Edward Sonnenblick, who will soon be seen in Kapil Sharma’s upcoming film ‘Firangi’, is in all actuality no stranger to Bollywood. Pay close attention to his character of a British officer in the film, and you will be hit with a strange sense of familiarity. Sonnenblick is no newcomer to the Hindi film industry as he has starred in a long line-up of films that include 2008’s ‘Dostana’, ‘Neerja’, ‘Rangoon’, ‘Kapoor & Sons’ apart from a list of television shows.
As his latest outing simmers up for its release later this month, Edward sat down for a candid chat with TimesofIndia.com, where he spilled the beans about working in Bollywood, conversing in Hindi, working with Kapil Sharma and his future projects.
Seeing him deliver his dialogues in Hindi was quite impressive, so we had to ask how he dealt with the language barrier.
Edward said, “Actually, I don’t have such a big problem with Hindi. And when Kapil Sharma arrives, then anything is possible. So, it wasn’t that difficult at all and it was fun.”
He went on to show off his command over the dialect saying, “I have been in India for almost 10 years now, so I learn it. However, ‘Mujhe abhi bhi thik se nahi aata… nahi aati’ (I still don’t know it too well).”
Talking about life on set with funnyman Kapil Sharma, he said, “I didn’t recognise him the first time. He had a beard and was wearing a cap. During the shoot also, he had that beard and didn’t look like what he normally looks. But it was fun to work with him.”
We quizzed him about his thoughts on the element of the film that will pull the audience to the theatres. He replied, “Well, it’s Kapil Sharma! He’s a huge talent and also he is incredibly popular. The film is unique, it’s a period film but it’s very light-hearted. It’s a comedy. I can’t think of an example which is a period film which is light-hearted. It’s a new concept and it is very well executed. ‘Firangi’ is a really interesting and fascinating story. I can’t think any film you might have seen like this before.”
As he hails from San Francisco, we asked him the perception Americans have about the Bollywood film industry and its actors. He answered, “Actually, I don’t know how much the average American knows about Bollywood. To be honest, there is an understanding that Bollywood movies are all musical, song and dance. That probably goes in most American’s minds. I think after Priyanka Chopra made her mark in Hollywood or any other Bollywood actor who ventured abroad, made all believe that there is a great talent in the Hindi film industry.”
Edward has an interesting line-up of films that include Sonam Kapoor and Kareena Kapoor Khan’ ‘Veere Di Wedding’, Kangana Ranaut’s ‘Manikarnika: The Queen of Jhansi’, Ajay Devgn’s ‘Battle of Saragarhi’, to name a few. When asked about the same, he said that he is working on ‘Veere Di Wedding’ and also a new show called ‘Indipedia’. In the show, he will explore the hidden aspects of Indian culture. He pointed out an interesting factor of the show saying that a person like him, who has lived in a country for 10 years, understands the culture and also speaks the language was still not 100% Indian. So he says the show will be shot from an outsider’s perspective on a lot of cultural topics.
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