As an actor, once I’m in front of a camera, the medium doesn’t matter at all to me: Sanjay Kapoor

Of late, he has been loved in films such as Luck By Chance, Mubarakan and Mission Mangal. But now, Sanjay Kapoor is clearly in a mood to spread his wings as the senior actor takes up back-to-back web shows. So, if 2018 saw him in Lust Stories, this year, Kapoor has been a part of The Gone Game.  

“Honestly speaking, as an actor, once I’m in front of a camera, the medium doesn’t matter at all to me; there’s no difference. Especially, now that I have shot for a web show at home, on my phone, I can confidently say that as long as you are in front of a camera -- be it the proper film camera, the one in a phone or a handy-cam -- it’s great for an actor. You have to be as convincing and good,” he says. 

Next up for Kapoor are shows such as The Last Hour (produced by BAFTA Award-winning Asif Kapadia) and another upcoming one for Netflix. He, on his part, is “extremely happy to have the opportunity” (to get back in front of the camera). “For me, it’s all about my love for craft -- regardless of the platform. I am also not delusional that way, because I know that if I was doing films, I wouldn’t have got such major, central parts. There are too many things: who would have backed such films, who would have bought them and kab aur kahaan release hoti. With web shows, I am free of all those trappings,” he says. 

Kapoor feels the lockdown has “been a blessing on disguise of sorts” for OTT platforms. “Around the time when Lust Stories came along, I think people at large were yet to get used to the idea of OTT, and web shows etc. But by now, everyone is into it. For example, my brother, Boney (Kapoor) could never understand this space but during the lockdown, he has also got into it. Thanks to the lockdown, the OTT growth in India has quadrupled and has already jumped on a spot where they could have reached only sometime next year,” he explains. 

India that was only about movies and television till OTT came along has given choices to viewers and freedom to creative people, feels Kapoor. “And not just actors, even technicians such as writers have got a great push due to the onset of OTT. There’s a lot of freedom as people can think freely now. There’s such great quality content on OTT platforms now that directors/writers know they have a huge competition right inside homes. So, they also have to pull up their socks and deliver, which is great news for the entire ecosystem,” says the actor, who also produced the 2014 film, Tevar starring his nephew, Arjun Kapoor. 

According to Kapoor, OTT has also democratised things in a lot of ways. “It has given some extraordinary talent. There, you don’t have to depend on a star to sell the show. Instead, an actor make his name or get himself noticed rather quickly than a movie where he may have a smaller part in comparison (to OTT),” says the actor, who completes 25 years in Bollywood in 2020 (after debuting with Prem in 1995). “I am in a good space and creatively satisfied too. So, I am enjoying it. Tomorrow, if I get a good film offer, I will do that too,” he concludes.