Unhealthy to Buy Into Media-Created Image: Harsh Varrdhan Kapoor

Harsh Varrdhan Kapoor, Vasan Bala, Akansha Ranjan Kapoor speak about Satyajit Ray & Spotlight.

Harsh Varrdhan Kapoor with Anil Kapoor. 

(Photo Courtesy: Instagram)

Harsh Varrdhan Kapoor, Akansha Ranjan Kapoor, Radhika Madan and Chandan Roy Sanyal are gearing up for Spotlight, one of the four films in the Netflix anthology Ray. Directed by Vasan Bala, Spotlight is a modern retelling of Satyajit Ray's short story by the same name.

In a chat with The Quint, Harsh Varrdhan, Akansha, Chandan Roy Sanyal and Vasan Bala speak about how they were introduced to Satyajit Ray, why the legendary filmmaker's works are relevant even today and how they manage to navigate the 'spotlight' on themselves in real life.

"Goopy Gyne Bagha Byne was my first introduction to Ray. All thanks to Doordarshan, I watched films such as Nayak and Jai Baba Felunath", says Vasan Bala.

Harsh Varrdhan adds that his first tryst with Ray was at film school. "While in film school I was shown the Apu trilogy. However, I actually haven't gone back and watched Satyajit Ray's films recently. Nayak is one film that I thought was very cool stylistically - the sunglasses, the tight close-ups and the movie star. Like Vasan, I am a big fan of films about films and films about film personalities".

Speaking about growing up in a film family and dealing with constant attention from the media as well as fans Harsh Varrdhan says he has always tried to lead a very private life.

"I think I have really tried to kind of separate myself. For instance, the path that I have chosen is a bit different. I don't go public about a lot of things. In fact, I try to hold on to my privacy as much as I can because I feel that that is a great way to stay sane. I am not what people expect. So I feel it's going to take some time for people to understand me".

Harsh Varrdhan Kapoor, Actor

Ray starts streaming on Netflix from 25 June.

Editor: Veeru Krishan Mohan