Kunal Kapoor breaks away from his calm, poetic image in Netflix’s Jewel Thief, playing a gritty cop in a high-stakes heist thriller. He calls it a refreshing shift and is now eager to take on more challenging, unconventional roles.
Kunal Kapoor
Actor Kunal Kapoor might largely remind you of his performances in films like Rang De Basanti, Dear Zindagi, and Don. A calm and composed face is what one might picture. But with the Netflix film Jewel Thief, he got the chance to break the mould as he took on the role of a cop.
"You can say I’ve traded poetic lines for punch lines in this one. There’s a directness to him that I find refreshing. When he wants something, he won’t philosophise — he'll simply find the most efficient path to get it. It's been an interesting shift, exploring this kind of contained intensity," says Kunal Kapoor, talking to Mid-day.
Kunal on working with Saif and Jaideep
Directed by Robbie Grewal and Kookie Gulati, the film is a stylish heist thriller that brings together an interesting mix of actors including Saif Ali Khan, Jaideep Ahlawat, and Nikita Dutta.
Talking about sharing screen space with his male counterparts, Kunal says, “Saif brings a wonderful lightness to the set. His humour and wit create an environment where everyone feels very relaxed. He can be laughing about something a few moments before the camera rolls, and then be completely focused the next moment. It’s like a switch gets turned on. I don’t have much work with Jaideep, unfortunately. But he has this wonderful quality — both professionally and personally — of just being. Not trying, just simply existing.”
Jewel Thief's surprise element
When asked what sets the Siddharth Anand-backed film apart from others in the genre, Kapoor says, “The best heist films stay a few moves ahead of the audience, and that's what we've aimed for. Hopefully, we’ve managed to do that well enough to surprise them.”
Another element that most heist films include is a fight or chase sequence — and this film leans into that. “There's a considerable amount of running in this film. Tom Cruise might have some competition in the sprint department,” he jokes, adding that the most challenging sequence was an extended fight scene with Saif. “We wanted something that felt visceral rather than choreographed. That was fun — but also exhausting.”
The road forward
Kunal is now eager to explore more as an actor. When asked what kind of roles he looks forward to, the Dear Zindagi actor says, “All kinds, honestly. I think as an actor I’m ready and very hungry for all kinds of parts. I want to take risks and really push the boundaries of what people expect from me. When I started off, you had to fit in — which I never did. Thankfully, now there is a lot of space for the misfits.”
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