Shahid Kapoor says he isn’t swayed by trends: ‘You can’t keep running around trees, singing songs’

At SCREEN Live in Mumbai, Shahid Kapoor shared why he played grey characters after films like Vivah and Jab We Met.

New Delhi | Updated: January 25, 2025 12:39 AM IST

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Deva Advance Booking Day 1: Shahid Kapoor's film mints Rs 55.43 lakh. (Photo: Shahid Kapoor/Instagram)

Actor Shahid Kapoor attended the latest edition of SCREEN Live on Friday. During the event in Mumbai, Shahid spoke about the many aspects of his life and career. The actor, who is currently gearing up for the Rosshan Andrrews film Deva, shared what inspired him to take up grey characters, especially after gaining fame with films like Vivah and Ishq Vishq.

Shahid said, “As an actor if you do not do things like that (grey characters), then you are more of a star, and not really an actor. As an actor you have to delve into human psyche and you have to play characters which are not just nice and good and running around trees. There has to be much more to cinema than that. I think for over hundred years now, cinema has been more than that. Cinema is not just about laughing and songs. Of course, these elements are required and you need to entertain people.”

He added, “In a story, the central character doesn’t always have to be the simplest, cutest, nicest guy because that gets very boring after some time. I have been working for 21 years now, and in these years, if I had just kept doing the same things over and over again, this room would be empty and you would say, ‘Shahid, koi nahi aaya.'”

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Shahid Kapoor further said for an actor experimentation is necessary to stay relevant over the years. He shared, “You can only keep yourself and the people interested if you explore, take risks, dig deeper, make mistakes, try and put art in cinema. I will always chase what I think allows me to explore as an artiste. I don’t care what the trend is.”

Shahid Kapoor at SCREEN Live,

Shahid Kapoor is the son of veteran actors Pankaj Kapur and Neelima Azeem. He made his debut with the 2003 film Ishq Vishk, which was a sleeper hit, bagging him the Filmfare Award for Best Male Debut. Over the years, the actor has starred in critically acclaimed and commercially successful films like Vivah, and Jab We Met. However, his grey characters in films like Kaminey, Haider, and Kabir Singh, among others, further showcased his versatility.

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