FC Pune City edged Mumbai City FC in the first ‘Maha’ derby of Hero Indian Super League (ISL) 2017-18 at the Shree Shiv Chhatrapati Sports Complex Stadium in Pune on Wednesday. The Stallions are co-owned by Bollywood star Arjun Kapoor, and he was out there to support his team in the high-voltage fixture. He took time to speak with indiansuperleague.com during the half-time break and shared his thoughts regarding the club he co-owns as well as the club he grew up supporting. Here are excerpts:

What does it feel like to be the co-owner of a football club?

It’s exactly like this, I’m talking to you, but my attention is over there on the pitch. I don’t feel like eating, I don’t feel like drinking, I just want to watch how the second half unfolds, so it’s a nerve-wracking but unbelievable feeling.

What is FC Pune City’s ethos? The spirit as a club?

We never give up. As you can see from the previous two games, we’ve played from beginning to end with the same intensity. The first game result might not have been perfect but we still had a wonder strike to contend with. We still got two goals back and we didn’t give up. The last game also, we were pretty good and even today you can see, even though we are a goal down, we have the right spirit to come back and make a match out of it.

How involved are you with the club and what would be termed as success at the end of the season?

At this point, you’re not letting me get involved because I’m stuck here (laughs). But for this season the aim is to get into the top four and to move forward and take things slow. We need to make sure we build a foundation where the team can continue for many years to come.

Who were your footballing heroes while growing up?

Jimmy Floyd Hasselbaink and Gianfranco Zola, and anyone who wore the Chelsea colours after that. Frank Lampard, John Terry, Didier Drogba – these are the players who have defined the generation (for those) who support Chelsea and I happen to be one of them, and these players have been my inspiration.