BENGALURU: On a busy Sunday afternoon at Anju’s Cafe in Ranga Shankara, actor Manav Kaul opts for a corner table, unnoticed by the crowd, as he waits for our rendezvous. All of a sudden when he moves tables, his presence is noticed. And the next second, he is bombarded with selfies and autograph (yes, that still exists!) requests.
Yet, Kaul says it’s not difficult to keep a low-key lifestyle for an actor like him. “I go to different cities. Whenever I travel to Lucknow and Delhi, I go to my favourite cafe and take a walk. Since I am a morning person, I go for walks and there is no one to bother me. I want to live my life the way I want,” says Kaul, who went to a small food joint, Swathi Restaurant in JP Nagar, for lunch without anyone noticing him.
Kaul was in the city for his latest theatre directorial Tumhaare Baare Mein. Though a popular stage person, he is seen in select roles in movies. Some of the popular names in his filmography are Kai Po Che!, Jolly LLB 2, Tumhari Sulu, and The Fame Game to name a few, with each role being very different from the other. According to the actor, he doesn’t do too much work not because he is choosy, but instead because he has his priorities clear. “I write a lot and love travelling.
When I travel I am away for a month. I don’t have time for too many films so I have to prioritise. I start doing things which I have not done before. I don’t want to get bored of acting because it’s something I love. It doesn’t bother me even if I haven’t worked for a year,” says Kaul, whose last movie was Trial Period, a family drama with Genelia Deshmukh. Both the actors were seen in a funny reel which surfaced a week ago on the internet. “Genelia is quite fun. I am not at all a reels person but she directed me and that’s how it came to be,” he says with a laugh.
Born in Baramulla, he then moved to a small town called Hoshangabad in Madhya Pradesh. Later he travelled from Bhopal to Mumbai. Kaul feels lucky to have been to so many places which can be seen in his work. “The spectra is huge in terms of the places I have lived in when I write a story. It has that richness that comes from living in different places at different times. I am from the pre-mobile and pre-Instagram era where I used to meet people face to face,” says Kaul, who has recently written a book on Kashmir called Rooh.
An author, director, playwright and actor, Kaul wears many hats. So, where does he feel at home? “Sitting in front of a desk, acting in front of the camera or just being in the rehearsal room gives me a sense of home. I feel that variety is what adds to the richness of life, something I have realised late in life. Everything I do complements each other. Being a director makes me a better actor, from writing I am a better human being. I am a better human being because I travel frequently,” explains the 46-year-old.
Kaul has a new-found passion for sports, having picked up badminton, cricket and most recently lawn tennis. “Roger Federer was my all-time favourite and when he retired, I felt just so bad,” says Kaul, who is travelling back to Mumbai and then to Pune for his play.