INTERVIEW | 'Being always in spotlight is taxing': Night Manager star Aditya Roy Kapur on fame, modern love and more
The beginning of 2023 marks the season of spy thriller movies ruling the OTT and silver screen. From the much anticipated film Pathaan to Netflix’s Mission Majnu — they are all over the place. The latest addition to the genre is the high voltage, twisting and uber glamourous Disney+ Hotstar series, The Night Manager. This Indian adaptation of the eponymous British television series is topping the charts of a steamer’s list, thanks to the performances by bankable lead cast of Aditya Roy Kapur, Anil Kapoor, Tillotama Shome and Sobhita Dhulipala. The series’ characters embody a story within a story where each one of them is going through a dichotomy of traits. Aditya’s character Shaan Sengupta is a perfect manifestation of that — he’s a night manager of a luxury hotel who, later, is hired as a spy by intelligence task force to uncover the crimes of a notorious arms dealer played by Anil Kapoor.
Playing dual roles
Aditya is seen handsomely acing both parts and we get on a call to know more about his OTT debut. “Right from the beginning when I saw the show, I got a sense of it being something special,” he begins with elation. “It was a very exciting role which is something I haven’t played before. I spent some time with a real night manager at a hotel in Mumbai for two to three days. I understood the state of mind of hospitality workers, realised they have long working hours, demanding work and how they set a very high bar for themselves at the workplace. They are devoted to genuinely care for the people and want them to have a good experience. On the behavioural front, they can’t be over-expressive and also not too dry — they have to balance their emotions at workplace.”
The series is shot in mesmerising locations covering expansive Thar dessert, beaches and mountains. The 37-year-old actor felt a “real stimulus” to be in such geographies. “We were fortunate to travel to these beautiful places, especially after the COVID. It was like a real breath of fresh air after coping with quarantine. With such places, you feel like you’re acting on some comet (laughs)! But we also faced extreme weather while shooting. We could shoot in Rajasthan’s desert only for a few hours every day because it was too hot. But that was all part of the experience and fun.” Since the series is based on a novel by John le Carré and closely based on original miniseries of the same name, the Hindi version is bound to be compared. But Aditya accepts its inevitability.
With this project, the Malang star completes 14 years in the industry, featuring mostly in romance, drama or rom-com movies like London Dreams, Yeh Jawaani Hai Deewani, Ok Jaanu and Fitoor while having a brush with comedy in Ludo. Now he’s keen to have a more diversified portfolio. He prefers to stay focused on craft and not be in the limelight, “I think it’s an unconscious decision (laughs). Being in the spotlight all the time is too taxing! I would like to have my own space and time to recharge my battery and stay normal. That’s why I loved wearing masks during COVID. It helped me stay unrecognisable. You would never know which places I have travelled to while in mask (laughs). I have gone to theatres too to see people’s reaction to my movies,” he quips.
Comfort-driven style
Whenever Aditya appears in the public eye, he exudes a relaxed and snazzy demeanor. “My fashion sense is very simple and gravitated towards comfort. In fact, I end up wearing the same kind of clothing and footwear everywhere. I have gone to sets wearing slippers, shorts and t-shirt and people have pointed out that I need to look a certain way, but now they have given up as that’s not going to change! I don’t experiment too much with fashion now but I used to as a kid. Maybe it was the exuberance of youth popping out (smiles).” We asked him about the important lifestyle decisions he has made while transitioning from 20s to 30s and he tells us, “From quitting smoking, drinking more water, eating healthy, sleeping on time, staying consistent with exercise to building up immune system — these are simple things but they take you a long way.”
Modern day love
The actor will also appear in anthology series In Dino Metro directed by Anurag Basu based on modern day relationships. On that note, we asked Aditya if the language of love has changed in today’s time and he shares, “Relationships, at their core, are pretty much the same where care, love and trust in each other are the bricks and mortar of a bond. What has changed with time is the mode of communication with technology at our disposal.” He elaborates on the dating apps culture, “In a way, getting on dating apps is good where we sometimes hear these stories of people finding their long-term partners. But there is this unfortunate kind of behavioural pattern we see these days, where people exit very quickly and are not willing to communicate if the person is not that entertaining on app or in general dating life. Earlier, one used to give a lot of time to nurture relationships — that’s how real bonds were formed in olden days.”
The Night Manager is streaming on Disney+Hotstar.
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