Harsh Varrdhan Kapoor On Working With Anil Kapoor In 'Thar': Not What People Expect Father-Son To Do Together

Actor Harsh Varrdhan Kapoor on Monday said his revenge thriller ‘Thar’, which features him alongside his father actor Anil Kapoor, is a film that defies the conventional expectations from a father-son pairing in a movie.

The Netflix film marks the second collaboration between Harsh Varrdhan Kapoor and Anil Kapoor after filmmaker Vikramaditya Motwane's ‘AK Vs AK’ in 2020. ‘Thar’ features Harsh Varrdhan as Siddharth, an antique dealer while the 65-year-old actor plays a local cop in a remote village in Rajasthan.

During the trailer launch of the film, Harsh Varrdhan Kapoor said when debutant director Raj Singh Chaudhary offered him the film, they both could only visualise Anil Kapoor for the part.

"Raj and I had discussed the possibility of this happening with dad and it just fit. For me, the idea was that Raj gets the correct actors for all the roles, not just dad's...But 'AK Vs AK' was quite different, it had comedy, and dark humour, and was a metafilm. This is more cinematic and visual. The idea is to break away from the conventions of what people expect a father and son to do together," the 31-year-old actor told reporters.

Harsh Varrdhan Kapoor said he was neither nervous nor at ease just because he was performing with his father, as he approached the film purely as an actor, without any baggage.

"The ice was broken with Vikram's film. By the time we got to 'Thar', so much time had been spent, we had done a film together. I was focused on doing my job and not get overwhelmed by the situation or who else is in the film. So I didn't see it as (acting opposite) a family member. I just approached the scene the same way I would've if it was anybody else," said Harsh Varrdhan Kapoor.

Produced by Anil Kapoor Film Company (AKFC), ‘Thar’ is inspired by the Western Noir genre and is set in the eighties. According to the streamer, the film traces Siddharth's journey through a remote village in Rajasthan that has recently been rocked by a series of violent killings.

Harsh Varrdhan Kapoor said he was pulled toward the film because of its writing and noted that it's hard to find material that is "a bit subversive, different from what we are used to watching".

"For me, the template has been to try and do something new... As long as I can do that, it's enough," he added.

‘Thar’ marks Harsh Varrdhan Kapoor's third outing with Netflix after ‘AK Vs AK’ and the anthology ‘Ray’. It is also his third feature film after his 2016 debut ‘Mirzya’ and the 2018 action-drama ‘Bhavesh Joshi Superhero’.

The actor said he is keen to do more films but not for the sake of being seen on screen. "I want to work a lot more. All of us love to be on sets, the more you act the better you get. It's more about practice. But the idea is to not compromise on one's creative integrity just to go to work. Sometimes less is more. I hope everyone likes this film," he added.

‘Thar’ which also stars Fatima Sana Shaikh, Satish Kaushik, Jitendra Joshi and Mukti Mohan, will release on May 6.

[With Inputs From PTI]