Shahid Kapoor: Nobody Else Had The Guts To Play Flawed Characters
Shahid Kapoor says he was drawn to flawed characters in his career at a time when many mainstream actors were wary of taking up such roles.
News
oi-Swikriti Srivastava
By Pti
Shahid
Kapoor
says
he
was
drawn
to
flawed
characters
in
his
career
at
a
time
when
many
mainstream
actors
were
wary
of
taking
up
such
roles.
The
actor,
who
started
out
as
a
romantic
hero
in
2003
with
Ishq
Vishk,
is
now
more
famous
for
his
roles
in
Kaminey,
Haider,
Udta
Punjab
and
the
upcoming
Kabir
Singh,
a
remake
of
Telugu
film
Arjun
Reddy.
"Nobody
else
had
the
guts
to
play
these
characters.
Maybe
because
I
am
my
father's
(Pankaj
Kapur)
son,
I
felt
the
need
to
play
such
flawed
characters," Shahid
told
PTI
in
an
interview.
After
starring
in
a
series
of
love
stories,
Shahid's
career
witnessed
a
turn
around
when
Vishal
Bhardwaj
cast
him
in
a
double
role
in
Kaminey,
setting
the
tone
for
his
future
filmography.
Shahid
followed
it
up
with
a
critically-praised
role
in
Bhardwaj's
Haider,
an
adaptation
of
Shakespearean
classic
Hamlet.
The
Kashmir-set
drama
saw
him
as
a
young
student
who
gets
caught
in
the
politics
of
the
Valley
when
he
returns
to
his
home
to
find
his
father
has
disappeared
and
his
mother
is
about
marry
his
uncle.
In
Udta
Punjab,
he
played
a
drug
addict
rapper
Tommy
Singh
and
in
Kabir
Singh
he
will
be
seen
in
the
role
of
a
doctor
who
descends
into
self-destruction
and
alcoholism
after
a
heartbreak.
Shahid
believes
the
perception
about
flawed
characters
has
changed
over
the
years
in
the
industry
as
more
and
more
actors
are
keen
to
take
up
such
roles.
"Ranveer
did
a
negative
character
in
'Padmavat',
Rajkummar
(Rao)
and
Vicky
(Kaushal)
have
played
interesting
characters.
Now
everyone
is
getting
there.
But
I
felt
the
need
to
do
it
pretty
early
(in
my
career).
I've
made
many
mistakes
as
well
but
the
thing
with
choices
is,
they
are
always
judged
in
retrospect
of
the
result,"
the
actor
said.
Shahid,
38,
said
a
mainstream
actor
has
to
be
good
at
many
things
and
acting
is
just
one
aspect
of
it.
He
believes
one
has
to
learn
to
handle
failures
as
the
nature
of
rejection
is
public.
"Acting
has
made
a
man
of
me.
You
have
to
learn
to
take
failure
on
your
chin,
to
take
responsibility
for
your
actions,
to
deal
with
the
very
public
rejection
and
failure.
You've
to
learn
to
believe
in
yourself
when
no
one
else
does.
"You've
to
make
choices
which
people
around
you
say
aren't
safe.
You
have
to
learn
to
find
yourself
as
an
artiste
and
not
try
and
be
like
hundred
other
successful
people."
Shahid
said
though
hits
and
misses
are
a
part
of
an
actor's
life
one
cannot
afford
to
be
complacent
because
there
is
always
too
much
competition.
"There
are
so
many
people
doing
good
work,
you
just
can't
be
complacent."
Kabir
Singh,
directed
by
Sandeep
Reddy
Vanga,
and
also
featuring
Kiara
Advani,
is
scheduled
to
be
released
on
Friday.