I was ashamed of myself when I watched Mrs, apologised to Sanya: Kanwaljit Singh
Veteran actor Kanwaljit Singh says he has one rule while taking up a role – that his sons should not be questioned or shamed because of him. He says, while playing the father-in-law of Sanya Malhotra in Mrs, he did not realise the character was so evil, till he actually watched the movie on screen. Excerpts from an interview where he speaks about acting in Mrs and how his own upbringing was quite different.
Were you wary of how people might react to your role while making Mrs?
When the role was narrated to me, I liked the fact that it was something very different that I was going to be doing than what I had already attempted earlier. I reacted to it positively because of the newness of the character, the differentness of the character. I don`t know whether I enjoyed doing it, but I was oblivious of the fact that I was such an evil man. And after shooting this, I went on to do other films. So, I had completely forgotten about this film. I only remember that we ate a lot at the table. And the food was good. But still, we had to say, there`s not enough salt!
But when I saw the film at the premiere, before it got released on ZEE5, I was really ashamed of myself. I felt so bad. I said, you`re such an evil man. Instinctively, I got up from my seat and I went up to Sanya and I said, I`m very sorry, dear. I did such a thing to you. She was quite amused.
It became very evident to me after watching the film, that`s why I made a reversal meme on Instagram.
You didn’t realise what you were doing while shooting those scenes?
Because the impact was in Sania`s scenes when she was alone. We were only behaving as patriarchs, which is ingrained in us and in our genes. We never thought we were doing anything wrong. I mean, at least I didn`t. I didn`t say sorry after every shot.
What kind of a household did you grow up in?
I belong to a Sikh family but I was born and brought up in UP. And my father was so liberal. He used to make my mother two cups of tea in the morning. And then he used to go to the office and my mother used to work the whole day. He had a motorbike and he used to take her to see a film or something. And the whole of Saharanpur used to talk – what kind of a person is this sardar? He takes his wife with him?
You never planned to be an actor?
No, never. My father wasn’t a rich man, but he provided us with good education. Those the trend was to join the armed forces. So I also tried for NDA. But there was some problem with my right ear, so I couldn’t qualify. I was a fan of Dev Anand and used to copy him. My uncle introduced me to Habib Tanveer, who asked me do my own thing instead of copying anyone. So I auditioned and got selected. That’s how it all began.
You got into character roles and television quite early in your career…
I actually played the hero in a lot of films. But if they don’t work, why will anyone come to you? So I changed gears.
