Aditya Roy Kapur: ‘You do your best work when you’re at the edge of fear’

There is a reason everyone awaits an Anurag Basu film. The world he builds is a lot like the one we live in — it has lost souls seeking answers, flawed people trying to be better, and almost everyone wishing to find love amid their hustle in the city. All this, with a dollop of hope. And honesty, points out Aditya Roy Kapur. “There is honesty in how Dada [Basu] writes his relationships,” says the actor, who stars in the filmmaker’s upcoming release, Metro… In Dino. 

Yesterday, the makers released the trailer of Metro… In Dino, a sequel of sorts to the much loved Life in a… Metro (2007). With the film, Kapur — who featured in Basu’s Ludo (2020) — is happy to dive back into the director’s world of tangled love stories and messy human connections. This time, he is joined by co-stars Sara Ali Khan, Neena Gupta, Anupam Kher, Pankaj Tripathi, Konkona Sensharma, Fatima Sana Shaikh, and Ali Fazal. “You have to strip yourself bare to feel all the love, loss, and longing he has poured into the story. With this project, there is also a musical element, where we had to figure out how to go from talking to singing, and then back to talking. Navigating that was challenging, but also rewarding,” he smiles.

(Clockwise) Anurag Basu, Aditya Roy Kapur, and Sara Ali Khan. Pics/Instagram

Kapur’s 16-year career has enabled him to explore romantic dramas, action films, and thrillers. It’s the slice-of-life films that he has a soft spot for, he admits. “It’s a gift to play someone larger than life, but those small moments and awkward silences are equally important. That helps an actor grow,” he says, adding that the idea is to balance intense roles with light-hearted ones. “My character here is idiosyncratic. That gave me the opportunity to have fun with it. My last outing was The Night Manager [2023]. It’s nice to go from that intense role to something lighter. I enjoyed the first Metro. So, while doing this, I’d look forward to going to work every day. My journey as an actor is about trying things that I haven’t done before. It’s exciting to have that slight fear when you’re going into the unknown. You are the most alive and can possibly do your best work when you’re at the edge of fear. It’s nice to be in a space where you’re not sure because that means you’re pushing yourself into a place you haven’t been in.”

What are his hopes from the film? “I hope people see themselves in it,” he promptly replies.

This article first appeared on Mid Day