EXCLUSIVE: Republic Day is to Atul Kulkarni what Eid is to Salman Khan! Actor reflects on having 4 consecutive January 26 releases, including Rang De Basanti and Page 3

Salman Khan today is synonymous with Eid. Aamir Khan, on the other hand, has had multiple releases on Christmas. Meanwhile, there has been an actor who has had four consecutive releases on Republic Day and its none other than Atul Kulkarni. In 2003, he was seen in a villainous role in Dum (memorable today for the song ‘Babuji Zara Dheere Chalo’). This was followed by his heartfelt performance in Khakee in 2004. In 2005, he rocked the show with Page 3 while on 2006 Republic Day, he featured in one of the greatest films of Indian cinema, Rang De Basanti. In an exclusive interview with Bollywood Hungama, Atul Kulkarni spoke about this aspect, the 20th anniversary of Page 3 and a lot more.Did you ever notice that you had 4 back-to-back Republic Day releases?(Laughs) Wow. No, I never realized until you brought it to my notice. I remembered Rang De Basanti but didn’t remember about the rest of the films.Did you remember Page 3 was completing 20 years on January 21?I didn’t even remember either.How did you sign this role?I had worked with Madhur Bhandarkar in Chandni Bar (2001) and Satta (2003). Page 3 was my third film with me. All I can say is that Chandni Bar and Satta helped me bag Page 3 (smiles)! The best part about Madhur is that he sees the actor through the character. And my characters in all these three films were completely different from each other. Similarly, Rakeysh Omprakash Mehra offered me Rang De Basanti followed by a different role in Delhi-6 (2009). I am happy that Madhur did not typecast me.Did you talk to crime journalists to prepare for the role?Not really because one knows the world. I used to keep meeting journalists, after all.Page 3 was Konkona Sen Sharma’s first Hindi film. She was already doing great then and today, she’s in a league of her own. How was your experience working with her?As you rightly said, she’s a great actress and working with her was a pleasure. The credit goes to Madhur for signing her for this role at a time when she was not known in Bollywood.It was also refreshing to see that there was no romance between the two characters...(Laughs) Yes. The relationship was different. He was more like a friend and a mentor. They start on a rough note though he knows she has a spark. I felt that the whole equation was very beautifully depicted on screen.As far as my character is concerned, the line that stayed back with everyone was, “You have to be in the system to change the system”.And it stands true even today...Absolutely. It's an iconic line. That scene was originally not there. It was shot at Versova Beach. We were just discussing the scene and its essence and that’s when we came up with this line. It sounded much better in English than in Hindi. We tried in Hindi as well but in English, the impact was more. In fact, even today, when people speak of Page 3, one can’t help but remember this line.Page 3 also focused on how newspapers might not publish negative news about a person or organization if they are giving them ad revenues. It was a thought ahead of its time and now, we understand this aspect...The Page 3 phenomena have gone. In a way, it was the social media of that time! It was neither interactive nor democratic. So much has changed in the last 20 years as far as media and the flow of information is concerned.TikTok was banned in the USA. Now it’s a platform where people have the freedom to speak freely. But slowly, we see the emergence of the oligarchy. Elon Musk has taken over Twitter. So, it's like life coming full circle in these 20 years – there was control on the flow of information, then there was democratization and now again, there's control. Money and politics have again started controlling it. Hence, Page 3 stands at a vantage point from where we can look forward and also look back. Print media was such a powerful medium when Page 3 was released. Now, people are talking about how much life print media have.I believe that if print media can survive COVID-19 and still bounce back, then nothing can stop it...Agreed but the murmur is on. Recently, the cartoonist of The Washington Post resigned (as the newspaper rejected his satirical work on Amazon founder Jeff Bezos who also owns The Washington Post). Now we all thought the USA is a country of free speech and yet, this happened there. It’s a bizarre world we are living in.Page 3 clashed with Kisna. Do you recall that time and were you apprehensive that the film might go unnoticed?Even for Chandni Bar, it was said that it’s a women oriented tragic film and isko kaun dekhega? Yet it worked big time. The same thing happened with Satta. By the time Page 3 released, Madhur had left that mark. He had cultivated a fan base, and we had enough experience about the reception for this kind of cinema, unlike Chandni Bar.Surprisingly, you never collaborated with Madhur Bhandarkar after Page 3 in a substantial role, though you had cameos in Fashion (2008) and Jail (2009) and a voiceover in Corporate (2006)...He offered me a role in Jail but at that time, I was doing a Marathi film named Natarang (2010). I told Madhur that I wouldn’t be able to do his film as I had lost a lot of weight for it. Madhur didn’t believe me. I went to his office and when he saw me, he realized the truth (smiles). He was shooting immediately for it and hence, I had to turn it down.Did he offer you Manoj Bajpayee’s role?I don’t remember.Lastly, your character arc in Bandish Bandits has been quite loved. Season 2 has also received a lot of love....The response has been overwhelming. It's difficult for Season 2 to top the first and hence, what has happened is rare. Also, it's not an action or crime-oriented show. It’s a musical and hats off to the writers for coming up with such a wonderful season. Moreover, executing this kind of show is no cakewalk either. As far as Digvijay is concerned, there are so many shades to my character. In fact, people are making reels on Digvijay and Mohini’s love story. After a long time, such unfulfilled romance has come, and people are living it.Will there be a Season 3?I have no idea. Just today, a fan put up a post demanding Season 3 and director Anand Tiwari posted it as his Story! Nevertheless, let’s see!Also Read: SHOCKING: Madhur Bhandarkar accuses Anurag Basu of copying Page 3 gay scene in Life In A Metro: “Konkona Sen Sharma told me, ‘I told Basu that aisa scene toh maine pehle bhi kiya hai but...'”