The actor, who completes 20 years in the film industry, on pushing the envelope with diverse choices, rediscovering himself as an artiste, staying relevant, his learnings over the years, and why his best is yet to come
Shahid Kapoor seems to have pushed the envelope as far as the roles he’s essayed on screen are concerned. Image: @mayank_mudnaney
Shahid Kapoor saunters into a five-star hotel suite with a spring in his stride. Dressed in a white shirt and trousers—apt for the harsh Mumbai summer that’s extended to the month of June—he greets everyone with a chirpy tone and a beaming smile. Within minutes, he makes himself comfortable on the couch and instructs the crew to reposition the camera. The setup has to be slightly readjusted to focus on the actor, who’s promoting his latest film, Bloody Daddy, an OTT release. The 42-year-old knows exactly what he wants—both from his life and career—and explains that lucidly as he revisits his 20-year journey in the world of films.
“I am extremely comfortable with who I am today. I am fortunate to be in the headspace that I am in now because I feel settled and surer than I was earlier. It will be difficult for something to derail me. I am pretty, kind of, zoned in. And I know what I want to do,” the actor tells Forbes India. Kapoor, who was 22 when he made his debut with the romantic comedy Ishq Vishq (2003), concedes that he was figuring out who he was for the first 12 to 15 years of his career as “a lot gets thrown at you”.
Today, he emphasises, he is clearer with his choices. And in the past few years, the actor seems to have pushed the envelope as far as the roles he’s essayed on screen are concerned. From playing the lead in Kabir Singh (2019), a surgeon with severe anger management issues, to an aspiring India cricketer in Jersey (2022), an emotional tale about a father-son relationship, and from making his OTT debut with the web series Farzi (2023) to releasing a film on a streaming platform this year, he’s let his craft do the talking.
“I don’t want to do content that’s limited; I want to be able to take good content to a wider audience. That’s something I’ve always craved to do,” says Kapoor, going on to explain how it took a while for him to move the needle during his initial years in the industry. The success of Ishq Vishq made him a much-loved chocolate boy of Indian cinema, but the romantic hero tag stuck with him. The actor reveals he tried to break the mould with films like Fida (2004), but he couldn’t do much since those opportunities rarely came his way. “I had to wait till I grew a beard… meri daari nahi aati thi,” smiles Kapoor, who’s now sporting substantial facial fuzz.