Sohail Khan and Sneha Ullal in moments from Aryan, releasing on April 7Abhishek Kapoor

Abhishek Kapoor has always sported many identities. It?s just that he has never been at home with any. He carries the baggage of being Jeetendra?s nephew. He was in the gossip columns for his dangerous liaisons with Twinkle Khanna. He also played the lead in sink-at-sight movies like Uff Yeh Mohabbat, Shikaar and Aashiq Mastana. He last made it to the print space when he accused director Apoorva Lakhia of stealing his script for Mumbai Se Aaya Mera Dost.

Maybe as the director of Aryan, the latest sporty film from Bollywood, Abhishek will find his true calling. ?After acting in the few films that I did, I realised that cinema is not really an actor?s medium,? says the commerce graduate from Sydenham College. ?If I had to show my acting calibre I would rather try theatre. Instead, I started writing a script from an idea I had in mind, which became Aryan.?

It may look like a very commercial product from the outside but Abhishek does have a cause to champion in Aryan. ?It?s about this boxer who has to go through a lot of hardships because the sport he plays is not cricket,? he reveals. ?In our country, not just boxing, sports like badminton and shooting are completely overlooked. My film tries to trace all the frustrations and tribulations that the protagonist has to go through to climb the ladder.?

Making an ?underdog film? has its pitfalls ? allegations of inspiration from movies like Iqbal and Million Dollar Baby, for one. ?Aryan has been delayed for many reasons but the promos of my film had come with the screening of Lucky. At that time, neither had Iqbal released nor had Million Dollar Baby made it to India,? Abhishek argues. ?But I can understand why my film is being compared to everything from Rocky to Raging Bull. All boxing movies are underdog movies because it is not a rich man?s sport. No one leaves a mansion to do boxing, he is always a man from the streets.?

With Aryan talking about conquering the impossible, Abhishek didn?t want his film to be funded by friends (read: leading man Sohail Khan) and family. ?Then there would have been no credibility,? he feels. ?The money had to come from the business. Otherwise it would have been like my launch pad. If I am making a film on underdogs and I myself resort to family money, it wouldn?t have been honest. But yes, I was very lucky to have Telebrands come on board. They never wanted to get into movies but agreed straightaway as soon as they heard the script.?

Aryan was always written with Sohail in mind. ?I know his good and bad points. So I could bring out the best in him and his character,? Abhishek explains.

The choice of the leading lady was not that straightforward. ?We wanted a very young girl for the role. Sneha Ullal had no acting experience whatsoever and she has not even been groomed that way. And although we were all aware of her resemblance with Aishwarya Rai, we did not address the issue at all. Also, she has been handled very differently from Lucky.?

For the whole lot of boxing that happens in Aryan, Abhishek got a lady boxer from Australia to train Sohail and company. ?It was not a conscious decision,? he explains.

?Our second assistant director from Australia, Chris Anderson, got this kickboxing champion Amanda Buchanan, who had to be our boxing choreographer. And with a woman training all the men, everyone was very motivated ? it was like you better deliver!?

Regardless of the fate of Aryan, Abhishek is already planning his next movies. ?I have two stories in mind which I am very excited about. Right now, I want to take a one-month break. It?s been a very difficult debut and that?s because I had no background. The next time should be easier,? he signs off on a happy note.