Stepmoms not always wicked witch: Arjun Rampal (Interview)
By Dibyojyoti Baksi, IANSSunday, August 29, 2010
MUMBAI - Arjun Rampal, who plays a divorcee with three kids in his upcoming movie “We Are Family”, claims the film will break the image of the stepmom who is more often than not portrayed in a negative light in Hindi movies.
“It’s the children who suffer. You will see what happens to children and that’s the message we are going to give through the film. The film is about the whole dynamics of everything,” Arjun, 37, who himself comes from a broken family, told IANS in an interview.
“The film breaks the mould of a stereotype that stepmoms are like wicked witch, the way it has been portrayed on the silver screen so far. The film is not about that; it’s about the crisis and how love prevails over everything and finally new relationships could also be made and I think that’s the beauty of the film.
“I come from a broken home; so I work much harder to make my marriage work. I have been, by the grace of god, very happy. I have a very nice family.”
Directed by Siddharth Malhotra, “We Are Family” is a Hindi adaptation of 1998 Hollywood hit “Stepmom” and Kajol and Kareena reprise the roles of Julia Roberts and Susan Sarandon respectively.
Arjun insists it was not easy to act in an adaptation.
“This is not an easy film to act in. Already very strong performances had been given by Julia Roberts and Susan Sarandon, but it’s wonderful to see how Kajol and Kareena bring their own to their characters. They bring a lot more of themselves and change it around so much that it makes it so watchable, enduring and beautiful,” Arjun said.
The actor, who recently gave super hit political thriller “Raajneeti”, maintains men too have some responsibility in women-centric films.
“There are some responsibilities on men in women-centric films, hope I have fulfilled it. (Laughs) In the original ‘Stepmom’, Ed Harris played the character I am playing here and I think it was an older character and the way it was written, it had some restrictions.
“It’s not a complete remake, but an adaptation. The way Siddharth has interpreted characters in his film is a new part of the film and I think that is something which I really enjoyed doing,” said Arjun.
The National Award-winning actor, who has two daughters with model wife Mehr Jessia, found it easy to play a dad of three children.
“It was rally easy to play a father because I am a father myself. Karan, on seeing the film, said my body language with the children was fabulous,” said the actor who teamed up with child actors Aanchal Munjal, Nominath Ginsburg and Diya Sonecha.
“I have seen Kajol how she is with her daughter Nysa, very hands-on, very protective, takes care of her every single thing and she is like that in the film as well. Kareena has no children, her awkwardness creating a relationship with kids came out very naturally.”
Scheduled for a Sep 2 release, the film has been produced by Karan Johar who went through the right channel to get the rights to remake it in Hindi.
“The stories are needed to be told. It’s better to take it and be noble enough to say this is what we are adapting from, rather calling it an original idea. But working on an original subject is a lot more exciting. I think adaptation is tougher because once you do it, immediately comparisons are drawn,” said Arjun
He is all praise for first time director Siddharth.
“Siddharth was fantastic. He brought in so much dignity. This film could be very melodramatic - he has given a lot of realism in it. Handling all by himself and get what he wants made us feel proud of him,” said Arjun.
(Dibyojyoti Baksi can be contacted at dibyojyoti.b@ians.in)
