Half girlfriend or boyfriend is an emotional situation in everybody's lives: Arjun Kapoor

What was the best memory created while shooting for this film?

It was when we went to the actual places that Chetan Bhagat has written about in his novel. Being able to shoot in the UN or run on the Brooklyn Bridge, the Benaras Ghats; all these amazing places. So, lots of memories, not just one.

How was the experience of playing Madhav and visiting these places?

For a boy like me who was brought up in a big city, after playing a rooted character in Ishaqzade, this was an eye opening experience. We realized that there is a much bigger India out there.

Is Half Girlfriend just a love story or are there other layers to it?

It definitely is a romantic film but I believe, cinema is fluid, that is, there can be drama, action, emotion and romance all in one film and thus Half Girlfriend, I would say it is a quintessential Hindi film.

How difficult is it to make a film on a book that is so popular? Are the expectations high?

On a day to day basis, the making of the film does not essentially change.We have to appeal to the people who have not read the book as well as to those who have. I have lived the experience with Krish Malhotra and I believe if you perform well and the film is good it all pans out well.

What really is the concept of having a half girlfriend or a half boyfriend?

Firstly, I would like to clarify that the concept is not about having numerous half girlfriends and boyfriends. It is not something that is frivolous. I would take this opportunity to tell the youth of today that half girlfriend or boyfriend is an emotional situation that occurs in everybody's lives. Some people surpass friendship, some connections grow; you want to text a person as soon as you are awake, you meet up, you check on them. These relations are more than your friends and yet not boyfriend or girlfriend. It is a painful situation but some relationships are meant to stay incomplete and we have to live with it.

Is Ranveer Singh your half boyfriend then as we all know you are very close to him?

Ranveer is my friend, my brother for life. What image we put out there is for your entertainment because we always feel indebted for the love that we get from you all. So, that is a small dedication to people who have appreciated us, our friendship and yes, I hope that our chemistry continues as we would love to entertain you no matter what, whether half, full, quarter, if you enjoy and give us love, we will provide entertainment.

What's your tryst with the city of joy?

For me, it is amazing to come back here and relive the memories of having arguably the best time of my life here as Kolkata has given me so much in terms of warmth, happiness. Whenever I am here the memories of playing Bala keeps coming back .

There is already a spoof of your film's trailer, how do you react to such things?

You see, as soon as a film releases, people start creating spoofs or have an opinion. We are very lucky that these people actually help us promote the film without us having to do anything. That is how powerful our trailer happened to be that it immediately needed a spoof which drew content and context from the original. So, while making fun of us they are actually helping us promote so, a huge thank you to them (laughs).

Which according to you is better the film or the book?

India is evolving into being a reading country. We have a lot of people who do like to read but a lot more films are consumed whether digitally, in television or theatres. We have been a cinema going audience for many many years and so definitely Chetan has proved that his books connect with a majority and then that majority turns into a bigger film watching majority and yes, it enhances the prospect of the story reaching many more people. Personally I hope, the film is better than the book.

Images by Avishek Mitra/IBNS