Why did Vir Das steal Kangana's metallic bra?

When Kangana Ranaut and Vir Das came to the Delhi Times office on Friday, they spoke about their outrageous characters in Revolver Rani, the ephemeral love of the audience and the tussle between critical acclaim and mass popularity. Excerpts:

DT: Kangana, Queen attracted a lot of family audiences and made you a household name. Are you worried that that crowd is going to go for Revolver Rani and come out quite surprised? Kangana: I am. It feels nice to be in a place where you have nothing to lose and you can just keep saying yes to films. After Queen, it's been overwhelming, how people would call me from the theatre and say, 'This theatre is full of people over 60. We can only see grey hair or no hair. And they're laughing, cheering, crying.' It was overwhelming how these people connected with me. With Revolver Rani, I didn't think like that. It's an outrageous film, and you can't relate to this character. It's a completely dark character, and the film is darker than that. But I think they might just like this too.

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DT: You had also said that no one is going to marry you after they watch the film? Do you really feel that way?
Kangana: See, I myself am not very keen on getting married and that's why I do characters like these (laughs), and also, I was asked if I would like to get married at the Taj Mahal and that's where this came from. But I do believe that our country is not as evolved as the audience in the West. There is a lot of vyakti pooja in this country. And they really think you're that character. After Queen, girls used to come and hug me, and I was like, 'No, you can't touch me like that', and they would be like, 'No, but we love you', and I was like so what! So, you can't be like Anthony Hopkins and play a baby meat eater and still be loved for that, for doing those courageous roles or like Nicholas Cage, be a real baddie and be loved. I do understand that and I really don't care. It's all right.

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DT: A lot of actors use the words warmth and love. There's this perception that the people who come to see them in droves actually love them. But then, when Yuvraj Singh comes back from surgery, the world loves him. And then he can't score in a match and people throw stones at his house. Actors tend to use the word love, when sometimes people are just the flavour of the season. Actors don't owe it to their fans, that just because they love me I should do it. Fans outgrow you in two days.
Kangana: It's very hard to come to terms with that. I never felt like this before Queen, but once in a while such films come, when people connect to the actor on a higher level, and that is overwhelming. And that is, in a way, a spiritual sort of experience. You can get addicted to that experience. For it to slowly dissolve is one thing, but for you to lose it, that's a difficult thing to deal with. As opposed to when everyone just says bad things about you, so then you also make these cool statements and be the b***h. It's easier to be like that, as opposed to when you're loved.

Click here to listen to Revolver Rani songs

DT: Is love opposed to critical acclaim? The National Awards list came out recently, and the five movies that made the least money in the whole year were all there. If tomorrow you get a film offer from those directors, they are unlikely to get you too much love because no one sees those films. So, public acclaim versus critical appreciation?
Vir: I learnt something very cool from Aamir (Khan) once. He said that it's more important for your fans to trust you than to flatter you. It's about a relationship of credibility with the audience, that's the only thing that leads to longevity. You know an Aamir film comes once a year. You are going to go see that film because there is a trust. You may not want to know what he's wearing, where he lives, but you're going to go see the film because of his immense credibility. Actors like Rajkummar (Rao), films like Shahid or Ship of Theseus - I think credibility has more longevity than flattery. Queen is one of those films that got both.

Will you sign a movie like Ship Of Theseus, Kangana, which might not run for too long?
Kangana: Yes. This is how I see it. Everyone values that human being who is more concerned about others than his own personal goals. That person is more valuable to everyone. I think few makers go beyond just entertainment and pleasing people by sensual pleasures. Films like Ship Of Theseus are so great and one must watch them. I know no one would like to sit through them again and again but they must be watched. Cinema should have that sort of responsibility. If these people aren't thinking about money and commercials, how difficult it must have been for them. They should be respected and felicitated. If tomorrow I get such an opportunity, and I am in my senses, I should definitely be doing such work. As individuals, there are things that we do as our personal goals, but if one can go beyond that, it's a nice thing to do. I have done Revolver Rani. I mean, that's such an act of selflessness (laughs). I mean, who could have done Revolver Rani? Kabir (the director) was going crazy. Every actress who was hearing the script was like, 'What?!' So, they finally decided that they should take Irrfan Khan, make him a woman and then make this film.
Vir: No chance I would have done the film then. I am a good actor but I am not that good an actor.
Kangana: Tishu sir (Tigmanshu Dhulia) knew me, so he said, 'let me talk to Kangana'. Kabir said, 'why are you bothering'. When I heard this narration with my sister and came out, her face was pale, because she knew I was going to do it. She told me, 'you are not doing it'. I said I will. She said, 'how will you play a chaalis saal ki baanjh who has a toyboy and who throws money to sleep around? You can't do this!' I was like, yes!

Vir, you play a toyboy in the film, so how was that experience?
Vir: The first time I heard this script, I instantly looked at Kabir, and said, 'I am not your guy. I am wrong for this, please, why me'. He is this alpha male, always had his way with women, morally vacant, used people and left them, doesn't take his eyes of the ball, power, fame, success, money, willing to sleep with anybody, kill anybody, be violent, abuse anybody to get what he wants. My reference for him was a Roadies contestant. You know those Roadies candidates, 'Main kar ke dikhaunga, kuch bhi', they have that. I think, in my head, he's a cross between a Roadies contestant and a victim of 80s Bollywood. He's very like, 'Main kar ke dikhaunga and baba ka sandwich kahan hai?' He's that guy where if you had a conversation with him, in under two minutes, the muscle he worked up that day would be part of the conversation. If a girl sent him an SMS, he would show it to six other testosterone-filled boys. The strange thing with him is that he is very filmi and is very wannabe and he overacts. I am acting like somebody who is overacting. The dichotomy here was, and I was telling Kabir also, how do I play a bad actor without acting badly? How do you overact without overacting? How do you play filmi without being filmi yourself?

In the promos, there are so many scenes where Kangana or someone else is directly talking about your masculinity or the lack of it. Did that bother you?
Vir: It bothered the hell out of me, but it helped with the role. This character has a certain arch and a certain frustration that explodes, and Kabir shot it in a way that I genuinely felt that way to get into the character. It was one of those films where I put too much pressure on myself because I was with these amazing actors. So, I felt as genuinely frustrated as I could feel so that it could help with the film.

When you're acting as a team, how important is it that you personally like your co-star? Like, if you look at his face and you hate him, can you still do the scene together?
Kangana: That's how it's been for me, most of the times, but not with him (laughs). But that's all right. It shouldn't change anything. For me, somehow, I really do envy the older actors who say, 'We used to have a party on the sets. There were no vanities, no phones, and we used to share books and meals and have picnics under the trees' and all of that. That's not how it is. These days, people don't talk to each other and it's just like who will say hi first. No one talks to each other, especially me. And that's also because I do these very intense characters where I can't afford to be exercising my sense of humour. So, I have to stick to business. But I don't know about him. He must be one of those jolly, happy-go-lucky kinds. Vir: Ya. This film was tough because everybody in this film is so gritty; even the caterer is gritty in this film. I showed up with my guitar, you know, happy and enthu. But like I said, this is a different university of cinema where you know not to be boisterous, and to give actors their space is something that I've also learned on this film. There are so many crazy accessories in Revolver Rani, Kangana, if you get a chance to take back something from the sets, what will you take? Kangana: Honestly, her style is not something that I aspire for because everything she wears is so crazy - those vintage shades or those metallic bras. Vir: I've taken those. Kangana: What? Vir: The metallic bras. Kangana: (laughs) Now those are gone too. I think I'll take the combat boots, those were really cool.