Atul Kulkarni's gems:-

'Success makes you cofindent'

'When youth experiences both the sides, they are bound to change'

'Cricket and acting, both require taking pride in being the center of attraction'

Did you know that Atul tried his hand at engineering from College of Engg, Pune before pursuing arts. Also, he worked in the insurance field before dwelling in the acting field. Apart from being talented, Atul is big-hearted and an extremely grounded person.

Team okiedoks wishes him all the very best for his future pursuits

1) Kindly tell us something about your initial days and the struggle involved?

Age wise, I decided quite late to go for acting. I tried my hand at engineering through COEP, Pune, but later moved to arts. While in college, I participated  in gatherings and plays. Later on, I joined the National School of Drama, New Delhi.

2)        How is acting in plays different from acting in movies?

Basic technique and the preparation are more or less similar from an actor’s point of view. Films are more advanced technically, but the approach may vary, person to person.

3)   Tell us something about 'Gandhi virudh Gandhi' and why is it so successful?

It was a fantastic script and a great appeal to audiences of all genres.  The drama between Gandhi and his son was enormous. It was my first big exposure and being a newcomer, I had the advantage of having no apprehensions

4)  A famous Indian director once said, 'People get the movies they deserve." What effect does the general public have on movies and the making of a movie and vice versa? How do you feel when you see movies giving least importance to 'Script', which should be the soul of a movie? 

  There are movies for all types for different audiences. It happens everywhere but popular may be sold more.  However, I feel there is a space for every type of film. People are able to differentiate between films. Look at ‘A Wednesday’, which did brisk business in spite of being a small budget film.  We should be happy that new experiments are taking place, and also the concept of multi-starers is rising. Who would have imagined a film like ‘Black’ say some 10 years ago. I feel Black is a mainstream film as well.

5)  Any regrets in life (personal). Any role or film, which you feel, you should have done if it was offered.

I always wanted to work with Vishal Bharadwaj. I have liked his work in Omkara and Maqbool. I was offered Amol Gupte’s role in Kaminey, but had to decline as my dates clashed.

6) How was the experience of working with Industry greats like Amitabh Bacchan, Ajay, Akshay, Aishwarya, Abhishek, Amir Khan, Sumitra Bhave and so on? Who is your favorite co-star?

My first film was with Kamal Hasan. Somehow, I never realized the fact that I was working with the  stars. I was more interested in observing these people prepare for their roles.

Note:- The Interview continues on the next page