Kapkapiii is remarkable only for being Sangeeth Sivan’s farewell project. Was he able to complete the film before his untimely death?
Yes, we had finished the shooting and I think he had almost locked the background score as well. I think one reel probably was remaining. He was working extremely hard on it and he was giving it his all and he really wanted it to be a good, successful film for everyone and he wanted to make a nice entertainer for people, and that was what he has always done.
You worked with him on several projects. When did you first meet him?
My first meeting and first film with him was Apna Sapna Money Money. Then we did a film called Click, but this one Kapkapiii he said, yes, let’s give people a nice entertainer, a nice horror comedy. So that is what our effort was.
His going right after your own brush with death, must have shaken you?
What do I really talk about? Uncertainties of life, having gone through one myself. But Sangeethji leaving us was a huge shock for me, especially because I met him just a couple of days before that and he wanted me to dub something for the film and he was not keeping well. So, I told him, ‘Please don’t come for dubbing. I’ll finish it and then you can hear it whenever you’re feeling okay.’ And he said, ‘No, you’re coming for the dubbing. I want to be there with you just in case, you know, I want some additional things from you.’And he came there, he was not keeping well and that’s when we met last and I told him, Sir, why are you moving out of your house when you’re not keeping well? And he said, no, no, no, you know, I just wanted to get out of the house. He was enjoying every bit of the movie.
You were very close to Sangeeth Sivan?
Sangeeth Sir for me was a father figure. I remember, when we were planning to buy our first house, me and my wife Deepti, that time we were pretty stressed whether we will be able to afford the place and the regular monthly instalments that would follow because it was the beginning of my career. This was in 2006 when we were doing Apna Sapna Money Money and we were quite stressed. I remember me and Deepti said, okay, let’s forget about it and let’s go and have some dinner outside and we met Sangeethji in the restaurant and he saw me and he figured that I was a little stressed out about something and he came, he sat with us and he asked us what happened and we told him that this was a scenario and he was the one who gave me that confidence when he said, ‘This is just the beginning of your career. There’s a long long way to go and don’t worry. Everything’s going to fall in place. Just take the leap of faith and things will be alright.’
You listened to his advice?
I remember I took his advice. We bought the place and obviously things touch wood, by God’s grace fell in place, but he was the one who gave me that faith, that confidence at that point in time and like I said, he was a father figure to me and the fact that I was getting to work again with him on a film like Kapkapiii was one of my biggest joys. So off-camera also and on camera also, Sangeethji would give me a lot of freedom to improvise, to make certain additions and you know, he would never stop me. He would always tell me, ‘It’s okay, you do the scene now your way. I will on the edit if I find it lengthy or not working, then I’ll edit it at that point of time.’ As an actor, he gave me a lot of freedom to improvise and work on my character. So that’s the reason it was always a joy working with him, whether it was a comedy or a horror or a horror comedy. I loved working with him.
He sadly left us before Kapkapiii released?
He was very, very excited for the film and now when the film is released, the one person who really mattered the most is not there. So, I don’t know. I genuinely don’t know what to say because you know, I’m happy for the fact that the film is released but not as much as I usually would be because you know, Sangeethji is not there. So, we miss him. We really, really miss him a lot and he has left a huge void which cannot be filled, at least for me.
Your forthcoming projects?
The other projects are there’s Housefull 5. Then there’s Baaghi 4 and I’m right now working on a film called The India Story. There are a couple of others that will follow, hopefully.
