Sanjay Kapoor reflects on failed bid for stardom, says he was immediately compared to ‘super-duper star’ brother Anil Kapoor

Sanjay Kapoor recalled being compared to his already established actor-brother Anil Kapoor, which he felt was unfair, but expected.

By: Entertainment Desk

New Delhi | June 8, 2023 06:50 PM IST

4 min read

Actor Sanjay Kapoor talks about comparisons with actor Anil Kapoor during beginning of his career. (Photo: Instagram/sanjaykapoor2500)

Listen to this article

Your browser does not support the audio element.

Sanjay Kapoor made his acting debut with Satish Kaushik’s 1995 film Prem, which didn’t do well at the box office, but soon after, the success of his second film Raja signalled the actor’s grand arrival in Bollywood. The younger brother of superstar Anil Kapoor, producer Boney Kapoor, and Reena Marwah, Sanjay was never able to match the success of Anil, and in a new interview, he acknowledged the comparisons that were made between them.

By the time Sanjay delivered Raja, Anil was already a decade old in the film industry, and had established himself as one of the leading heroes of Hindi cinema. Sanjay, in an interview with Bollywood Hungama, said that he was always aware that the brothers would be compared to each other, regardless of the fact that Anil was more experienced than him.

Also Read | Maheep Kapoor says Sanjay Kapoor was without work for years, money was tight: ‘We were made to feel like the unsuccessful wing of the Kapoor family…’

“There are pros and cons of the family being in the limelight, your expectations are 10 times higher. My first film was being compared to Anil’s last film. So when my career started, Anil was a super-duper star. He was the person who had given Mr India, Tezaab, Ram Lakhan… So, obviously the comparison was there. I knew it would happen, obviously they would compare me with him and not some other actor. We are brothers, and we will be compared,” said Sanjay, who will soon be seen in Bloody Daddy, which stars Shahid Kapoor in the lead role.

The actor, whose daughter Shanaya is also gearing up for her Bollywood debut, said that when his later films didn’t do well at the box office, he didn’t throw in the towel easily. Instead, he is glad that he is still a working actor, even after all these years.

“At the end of the day, I knew the journey is going to be tougher. So, you have to work and fight for it even harder, because there are doing to be comparisons. He is extremely successful, you have started off with a blockbuster, and then you have given couple of failures and everything. Instead of getting depressed or frustrated, I kept on working harder towards the craft. You have to see if your glass is half full or half empty… Today, I am sitting here with my four films about to release… I must have done something right to last for 30 years,” shared Sanjay.

Boney, Anil and Sanjay are the sons of the late producer Surinder Kapoor, who bankrolled several well known projects. Sanjay credited his father for giving them a start in the industry.

“I knew I had given 100 percent, and being born in the industry, I had seen my father have ups and downs in his life but he had tremendous goodwill. So, I feel all of us today have reached a position in the industry, it started off thanks to my father. So his goodwill really helped. So, people ask ‘what advice you got’. You don’t have to ask things, you just have to observe. People ask me what advice do I give to Shanaya. they are living with me, I lived with my father, I knew the kind of a person that he was. This success that came and the failures that were coming, I had to take it in my stride. Some things didn’t work. Obviously, I was accepted and that is why Raja became a blockbuster, but when films don’t do well, you have to take the criticism,” the actor said.

From the homepage