My first meeting with Sonakshi Sinha was last year when I had met her at the terrace of her plush residence in Juhu. It was during her photoshoot with Aditya Roy Kapur for a magazine. And suddenly, amidst the shoot, I heard her screaming Arjun Kapoor‘s first name at the top of her voice! Soon I realized that she was calling out to him as he was standing at the balcony of the next building. Back then they were waving at each other like excited kids. That was when they had just commenced shooting for Tevar together.
Cut to a few days ago, I met her again at the Film City. And this time, she was accompanied by Arjun throughout our rendezvous. I must add that their chemistry is undeniable. You have to watch this video to believe it!
For those who prefer reading an interview rather than watching it, here are the excerpts just for you!
Team MissMalini (Team MM): You guys are sharing screen space with each other for the first time in Tevar. How has the experience been?
Sonakshi Sinha (SS): Torturous!
Arjun Kapoor (AK): She has been paid good money to bear me by my own father.
SS: That’s my only salvation, that I have been paid money to tolerate this man sitting next to me.
AK: It didn’t quite go according to the plan. I thought she’d be quite boisterous and we will have a tug of war, a battle and all. But she’s way too well-behaved and she has taken all the nonsense I have given her. So it panned out really smooth actually.
SS: Ya, it did. He won’t lie about it. I am done picking on him. No, it was actually very nice. This entire film has been a wonderful experience for all of us, who’ve been involved with it. And Arjun, as a co-star, is very, very good.
AK: (Coughs) Liar. Liar.
SS: I’ve been paid money for this also.
AK: Correct. Till 9th January, I am the best co-star.
SS: Let me lie till 9th of Jan. Till 9th of Jan, I will lie about it. Then I can tell you all the truth. But that’s for another interview. He’s a good co-star. He’s a very accommodating actor. He behaves truly like a producer’s son. He has taken care of a lot of requirements of a lot of people on set and made sure that everything is okay. And he has got a very dedicated and very hardworking approach to his work, which is nice.
AK: Very good answer. Next question. I have nothing to say about her (laughs). No, I do actually. Like I said, she has beared with all my nonsense, which comes with the territory of working with me. But apart from that, I was very, very impressed by her. For being a person growing up in the film industry, how non-filmy she is. And she doesn’t take her work back home unlike somebody like me, which is a very good quality which I realized after working with her. And she is a very calm influence on set, which really helps when you do a difficult film like Tevar, where you’re shooting across the country on live locations. And we made her do action. And the whole rigmarole of going through the chaos that ensues. But not once did she lose her cool. It’s a very, very nice quality that I learnt from her. So it’s been a nice learning experience. Now, we can safely say that we are friends, we were acquaintances earlier, no it’s different.
Team MM: Share some of the fun moments from the sets of the film.
SS: He’s the funny one on set. He has always kept that… [Arjun cuts in, scaring her]. This is what he kept doing throughout the filming of some scenes where I am supposed to be serious. He just ended up screaming in the middle of nowhere and in interviews.
AK: [Holds out a part of his shirt] Aapka touch-up ma’am.
SS: No, I don’t know where that’s been. Keep it away from me.
AK: It has been where no man has been before. No, that didn’t come out well. So what pranks did I pull on you?
SS: This only. You used to keep screaming like a maniac.
AK: Also, I had realised very early in my professional acting career that I have this ability to intimidate people by just not smiling. I used to use that to my advantage to scare some people… not you, clearly [looks at Sonakshi]. But people get scared of me not smiling sometimes.
SS: You just have that look on your face that you are…
AK: Ki main aaj zindagi se bahut dukhi hoon, bahut pareshan hoon. Jo bhi mere saamne aayega, main uuski dhajjiya uda dunga. But I am not like that.
SS: Yes, he’s not like that. He’s harmless.
AK: So yeah, it’s very difficult to pinpoint one of the moments ya. Every day you do some masti-mazak, some nonsense or the other happens. I guess what was fun was doing all the action and still being able to smile through it all. That was the fun aspect.
SS: Yeah, that was fun for me as well. I loved being thrown off the building. It was the most exciting part of the film.
AK: I think shooting the Let’s Celebrate video was fun. We got to use the cameras. We were fooling around, faffing around with that.
SS: For me Radha was a lot of fun. Murli wasn’t there.
Team MM: [laughs]
AK: [Mocks the laughter] This you laugh at!
SS: She gets me! She’s spent two minutes with you and she does.
TeamMM: What are the similarities that you guys share with each other?
SS: We love food.
AK: Yeah, that’s pretty much it. We’re similar in certain ways. It’s difficult to explain it in words. I guess it’s our sensibilities and ideologies. In terms of upbringing also, it’s not so much about us but the kind of environment we both have grown up in is very similar. So the mindsets are similar, the conditioning is similar. There’s also I guess a certain respect for the profession we both have, which I’ve seen very rare in this day and age. Young people sort of disregard the work that they do. But both of us have that bonding factor when it comes to being professional. And what else ya? We’re actually quite apart. She shows her emotions rather easily. I can’t, as in, I am not expressive. There are a lot of dissimilarities even though we both are emotional.
SS: [makes a proud face]
AK: Everybody is emotional, don’t take it as a compliment.
SS: Everybody is not emotional.
AK: Why? She laughs [points to Team MM], she’s emotional.
TeamMM: So everyone is raving about your crackling chemistry in the film, which we can see here…
AK: Kaun hai yeh? Jhooth and all!
TeamMM: So are you keen on working with each other again?
AK: She’d need a lot more money to bear with me.
SS: The day I decide I want to go bald and have no hair left on my head, I will work with him again. Because when I work with him, I feel like pulling it all out. So either I will pull his hair out or mine.
AK: Mere paas bahut hai, aap kheench sakti hain. You know, I come from this school of belief that if the audience does like you together, then you should do come back and do something drastically different from what you have done in your earlier film. And even when it comes to working with Parineeti or Alia or any other co-star, I always look at the material as it shouldn’t be similar to the film I have done. If we do a film together, I guess it will be nice to do an urban romantic comedy for example or do a fun and lighter film or a drama, which is performance-oriented or a period film. It shouldn’t lend itself to being just another dimension of Tevar – that would be boring.
SS: I agree with him. I would have told you after the interview but that would have made no sense. Yeah, I would like to work with him again.
AK: I just said the same thing for three minutes.
SS: That’s ‘cos you like to talk. I am a very brief person.
AK: Not a boxers kind of person? Just briefs? Boxers or briefs?
SS: I mean to the point.
AK: Oh, to the point. So neither?
Ahem. Don’t worry, that’s not how our conversation ended. We also compiled a few questions that you guys suggested we ask on Twitter. Stay tuned to hear Arjun and Sonakshi answering YOUR questions – coming soon to a blog near you!