Karan Kundra has played a business tycoon, a drug addict DJ, a driver and more, but this is the first time the actor is donning the character of a vampire. He describes his character to be an extremist be it in love or hatred. He told us that working on Fanaah is like working with friends especially when you have Rithvik and Chetna as company. Read the excerpts of the interview…
What is Fanaah and describe your character in the show.
MTV is starting with two major fiction shows, Yaariyaan and Fanaah. I am a part of Fanaah where I play a vampire. The show is about vampires, werewolves, witches, and their connections. It’s a not a like Spiderman movie where you will see a lot of visual effects or action sequences, but you will see a very intense and strong love story. Something people can relate to – at least the youth will easily connect with it. It’s dark, edgy, but it’s not a horror show. There are no angels and demons in Fanaah.
How different is MTV’s Fanaa from all the international and desi series we’ve seen?
I don’t want to comment on how different it is from Vampire Diaries or Pyaar Ki Ek Kahaani Hai orTrue Blood. We have restructured the show in a very different format. We have a couple of seasons and limited telecast. We don’t have sets, we shoot in real locations, we have five protagonists there is no lead as such in the show. It’s intense, mystifying and supernatural. We’ve tried to create a different world completely.
Of all the offers to do fiction shows, why pick a series on vampires for your comeback?
The reason I took up Fanaah was ‘coz my movie Dil Firey is coming out in February. I wanted to build myself and improve my acting skills for my films. What better way to do that than acting as vampires. It’s a very sexy, hot and desirable and that’s the reason I am doing this show. It’s not like a saas-bahu show, where I play a goody goody boy. I don’t like playing a good boy anymore. I like being real. So this character is very real-his is insecure, passionate, hates and love equally. Plus the show gives me time to do other things as well.
Secondly, it’s not that I have been away from TV. My last fiction show was Kitani Mohabbat Hai, after that I did Gumrah and in the meanwhile I have been busy doing about four films. So it doesn’t feel like a comeback. At least it didn’t hit me until people started asking me how it feels to come back to fiction. The funny thing is, people who have appreciated my work and have been with me for all those romantic roles stuck with me for three years. I think it’s an added advantage for me now, coz people are waiting to see me back.
Did you take any inspiration from the American series we have on vampires?
No I haven’t seen Vampire Diaries, Teen Wolf, True Blood or the Twilight series. I think I must have seen Twilight for a friend. Edward is too white for me; I am trying to create my own character. I am trying to live the life of Vivaan – the character that has been etched out for me. I know his upbringing, where his comes from and how he lives. Vivaan is an orphan and has a poor financial background. All he knows is love and if he doesn’t get that he will die.
So who is the antagonist in the show?
There are five protagonist but not in the true sense. Everyone changes when they have turmoil in their life. Somebody is falling in love, getting deceived, someone can’t reciprocate love – basically there is no hero on villain on the show like we normally see in Indian television or films. We all have some shade of grey in us like most real people in this world. They are not always right, they are flawed. So there is no hero and no villain as such.
What is the one thing you like about your character?
He is an extremist. He can do anything when he is in love and when he hates. There is no mid-way for him. Secondly, he is fearless, he is honest and is not pretentious or acts to be only good. He accepts that he is both good and bad.
While doing Gumrah, you’ve had a lot of time on your hand to do movies and other projects. What kept you from fiction shows for this long?
I have a comedy Punjabi film -Control Bhaji Control releasing on August 22, Ram Pam Posh which will release this year. In addition to that, I have a solo romantic film called Dil Firey. I have a few movies with Vikram Bhatt as well. Fanaah is not like a daily soap so I don’t have to dedicate too many days at a stretch. It will give me time to do other things as well. We haven’t started shooting yet; the show is not going to start with any of us. The first few episodes will be something else.
So what’s the action quotient on Fanaah?
More than action, the performances are going to be very strong. A normal human being emotes very differently from how a vampire emotes. We are still getting the hang of it. My performance is normally aggressive so I have to control it. Of course, there is some amount of action, chasing and running and jumping from heights but we haven’t delved on that yet.
Are you planning to return with season four of Gumrah on Channel V?
I am not very sure as to what is happening on that front, but presently I will be focusing only on Fanaah and completing my prior movie commitments. I can’t be doing too much at the same time, my main focus is my films and with Fanaah I have to manage that. I don’t think I have the time to do Gumrah right now.
How is your equation with the star cast of Fanaah?
I am very friendly with Rithvik Dhanjani – we both are complete opposite. He is very driven and head strong, while I am very relaxed and chilled out, but passionate about my work. We have a very good friendship, we both learn from each other. Chetna and me are very good friends. We were supposed to start our careers together in 2008 but that never happened. So after five years we are finally getting the opportunity to work together. She is the female version of me. Ratan Rajput is a sweetheart. We are total opposites of each other but we get along like crazy. It’s interesting to see how she has eaten us with her level of performance. Be it the poster, trailers or promos – one close up of her and everybody wants to know what Ratan is doing. I have met Anita at Ekta Kapoor’s parties. She is a darling, although I don’t know how much I will be working with her. Most of my scenes are with Rithvik and Chetna.