Exclusive: Sanjay Kapoor was ‘comfortable’ playing gay man in ‘Murder Mubarak’

Actor Sanjay Kapoor shattered conventions with his portrayal of Raja Sahib in ‘Murder Mubarak’. The actor spoke to IndiaToday.in about portraying a character who lives vicariously through others while concealing his true identity as a gay man.

He also elaborated how essaying such a role didn’t really matter to him and that he was ‘comfortable’ doing the part.

The veteran actor said, “I won’t name the person, but a big director came to me and said, ‘You know, I love what you did in ‘Murder Mubarak’ and everything. You were superb. You were fun, you have that scene where you are talking about ‘balls’ and then you transitioned to the emotional scene. It was all wonderful. Plus, that emotional scene with Pankaj Tripathi was also great.’ He also told me, ‘At this time of your career, you played a gay character. I’m so proud of you for that’.”

“So that was his reaction. Sometimes you do something and you trust the director. It was so beautifully put up there – even that hand-holding scene. He thinks Pankaj Tripathi’s character, the cop, is going to expose Raja Sahib’s lifestyle. And he (Raja Sahib) thinks ‘I will live up to my identity’ and holds Tinsuk’s hand. But the minute ACP Bhavani Singh says that Raja Sahib has not done anything, he leaves the hand. It was all done so beautifully,” the actor continued.

Sanjay then added, “He is Raja Sahib and he is tough and then there is the scene where he says, if anybody comes to know that Raja Sahib doesn’t have this and is leading such a life, then it’s a big deal for him. He keeps on trying to prove to him (Pankaj Tripathi) that he still loves his wife.

It’s so wonderfully done, even though he has a chink in his armour. The way it was put up was, I think, very simple and smooth. So it didn’t really matter to me. I was very, very comfortable doing it. And I’m glad people are recognising it. Like you’re saying it and a few others. The person I talked about earlier especially praised me a lot,” the ‘Merry Christmas’ actor concluded.

‘Murder Mubarak’, directed by Homi Adajania, also features Sara Ali Khan, Karisma Kapoor, Tisca Chopra, Pankaj Tripathi, Vijay Varma, Dimple Kapadia and many others. It was released on Netflix on March 15.

‘Murder Mubarak’ Review: Pankaj Tripathi is highlight of overlong Netflix film