Karan Mehta: Star Kids Definitely Have Much Easier Access Than The Outsiders

Karan Mehta has been garnering a lot of praise ever since his film ‘Almost Pyaar With DJ Mohabbat’. The film didn’t do great business at the box-office when it was released theatrically, but on Netflix, it has become a big hit with the film trending on the top of the charts for weeks together.

Karan Mehta has been one of the most promising newbies to have come up this year in B-Town. Talking to Prateek Sur, he opens up about the film’s box-office failure, its success on Netflix, and lots more. He even shares his piece of mind on the entire nepotism debate. Excerpts from the candid chat:

‘Almost Pyaar With DJ Mohabbat’ has received immense love on Netflix as soon as it released. I am sure you must be getting messages from all over. Is the appreciation more this time than when it released theatrically?

Yes, I’m overwhelmed with gratitude. I have received so many messages from all around the world. I definitely feel the appreciation was more this time as the movie had a Netflix global release. So, a lot more people got a chance to see it from all over world.

Was the film not marketed well when it released theatrically? What do you think is the reason for the movie not doing well then?

It's a difficult time for any movie to survive in theaters nowadays and in such difficult times a newcomer like me got a theatrical release in his debut film, I should be thankful to God and my director who fought against all odds and got us screened at movie halls, which is a dream for any newcomer.

This is your debut film, and that too with such a big director. How did you land the role?

Yes, it is and I couldn’t have asked for a better start to my career and I’m really grateful for that. I have always wanted to be an actor and so I started assisting on projects and doing short films at a very early age and we decided to put one of the short films on YouTube and Anurag sir's daughter Aaliyah happened to see it and she showed it to him and the rest is in front of you.

Your performance has been praised by all. What was your initial brief for the two characters by Anurag Kashyap?

Yes, it has and it makes me very happy to have received so much love from all around the world. The only brief we got was to go and just do your best. He kept me at ease all the time.

Your two characters look different as well. Have different hairstyles. Did you shoot both simultaneously or one after the other?

So, we shot one story at a time but not with too much gap in between. It was almost like shooting two movies at one time and it was a great learning experience.

How difficult was keeping one character different from the other?

To be honest we just trusted Anurag sir. The characters itself were so different from each other like their hairstyle, the way they walk, the way they talk, their culture, the dressing and even the body language. It was definitely a challenge but it didn’t feel like one.

Many people after seeing the movie have said that your character Yakub had a specific accent or rather a lisp while speaking. Did you specifically train to get that lisp right?

Yakub’s character was based in Himachal so during our Dalhousie schedule, Alaya and I had to adapt to the way the people there spoke and so during shoot we spent a lot of time with the locals to speak more like them. A lot of people also loved Yakub's laugh which I picked up from my cousin's best friend and it really worked out well in the movie.

Many newbie actors who are outsiders usually fund their own movie. Like they invest some amount of money in the making of the movie in order to get the lead role. Actors like Ranveer Singh and many others have spoken about this in the past. Did you ever face such a situation, where you had to bring in some money on the table to get your debut lead role?

Fortunately, I wasn’t really exposed too much to be in a situation like that. Anurag sir is the first director that I have met and he took me under his wing and trained me for 7 years until I was ready for his film.

Anurag Kashyap is known to be a strict director on sets. Being your debut film were there instances when you felt scared opening your mouth in front of Anurag Kashyap?

This is absolutely not true. He in fact was so childlike on set and the most fun person to work with. I never felt scared to express myself around him. In fact, even now I call and message him to talk to him about life. He is the chillest person I’ve come across.

Were you allowed to give your inputs as to how you should perform a certain scene or was Anurag Kashyap’s word the final word and no one could change or improvise after that?

Always, in fact we were involved in a lot of aspects of the film and Anurag sir himself has learnt a lot about today’s generation through us, his daughter and her friends.

Alaya F has a done a few films before. Did she throw around her weight on the sets of the movie in front of you, considering you were the fresher on sets?

Alaya and I are friends from before we got the film. So, the situation of throwing any weight just never arrived. In fact, she helped me a lot with her experience. She was amazing to work with and I wish her truly the best.

The age-old topic of nepotism always comes to haunt newcomers. Did you ever face a situation where you lost out a role because some celeb’s son or daughter was given preference?

It will be unfair for me to comment on this issue, because I was given preference by one of the top directors who believes in my talent over anything else.

What’s your take on the entire nepotism debate? Do star kids have it easier than the outsiders?

They definitely have much easier access than the outsiders which is natural, but eventually it all depends on the talent and they also know it very well so they too work very hard on their skills.

What next can we see you in?

Hopefully soon I’ll have something to share with everyone but as of now I’m looking for something that will interest me.