Kunal Kemmu: You have to choose the right words to say a no, nobody likes hearing it

He has gone over to the editor’s table from in front of the camera for a change, for his directorial debut Madgaon Express. But actor Kunal Kemmu, who turns 40 today, is intent on ringing in his birthday with his family — sans any work. “The day has just got so much attention around it that it stresses me out,” he laughs.

How is the editing coming along? “It’s a very unique experience. When you love what you are doing, you don’t realise how much time has passed,” shares Kemmu. But what about things that he doesn’t love — for instance, scripts that he turns down, especially after having been an actor for more than three-and-a-half decades? Does it rub people the wrong way? “You have to choose the right words. I don’t think anybody likes hearing a no. If it comes from the right place, they would understand. I have always said that I will be uncomfortable doing a certain role and won’t deliver the performance they will pay me for,” he shares.

Kemmu has always believed in changing things up. From being a part of hit comedies such as Golmaal Again (2017) and Go Goa Gone (2013), to a dark turn in Kalank (2019) and Malang (2020). Was this out of a fear of being tagged a comic actor? “The fear is not that I will get typecast, but that I might become repetitive. Sometimes, my brain needs to be stimulated by different characters, so I can take time off and come back,” says Kemmu.

Even with comedy, there’s one genre he stays away from. “When it’s double-meaning, sexual humour, that is where I get uncomfortable. That’s one thing you may have not seen me do,” he ends.