‘I AM ON A LEARNING CURVE AGAIN’
Shahid Kapoor says the kind of phase he’s in, there’s a “lot to do” thanks to the kind of people he’s working with
Last month, he clocked a 14-year journey in the Hindi film industry (after debuting with Ishq Vishk in 2003). Interestingly, Shahid Kapoor had stated that he still feels “like a student” in the world of cinema. He had tweeted: “Thanks peeps for the many wishes. 14 years of doing what I love. Beauty of cinema, you always feel like a student. Too much to learn (sic).”
Ask him about his “student” statement and he says: “It’s true. I now realise how unaware I was at the beginning of my career. It [cinema] is a [constant] learning process. The more you work the more you realise that there’s so much to learn. In the beginning, you’re so driven by your own desires and the need to prove yourself that you don’t notice how much is around you to just observe. At that point, you just want to show what you have.
So, does every actor go through the same process? “I think so. Everyone’s too busy throwing out everything that they want to tell the world. You’re like, ‘Dekho mujhe (look at me), I have this also and that too’. But after a few years, you settle down. For me, the kind of phase I am in, there’s a lot to do and it comes from people that I work with, the things that I see around me and stuff I learn,” says Shahid.
The Haider (2014) actor readily admits that one “hits the learning curve all over again after the first 10 years [of being in the industry].” He says, “I feel I’m on that learning curve again, as I’m kind of rediscovering my take on almost everything – my perspective in general, my point of view of what is it to be an actor and a star or even what cinema is all about,” he says.
These days, Shahid is busy shooting for Sanjay Leela Bhansali’s Padmavati but the actor is tight-lipped about it. “We have been told not to open our mouths about the film, so all I can say is, I am having an amazing time,” says the Kaminey (2009) actor.
The more you work the more you realise that there’s so much to learn. SHAHID KAPOOR, ACTOR