Single Papa actor Kunal Kemmu on shifting genres, resisting repetition, and keeping his craft evolving. He opens up about his love for acting alongside writing and directing, and his belief in not taking success or failure too seriously
Kunal Kemmu in ‘Single Papa’
Remember the kid who gripped you with his earnest performance in Zakhm (1998) and his intense act as a heartbroken lover sporting long hair, that later became a trend in Kalyug (2005)? From his early days as a child actor to evolving into a writer and director with Madgaon Express (2024), Kunal Kemmu has consistently shown he’s an artiste of many talents. His recent viral acapella only reaffirms it. He is currently seen in the Netflix outing, Single Papa. In conversation with mid-day, Kemmu reflects on fatherhood, creative exploration, and why acting remains his first love.
Excerpts from the interview:
As a storyteller, do you find hard-hitting movies work better, or does humour make hard subjects more effective?
It depends. I think it’s more palatable if it’s in the way of humour. Studies are also like that, when you try to learn it as a lesson, your mind wavers, but I feel we retain more when it’s told with humour. In Single Papa, we use humour with the family around it. It’s not preachy at all. But at the same time, it’ll definitely start a conversation. I feel with this it will reach wider [audience]. It’ll make you aware of things that I wasn’t aware of. But I don’t think there’s a right or wrong way [to tell a story].
A still from ‘Single Papa’
You’ve begun singing publicly — from acapella pieces to the title track of Single Papa. When did this musical side emerge?
I think it has always been there. I’ve loved to write my own songs, compose music, and sing. I wasn’t confident or comfortable enough to bring it out to the world because I wasn’t sure. At some point I was like, ab nahi toh kab. So, I decided to put it out. I’m very happy that it’s getting love. So I’m just going to keep doing it.
Did your experience of fatherhood influence the emotions you played on set, especially around your daughter Inaaya Naumi’s birth?
It’s pretty much the same thing. I think as actors, we borrow or we create. We borrow from observing mostly. Sometimes we unknowingly create a bank of emotions that we’ve lived, whether it’s happiness, sadness, shock or whatever. It’s been a mix of all of those things. I won’t say that I was in the exact same situations with my daughter like I am in this show. But it is such a basic emotion. We just have to do it even if it’s not real. There were times when baby Amul was not in front of me and I had to emote looking at nothing. But that’s where acting comes in. I would be lying if I tried to draw a comparison saying that this is exactly how it happened. It’s not. But it is because of the experiences that I’ve had that I was able to recreate it.
Director Shashank Khaitan said you were the only choice for the role. Why do you think he felt that way?
I have no idea. You’ll have to ask him. I think he’s been fond of me as an actor for a long time. We’ve been discussing that we needed to find something together. I’m happy that he thought that I would be the ideal Single Papa. When I read it, I instinctively felt that I would be able to play this role and have a lot of fun doing it.
Which role gives you the deepest creative satisfaction — acting, writing or direction?
Writing [gives you the] creative freedom to do whatever you want to do, which then starts to kind of bottle down. Because the director has to deal with [a lot of things]. So, the freest form of doing it is writing. But my first love always has been acting. I don’t want to become a slave of my own trade. I don’t want to keep doing that same thing every single time. I feel that I’ve really liberated myself by being a writer and director. I’m thrilled that I’ve got opportunities to unleash all of these talents and find an audience out there it all.
You’ve had multiple highs and lows since childhood. At those low points, did you ever sucumb to the pressure?
Everything is in hindsight. I’ve realised you’ve got to just do what you’re doing and not take success very seriously and not break your heart because of failure. It’ll all change.
What’s next?
Kunal Kemmu shares that he is waiting for March next year to announce something new. ‘We’ll talk about it then,” he says.
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