Arjun Kapoor on playing a grey character in Ek Villain Returns: Audience should decide whether he’s a hero or a villain

Ek Villain Returns is inching closer to its release this month. The spiritual successor to 2014’s Ek Villain promises to be as twisted and thrilling as its predecessor, and will see Arjun Kapoor take on the role of one of the leads. The actor recently opened up about playing a grey character in the upcoming film.

In conversation with PTI, Arjun spoke of how it was not possible to always play characters one agreed with on a personal level. He could not expect his characters to share his moral compass, and that was what being an actor was about. As an actor it was interesting to play characters who were different because otherwise it would feel like he is playing himself.

The actor talked about how there were some characters he played whose moral compass was similar to his, giving the examples of his films 2 States and Ki & Ka. Arjun said that those were the kind of films that actors would be interested to do, but not all the films that came their way would be like that. Arjun said that actors should not take themselves so seriously that they cannot abandon their thought process at any point. Sometimes they have to realise that what they do is for entertainment and should try and establish a connection with audiences.

On his ‘grey’ character in the upcoming film, Arjun said that his character Gautam was neither a villain nor a hero. “Whether he is the hero or villain is for the audience to figure out. For me, it is a character”, he said, adding that he hoped audiences would tell him what Gautam was.

The actor said that the film was a ‘slightly exaggerated’ take on how the choices people make can have an affect on other people who are not even a part of their lives. He revealed that the arcs of his and Tara Sutaria’s character had an effect on John Abraham and Disha Patani’s story, in what he called an ‘equal and opposite reaction’.

Ek Villain Returns will hit the silver screens on July 29.