Kunal Kemmu on handling failure: 'Don’t break your heart over it'

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 hersquos 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 midday Kemmu reflects on fatherhood creative exploration and why acting remains his first loveExcerpts from the interviewAs a storyteller do you find hardhitting movies work better or does humour make hard subjects more effectiveIt depends I think itrsquos more palatable if itrsquos 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 itrsquos told with humour In Single Papa we use humour with the family around it Itrsquos not preachy at all But at the same time itrsquoll definitely start a conversation I feel with this it will reach wider audience Itrsquoll make you aware of things that I wasnrsquot aware of But I donrsquot think therersquos a right or wrong way to tell a storyA still from lsquoSingle PaparsquoYoursquove begun singing publicly mdash from acapella pieces to the title track of Single Papa When did this musical side emergeI think it has always been there Irsquove loved to write my own songs compose music and sing I wasnrsquot confident or comfortable enough to bring it out to the world because I wasnrsquot sure At some point I was like ab nahi toh kab So I decided to put it out Irsquom very happy that itrsquos getting love So Irsquom just going to keep doing itDid your experience of fatherhood influence the emotions you played on set especially around your daughter Inaaya Naumirsquos birthItrsquos 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 wersquove lived whether itrsquos happiness sadness shock or whatever Itrsquos been a mix of all of those things I wonrsquot 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 itrsquos not real There were times when baby Amul was not in front of me and I had to emote looking at nothing But thatrsquos where acting comes in I would be lying if I tried to draw a comparison saying that this is exactly how it happened Itrsquos not But it is because of the experiences that Irsquove had that I was able to recreate itDirector Shashank Khaitan said you were the only choice for the role Why do you think he felt that wayI have no idea Yoursquoll have to ask him I think hersquos been fond of me as an actor for a long time Wersquove been discussing that we needed to find something together Irsquom 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 itWhich role gives you the deepest creative satisfaction mdash acting writing or directionWriting 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 donrsquot want to become a slave of my own trade I donrsquot want to keep doing that same thing every single time I feel that Irsquove really liberated myself by being a writer and director Irsquom thrilled that Irsquove got opportunities to unleash all of these talents and find an audience out there it allYoursquove had multiple highs and lows since childhood At those low points did you ever sucumb to the pressureEverything is in hindsight Irsquove realised yoursquove got to just do what yoursquore doing and not take success very seriously and not break your heart because of failure Itrsquoll all changeWhatrsquos nextKunal Kemmu shares that he is waiting for March next year to announce something new lsquoWersquoll talk about it thenrdquo he says