As an actor you want to do films you want to watch: Aditya Roy Kapur

Actor Aditya Roy Kapur says he was sold on joining the cast of the dark comedy anthology "Ludo" as he was an admirer of director Anurag Basu's filmography.

Set in a quintessential Indian metro, "Ludo" follows four different stories with people dealing with unavoidable jeopardies of life.

The film appears to be in a similar vein as Basu's 2007 ensemble drama "Life... in a Metro", which revolved around a group of Mumbai up-and-comers search for love and struggle for success.

Kapur, who plays Akash, a stand-up comic and voice artiste in "Ludo", said the director is at his creative best while "weaving" multiple stories together.

"The excitement of working with Dada (Basu) was paramount and the main reason to do the film. He did give me an idea of the story and gave a sense of the character. I felt it was a new challenge...

"It's a zone that Dada thrives in, weaving together multiple stories. He has done a film like that before so successfully and beautifully that as an actor you want to do films that you want to watch," the actor told PTI in an interview over Zoom.

Kapur, 34, said during the shooting, Basu, also known for films like "Barfi!" and "Jagga Jasoos", would often surprise the cast by his spontaneous process of filmmaking.

"Dada would often say, 'Do nothing, sit, enjoy, see'. It was fun shooting. You will be surprised as an actor on set as Dada would put you in any situation," he recalled.

The actor said the director's vision takes precedence over the excitement to play a different character and explore a new genre.

"At the end of the day the film is the director's vision so it is most important that you are on board for his vision. There are different factors that come into play when you are choosing a film.

"Sometimes you want to be part of a director's vision, sometimes the character or genre can excite you. There is no science to it. You go with your gut as no one knows anything," he said.

Kapur, whose last release Mahesh Bhatt's "Sadak 2" received an underwhelming response from the audience, said the success or failure of a film is beyond an actor's control.

"You are not going to achieve anything if you are going to think too much about it, it is not in your control. The faster you learn about it as an actor, the happier you will be. It is the process which takes six to eight months or a year or more to shoot a film and one day to release it, the experience that ends up staying with you." The ensemble cast of "Ludo" also includes Abhishek Bachchan, Rajkummar Rao, Pankaj Tripathi, Rohit Saraf, Fatima Sana Shaikh, Sanya Malhotra, Pearle Maaney, Inayat Verma and Asha Negi.

Produced by Basu and Bhushan Kumar of T-Series, "Ludo" is slated to be released on Netflix on November 12. PTI KKP RDS RDS