I am still yet to make aware of the fact that I am a consummate actor      - Shahid Kapoor

Hoping to hop in the shoes of the perfectionist Aamir and the charismatic SRK, Bollywood prince charming who made his ‘bloody’ acting talents spell ‘fabulous’ with ‘Kaminey’ still needs to satisfy his actor genes in him.

Chancing his stake at the Bollywood with a dancing play card, the actor speaks to Jyothi Venkatesh about his forthcoming film and something more….

Excerpts

Q: How the response and appreciation from ‘Kaminey’ helped you as an actor?
A: As an actor, you have to break shackles and cross boundaries and set out to redefine yourselves. I am glad that people now believe that I can do edgy action roles. The biggest challenge after doing a romantic role like in Jab We Met was to surprise people by doing an edgy film like Kaminey, which was a big risk for me to undertake as an actor, but the gamble paid off. Thanks to Kaminey, the audiences today do not have any reservations to see me in a different space.

Q: So what’s in store this time for your audience in ‘Chance Pe Dance?
A: I play the role of Sameer Behl, who is a struggling actor. Sameer hails from a middle class family and his father owns a small sari shop. Though he has been rejected when he went for as many as 300 auditions, he manages to exude a positive attitude and proves himself. 
Chance Pe Dance is a simple and a real film; the situations in Chance Pe Dance will touch the heart-strings of the audiences.

Q: What’s your struggle story?
A: I also have had to struggle a lot as a wannabe actor five years ago, before I managed to land my break with Ken Ghosh’s Ishq Vishk. The only difference is that I used to struggle in a Maruti 800. I remember I had spent an entire night in a car because I did not have money for petrol and didn’t know where to go.

Q: Playing the role of a struggler and promoting the film also similar to those lines, are you following the footsteps of Aamir Khan?
A: I confess that I am still yet to make aware of the fact that I am a consummate actor, unlike the Khans who are known the world over. You cannot compare me with Aamir Khan. I wish Aamir takes a break for six months as an actor, because in front of an actor like him, who takes on varied roles in film after film, every other actor, including me looks like a terrible actor who does not even have script sense, when it comes to picking a role. (Laughs)

Q: What was the reason to accept a heroine oriented story like ‘Dil Bole Hadippa’?
A: I did Dil Bole Hadippa even though it was a heroine oriented film, only because I wanted to establish my relationship with Yashraj Films. Today I am doing yet another film for them with Parmeet Sethi as the director. I hope to do at last a film every year for them.

What next?
A: The year will be dedicated to my father’s film Mausam.  It is a love story. My dad is writing the last leg of the story he has put in 35 years as an actor, he did not have any ambition to prove himself he just wants to make Mausam to show his son in a different light as an actor.

Q: Yes to Papa No To Mama?
A: I will not be a part of my mother’s film Nawab Nautanki. Please do not make it into another controversy but I am sorry but I just cannot divulge the reason because it is something which is strictly between me and my mother.