leads of the play. Charlie and his best friend Jack are the two leads of the play and I played Jack Chesney. So yes it was my very big role in a very big play so to speak but it wasn't my first play. I had done smaller plays for house events but that's how I got the acting bug because Mr. Amir Raza Hussain came and he cast me in that and after that I did a lot of theatre with him and that's when I decided I think I want to try and become an actor. Okay, okay, interesting. Now for my last question, I'd love to chat with Ram more but the thing is we're just lucky that the internet connection hasn't been unstable till now which is always my worry. So I'm going to put it to my last question. Ram, tell us about your upcoming movie and web series projects. The ones that you can about. Okay, I can probably talk about the next two. So my very next one is a movie called Nia. It's Vidya Balan and a whole lot of other actors. It's also something I'm incredibly proud of. I'm as proud of Nia as I am of Jubilee. Beautiful product. That should be out in the next two months, maybe three months. It's ready. Post production is going on. So that's a film called Nia and my role in that is very different from Jubilee. It's like the night and day. So I'm keeping my fingers crossed but I have a feeling that will be appreciated a lot. So that's my very next one, two, three months. You'll see that. And then after that around September or November I have a film coming out called Udra which is an Excel film, a Farhan and Ritesh film which starts in Hant Chaturvedi and it's a gangster story. It's about cops and gangsters and I play a cop in that. That's also an action film in a very hardcore, very, very gritty film. I don't think I've done something that hardcore before. That's my next two projects that are coming out this year. There are two more, but I think the producers talk about them before I will. Fair enough, fair enough. Thank you so much, Walia Sahab for talking to us and we'll be in touch and take care and all the best for the future. Thank you, thank you all the best. Bye.