Exclusive | Shahid Kapoor says his Farzi character is an artiste ‘frustrated’ about not being recognised: ‘My 18-year-old self could relate to it’

The actor is now gearing up for Prim Video series Farzi, which marks his debut in long format. Shahid Kapoor told indianexpress.com that he was first in talks with filmmaker duo Raj and DK for Farzi, when it was supposed to be mounted as a film. When the project fell through, the duo returned to him again, this time with Farzi turned into a series.

“I had already seen their work and what they were doing with long format and OTT. I loved their work, so wanted to collaborate. When they told me about this– we had actually discussed this as a film earlier. That was many years back. When they came back and told me what they want to do with it, offered me the character of Sunny, an artiste who is frustrated about not being recognised, the 18-19 year old me could relate to him very easily,” the actor shared.

Shahid said through his character Sunny, the show taps into the frustrations of youngsters, who often carry the “angst” of showing the world what they can do but are never given the opportunity. The streamer had earlier described Shahid’s character as an artist, “who gets pulled into the murky high stakes of a con job.”

Spanning eight episodes, Farzi is billed as a fast-paced, edgy crime thriller, with Raj & DK’s trademark humour, stitched around a clever underdog street artist’s pursuit to con the system that favours the rich.

“He is of the streets of Mumbai; he wants to be recognised but nobody is interested in him. People are only interested in his ‘fake’ work, he is making copies of these really popular artistes and that’s all that sells. I felt that reality exists, every youngster today feels he is not being understood, he is not getting an opportunity.

“They all have that angst inside them, of wanting to show everyone what they are capable of. Sometimes the right way, sometimes the wrong way. I felt it was very relatable, for me personally. And its like (as mentioned in the show), we are not middle class we are the middle finger class– the widest class in the country is not getting what they deserve, they are frustrated about that. Especially the younger lot, so I could totally connect with the character,” Shahid added.

Farzi also stars South star Vijay Sethupathi, Kay Kay Menon, Raashi Khanna, Amol Palekar, Regina Cassandra and Bhuvan Arora. Shahid described being on a Raj-DK set as “a lot of fun” and said The Family Man makers give their artistes tremendous freedom to perform.

“They really allow their actors to go out and express themselves. Sometimes they are really worried what we are doing with the shot, but they let you do what you want to do. I felt very free. The show has been made in a very fluid manner, it is very contemporary, the way we have shot the show. The way all characters have been written and developed allow every actor to really dig in deep because there is enough meat. It is very democratic, they let everyone bring what they feel and funnel it together to make what they think is right. I had a lot of fun,” he added.

Farzi will premiere on February 10 on Prime Video.