Mumbai
February 2, 2018
Bollywood actor Shahid Kapoor, happy and content to receive a
positive response from the audience for Sanjay Leela Bhansali's "Padmaavat",
says that with each film, he has had to wait much longer than many of his
contemporaries to achieve milestones in his career. But he chose to maximize his
space with a skilled performance.
In "Padmaavat", Shahid essays Maharawal
Ratan Singh, said to be a comparatively lesser known historical character than
Delhi Sultan Alauddin Khilji or Rani Padmavati for common people.
It was
quite ironical then that the real and reel met the same situation to navigate
their way for finding a space -- as in the film Shahid was pitted against two
author-backed characters Khilji and Padmavati, and in real life, between two
stars like Ranveer and Deepika, who have together delivered hit films like
"Goliyon Ki Raasleela Ram-Leela" and "Bajirao Mastani".
"I think I always
had to work much harder to get a good opportunity and had to wait longer than
many, to get a milestone in my career. But I view it like this -- God has given
me the opportunity to learn, has given me a destiny of a student. I have never
given the same exam in life, but different.
"That is how I learnt
different things in life and that has added to my experience," Shahid said in an
interview here.
He believes "Padmaavat" threw up a "tricky opportunity"
which could have "gone horribly wrong".
"But I took that risk because I
have seen how after working with Sanjay Leela Bhansali sir, actors have got a
huge mileage in terms of audience reach and success".
This was the first
time Shahid was working with Bhansali. He says the director only commands
excellence.
"I think Sanjay sir has a tendency to keep pushing and trying
until he gets exactly what he wants from a performer. His passion to achieve
excellence is much focused and therefore, he looks like a taskmaster. It is
nothing negative, I would rather say that people who do not have that desire to
achieve excellence, should not work with him.
"As a director, he is not
difficult. He is just a genius and focused."
Shahid was confident about
the film and not worried about its box office. However, he was concerned with a
deeper aspect of his decision to take up the project.
"I questioned
myself -- can I take the ownership of this film? Can I stand tall and say that I
took a right decision by doing this film? Will I be able to perform my best
before a filmmaker like Bhansali? Will I make the presence of my character felt
in the film between two author-backed characters?"
That's when Shahid
went back to classics to find inspiration for his performance. He sought
reference points from veterans like Dilip Kumar of "Mughal-e-Azam" and Amitabh
Bachchan from "Sholay".
Asked about how his father, veteran actor Pankaj
Kapur reacted to the film, Shahid said: "Dad gave me a long hug, pulled my cheek
and said we will talk about the film over a cup of coffee. But since then, I did
not get a chance to go out with dad. I think I have to go for that."
Not
reeling under the hangover of an intense character like Maharawal Ratan Singh,
Shahid says he has wife Mira and daughter Misha to unwind with.
"Thankfully, I have Misha. It just takes 30 seconds for me to unwind."