Shahid's pushing the boundaries

Dark yet subtle in his performances, Shahid Kapoor tells RAJIV VIJAYAKAR that he is happy being in the grey zone

It’s been a good 16 years since his first film, Ishq Vishq, and from there, the trajectory has been totally uneven, despite some sporadic successes in Vivah, 36
China Town, Jab We Met and R…Rajkumar and acclaimed performances in various unconventional films.

Yes, Shahid Kapoor is also a favourite with kids, but he keeps doing films that they will not enjoy at all, if allowed to watch them! Apart from the hit Padmaavat, he has done Kaminey, Udta Punjab, Haider and Batti Gul Meter Shuru in the last decade or so. Shahid Kapoor’s new film, Kabir Singh, a remake of the South whopper Arjun Reddy, is another such vehicle.

When we lightheartedly pose this query of alienating his ‘little’ fans, he quips, “So you want me to do films for only 10 year-olds?” Shahid plays a doctor in this angst-suffused movie, in a role that is dark, angry, depressing and everything else. “But it also has beautiful moments!” smiles the actor. “It was a complete experience doing the film.”

Perfectly flawed

But what attracts him to such deviant characters? “I think such flawed, grey characters are more exciting, and I feel the audience likes them. Why was Amitabh Bachchan so successful as an angry young man? Why is Devdas such a classic? Why are Robert De Niro and Al Pacino considered the greatest actors? Why is Maqbool one of my father’s most memorable characters? In movies, we want to see what we can’t see in real life. Every actor has an alter-ego with whom the audience connects. If the emotion connects, how it is brought out by the character becomes the experience, especially if a viewer cannot bring out those emotions themselves.”

Having said all this, Shahid takes a pause and paraphrases all this gyan and says, “In short, the mundane is not exciting, but grey is like an adrenaline shot!” He continues, however, in the same vein to add, “Filmmaking is about the craft of acting and the more complex you get, the more you are appreciated, just like playing cricket well on a bad pitch.”

How much does he internalise such characters, dark or otherwise? “All the way!” he replies. “If you have never done something, never experienced the emotions, you have to do so. Watching people and how they behave, that’s just externalising them. But, of course, there is also a limit, like I can’t murder someone if I am playing a murderer! And I don’t drink, so I will not do so just to get into an alcoholic’s psyche!” Since all this is not switch-on-switch-off, how does he get out of the role’s mood? “My children help me!” he answers simply. “When I am travelling from the set, I try and completely disconnect. When home, the normal atmosphere rejuvenates me.” Shahid, who enjoyed his role in Kabir Singh because of its raw and real tonality, says that he is surprised how much he enjoyed doing the film.

All things real

“I was absolutely bowled over by the original, but once I signed this film, Arjun Reddy, as a person, stopped existing for me. I had to build up Kabir as someone new, and the change was mainly internal and mental. Of course, there were discussions with my director, and also the shooting part, because as I worked on him, I got closer to the character. It’s like a relationship that keeps growing with more and more acquaintance.”

What kind of roles is he in the mood for now? Will we see him in a light film again, maybe a kid-friendly one? “I don’t think so far!” he says. “And all these films — let the children grow up and then watch them! Light, dark — any good role will do, though I have not signed anything yet!”

But as an aside, he also confesses, “I played a college student in my first film, Ishq Vishq, way back in 2003. I was scared whether I could do so again at the age of 38! Maybe my children would say, ‘Papa, where was the need to do this?’ But I think that if you enjoy a role and have the confidence to do justice to it, you should take it on — your age, younger or older.” Shahid feels he has a lot to do in the years to come.

“I have had a career of ups and downs, while others have tasted success within 10 years. So I am not yet accomplished in any way,” he feels. How was the experience of being present at the swearing-in ceremony of the prime minister? “It was wonderful!” he smiles. “It is obviously a great privilege to be called for the swearing-in.”