Annu Kapoor on 'Crash Course': There's only good and bad content, not commercial or parallel

Annu Kapoor, an actor for all the ages, is gearing up for his next project, Amazon Prime’s new show called Crash Course, and the men behind the show are Vijay Maurya and Manish Hariprasad, two very promising artists of the industry. To make the show more relatable and real, Manish and Vijay have got on board faces that may not be as familiar to people. It’s an ensemble that includes names like Aryan Singh, Hridhu Haroon, Hetal Gada, Anvesha Vij, Anushka Kaushik, Bhavesh Balchandani, and Riddhi Kumar.

They all sat down for an exclusive interview and spoke about the education system of our country, how it has changed for both good and bad, the changes that the city of Mumbai has seen, content in cinema has seen, and the role that social media plays in a younger’s life today, again, for both good and bad.

Annu sir, you have been acting in films for over four decades, how much do you feel Mumbai has changed?

Mumbai has changed as much as India has changed, the world has changed. Change is the only constant. There were no metros before, an auto ride used to cost a rupee and 20 paisa and today it costs you Rs. 21. Life never stops, we do.

Aryan, Hetal, Anvesha, Hridhu, there’s a line in the trailer that the city of Kota has become a pressure cooker. Does that hold true for the entertainment industry as well?

Anvesha: There’s competition everywhere. I don’t think you have to think about competition all the time, I just like to be myself. I don’t want to think about anything that disturbs my mental health.

Hridhu: Pressure is always there, this industry is full of pressure. If you have decided to be a part of this industry, keep the pressure and keep doing your work.

Hetal: Hridhu explained it very beautifully. Since you specifically spoke about the entertainment industry, you not only need to learn how to act, you also have to learn how to be patient. Have a spoon of patience with your breakfast daily. The pressure will always be there because we are here because of our own choices.

Aryan: For me, it’s a little different. For me, seeing Hridhu march ahead of me and getting better work is not pressure. For me, it’s the ability to be able to do much better than my previous work. It’s the pressure of the choices. It’s different for everyone.

Vijay and Manish, where did the idea of making Crash Course come from?

Vijay Maurya: The idea came from Manish. We were sitting at our homes during the pandemic. I got a phone call one night and the voice asked, “Would you like to do something?” I said, “Wait, I’m coming to your house.”

Manish Hariprasad: I have always felt that stories on students’ lives are always fun, entertaining, and important. I have always enjoyed watching them too. I was working on some projects but there are some stories that attract you towards them. Crash Course was one of them. As we started developing the story, it became more and more beautiful. We got in touch with Amazon and they readily agreed. I wouldn’t say it was very difficult. We hit upon a good subject and we went to the correct platform.

Anushka and Riddhi, how do you see the rising competition in today’s times?

Riddhi Kumar: Competition exists in every field and industry. And since this is an open industry, the cut-throat competition is more evident and visible.

Anushka Sen: I’m the newest admission in Mumbai, it has only been 4-5 months since I came here. There has always been a pre-conceived notion about Mumbai that it is the city of dreams. I was more excited to see Mumbai than going on a world tour. Every wave of the sea brings a new name. Wait for it, your name will be there too.

Bhavesh, you have acted in films, television, commercials, and now web series, so do you enjoy dabbling with so many formats?

Of course, it’s fun. And this time it’s Amazon. It’s very different from what I have done before. I have gone step by step. I started with reality shows, auditions, standing in queues from 5 in the morning till 6 in the evening. The excitement is the same this time as it was during my first audition.

Annu sir, Shyam Benegal said during an interaction at the Mumbai Film Festival in 2014 that he wants to strangle the person who has coined the word parallel for cinema. Do you believe in this classification between parallel and commercial?

The press has given these terminologies. There’s only good cinema and bad cinema. And there are instances when parallel cinema becomes commercially successful, like Ardh Satya (1983). We can also make a good commercial film. A film like Vicky Donor was not a commercial film from any angle. A new, original, taboo subject made at a budget of Rs. 8 or 9 crores made over Rs. 72 crores at the box-office. Shyam Bhai may have felt that the term is little derogatory. He’s been a serious filmmaker and I began my career with him. It’s all about focus. Karan Johar made a film called Student of the Year, the focus of that film is not on students, but I don’t blame him, he’s right in his own way.

Aryan, Hetal, Anvesha, Hridhu, does social media in today’s day and age act as a powerful tool or distraction?

Anvesha: Social media is indeed a very powerful tool. You get so much knowledge and so many updates about everything simply through social media. Today’s generation is always with their phones, they even study on their phones nowadays. But at the same time, it can also act as a means of distraction.

Hridhu: You spend 5-10 minutes on social media and may not even realize how much time you have wasted. I would rather look out on the road and observe what people are doing. You can keep looking at a tree rather than looking at your phone.

Hetal: It’s a boon for sure. People who couldn’t get the desired opportunities are now showcasing their talent through this medium. It attracts both positivity and negativity so it depends on you as a person.

Aryan: I’ll just add one thing that anything in access is harmful. There should be self-control. Consuming water more than necessary is also very dangerous.

Manish and Vijay, right from your college days till now, how much do you feel our education system has changed?

Manish: I don’t think I can talk about our entire education system has a whole. But such pressures existed even when I was in school 30 years back. There were students that began prepping for IIT right in the 7th or 8th standard. Today, there are proper classes for them, back then, they did everything surreptitiously since we used to make fun of them. If you clear exams like IIT or JEE, you come to know around the age of 18 or 19 what your career and future life will be. But competition is very tough. Look at our country’s population and the seats available for such exams.

Vijay: My mother asked me one day that what a director does. I also got confused. An art director designs sets, a singer sings, a music director composes, an actor acts. I said that a director guides all of them. So she was like ‘So you assimilate everything.’ Today, if I need to talk to a friend staying in the U.S., I can talk to him on the phone, there’s more awareness. We have online education, there’s no more canning from our teachers. Everything has become very fast.

Vijay, you have Crash Course coming up on Amazon on August 5 and Darlings on Netflix on the same day. How excited are you?

Where am I right now? (Laughs) Right now it’s only Crash Course.

And to each of you, what has been the one takeaway from the show?

Manish: Patience
Anushka: Spontaneity
Riddhi: Learning new things
Vijay: Maturity
Bhavesh: A new journey
Anvesha: The friendships, the experiences, and a lot of wisdom
Hridhu: Relationships, friendships, and I have a learned a lot about myself
Hetal: A learning experience for me too
Aryan: Staying hungry for everything
Annu Kapoor: That somebody trusted me and allowed me to have my own interpretation of the character willingly and happily. I cannot count many memorable experiences in these 40 years, but Crash Course has been one of the finest.

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