"Yeah, I Am Single": Aditya Roy Kapoor

Aditya Roy Kapoor is incredibly likeable, and it has nothing to do with that boyish charm and those sculpted abs (though I’d hardly be surprised if there existed fan clubs dedicated to his torso).

Aditya Roy Kapur’s appeal lies in how good-natured and disarmingly friendly he is. He tells us he’s happy to wear either the Rajesh Pratap Singh denim jacket or the Moschino T-shirt, as the Cosmo Fashion Editor deems fit. He talks about how his relationship with his (naturally curly) hair is a “tricky one”, and how he’s always had an Afro but “had to kind of chop it all off”, and he hasn’t still found a way to style it well, and therefore, ends up blow-drying it for “20 bloody minutes”. He reveals, between chuckles, that the weirdest rumour he has heard about himself is that he is a prince (“I’m definitely not a prince, just a boy from Colaba,” he laughs).

. We are at the Cosmo India covershoot, photographing Aditya and Disha Patani before the release of Malang, and he is telling the hairstylist that his gelled-back, side-crew haircut (it’s new!) needs more fixing. The co-actors move their bodies to try to replicate the steamy chemistry they share in their upcoming romance-action-thriller, and the February 2020 cover of Cosmo India is born. Later, we settle into our interview, and over discussions around life, work, his most-cherished childhood bonds, and this inner urge to get away, I get to know our coverstar better...

 

Nandini Bhalla: What was it like working with Disha Patani on Malang?

Aditya Roy Kapur: “It was fun! We had a great time shooting this film. We were basically playing a couple that was living life on the edge, enjoying themselves, and doing all this fun stuff in Goa. So that did not hurt. We got to learn adventure sports and basically just enjoy ourselves. And Disha was great to work with.”

 

NB: You’re finally on social media. What took you so long?

ARK: “To be honest, I’ve never felt inclined to share things about my life. And I’ve always been a little averse to any form of social media. About 10 years ago, when Facebook came to the scene, I refused to start an account on it. The last time I was on any social platform, it was MSN Messenger, and that was 15 years ago! Then, suddenly, it seemed like Instagram took over the world, and I still didn’t want to join it, but I realised, it’s a good way to connect with fans and reciprocate the love one gets from people. And then, all the people I work with began badgering me to start an account, and why it’s so important...that kind of thing. So finally, I was like, ‘What the hell! Just do this! It can’t be that bad!’. So I created an account and kind of enjoyed myself. I don’t post very often, though, which is blasphemous, I have been told!”

 

NB: ‘Blasphemous’ indeed!

ARK: “I just don’t feel the pressure to be too active. I’m just happy that I have a way to put something out, if I want to. I find that empowering, but I don’t feel the need to adhere to any sort of regularity or schedule, as people claim you should.”

 

NB: Who are you closest to?

ARK: “I’m close to my family, and the time that I spend with them is really valuable to me. I still hang with my school friends that I grew up with. They’re still my ‘core group’. So it’s my family and a group of seven or eight friends.”

 

NB: It might come as a surprise to you, but you’re incredibly popular with the opposite sex. Was it always like this, in school and college?

ARK: “[Laughs]. I don’t know about school... Before I got tall, I was a fat little boy who bunked classes and didn’t study. No, the schoolgirls weren’t interested in me. But, yeah, in college, I noticed some attention coming my way. And then I grew this big Afro that a few people liked, so I guess that helped things a little, too.”

 

NB: What about your love life? In previous interviews, you’ve often said you’re “just chilling for now”...

ARK: “I’m basically trying to say that I’m not seeing anyone, so I’m just kind of floating along and not in a relationship. So, yeah, I am single.”

 

NB: And are you tired of people asking you if you plan to get married?

ARK: “I’m not tired of that question, because I don’t even really register it. If someone asks me about that, I’m like, ‘What are you even saying? Why are you talking to me about marriage?!’. Also, I don’t think people care about getting married at a certain age anymore. I think things are changing in that sense.”

 

NB: Are you someone who gets bored easily?

ARK: “No. But I certainly believe that because of this little piece of technology in our pockets, our attention span has taken a hit. At least mine seems to have dwindled. I feel like we’re always jumping from one thing to the next, always in search of new stimuli. It’s something I’d like to get a handle on because our phones have made it so much tougher to concentrate on things. It’s so important to slow down, you know...even watching a movie without checking your phone in the middle seems like a task. It’s something I need to be mindful of.”

 

 

On Aditya: T-shirt, Pawan Sachdeva; coordinated jacket and shorts, both Rajesh Pratap Singh

 

 

Credits: Styling: Zunaili Malik; Photographs: Anushka Nadia Menon; Hair: Raghuvir Gaonkar at Aalim Hakim; Make-Up: Stephen Jadhav; Location Courtesy: Fun Republic SOCIAL, Mumbai; Production: Imran Khatri Productions; Fashion Assistant: Humaira Lakdawala; Fashion Interns: Sahil Vasudev, Saloni Kohli and Shivi Khosla.