Harshvardhan Kapoor’s dream debut was Rakeysh Omprakash Mehra’s epic romantic thriller Mirzya. But it failed to make a mark at the box office. After being off-screen for a long stretch of two years, Harshvardhan is back in news for Bhavesh Joshi Superhero, which is helmed by Vikramaditya Motwane, who has films such as Udaan and Trapped to his credit.
The film showcases the star-kid in the title role of an ‘aam aadmi’, who wants to do the right thing and believes that there is hope for the country, but turns a vigilante after facing disappointment in his quest.
“I play the role of an ordinary guy who has a YouTube channel called Insaaf. He goes out, fights crime and puts up the videos on YouTube to start a movement, as he believes that it will help fight crime and corruption,” says Harshvardhan. “The character I play is very young and naïve. Eventually, when things don’t work out, he decides to take a dramatic step and becomes a vigilante.”
Vikram first wrote the script in 2010 which after many adaptations finally took shape of a film in 2016. Talking about the acceptability of the idea of a vigilante among the Indian audience, he says, “Our heroes are all about vigilante justice. Singham is about a vigilante cop, Salman has played a vigilante in so many films. In 70s, Bachchan sahab played a vigilante in so many of his films. And we have had Anil Kapoor playing the same in several films.”
The antagonist in the film, Rana, played by Nishikant Kamat, is a seasoned politician who is really bothered by Bhavesh Joshi. Harshvardhan says, “Rana is a high-level politician and a very strong character. And when Bhavesh Joshi comes into his life, he hurts him badly. From there, it becomes the fight between Bhavesh and him. He’s a typical representation of the system that exists everywhere in India.”
The film was shot in pretty inhospitable locations of Mumbai, which challenged the star cast and the film-crew alike. Both Kamat and Harshvardhan had to step out of the comfort zones of their previous roles for their new assignment.
“When the role was offered to me in 2012, I actually felt that I was too young and inexperienced for it. I was not refined enough as an actor to pull off a film that solely revolved around this one character,” says Harshvardhan, whose character will be seen concealing his identity through different masks throughout the film, which he admittedly found very difficult to manage.
“The mask, kind of evolves through the film. You see him with a paper bag mask at a very young age and later on he shifts to a cloth mask and after that a full-fledged mask,” says Harshvardhan, who will be seen next in a biopic on Olympic shooter Abhinav Bindra.
Talking about the difficulty he faced with mask, he says, “There is not much ventilation, so you can’t really breathe. But as the time passed on I became more and more comfortable with it.”
Other than the physical hardship, the role came with its own set of challenges for the one-film-old Harshvardhan. He says, “It was a little difficult for me as it took me quite some time to get into the role. We had workshops with Vikram, and I also learned mixed martial arts. I even moved out of my house and stayed with my co-star Priyanshu.”
Talking about the plot of the film, Vikramaditya says, “I just think that we are not used to the idea of mask vigilante because our heroes can themselves do a lot of work.” Interestingly, the film is inspired by what the director felt and experienced in real life. Also, the name Bhavesh Joshi comes from the name of his childhood friend, who used to trouble him in his early days.
About movies impacting lives of people, Vikramaditya says, “I don’t think that films are ever going to change the society. The best we can do is making people aware.”