Shraddha Kapoor : My all time favourite snack is ‘Vada Pav’!

#ShraddhaKapoor, a daughter of illustrious father #ShaktiKapoor and mother #ShivangiKolhapure, (sister of famous actress #PadminiKolhapure) has created a special place in Hindi film industry with her acting capabilities and obviously good looks. A very down to earth person Shraddha had an unconventional debut, despite being a star kid. After being part of a few unsuccessful projects, her role in ‘#Aashiqui2’ did wonders for her career and Shraddha Kapoor the star-actor came to the fore. There has been no looking back since then for her as she is dishing out hits. The following year, she portrayed a character based on Ophelia in #VishalBharadwaj directorial ‘#Haider’, opposite #ShahidKapoor. Shraddha’s stardom got cemented with her ‘#EkVillain’ doing well at the box office. Shraddha’s dancing potential was explored in ‘#ABCD2’ which had #VarunDhawan and #Prabhudeva giving her company. She was paired with #TigerShroff in ‘#Baaghi’ which was a runaway hit. She co-starred with (late) #SushantSinghRajput in ‘#Dangal’ fame director #NiteshTiwari’s ‘#Chhichhore’. Shraddha’s highest-grossing releases came with the horror comedy ‘#Stree’. And now she is busy shooting for it’s sequel.

Shraddha Kapoor and #RanbirKapoor starrer ‘#TuJhootiMainMakkar’ released recently and the film is doing rocking business at the box office. Though #DeepikaPadukone was considered for the female lead in #TJMM, Shraddha came on board after a lot of changes were made in the script. Shraddha looks ravishing in the film and her innocent face on a bikini clad body looks guiltless. The fresh pairing of Shraddha and Ranbir is hailed by viewers and they are going ‘ga ga’ over their chemistry in the film. Shraddha Kapoor interacted with our Sr Editor Keerti Kadam and shared her thoughts on many subjects.

How was it working with Ranbir Kapoor in ‘Tu Jhooti Main Makkar’?
I have always been a Ranbir fan. I really admire his versatility. And I definitely was excited to work with him. He is the youngest superstar because he is the finest actor in the film industry, at the moment. He has proved himself multiple times about his calibre of being a good actor. Ranbir is damn cool on sets before ‘action’ and after ‘cut’. For his effortless acting he puts in a lot of efforts. I felt the magic on sets when he was performing. Then again, when you are pitched with an actor of his calibre, something extra special gets extracted out of you. It’s not competition but it helps in betterment of the project. Ranbir and director Luv Ranjan has been friends for quite some time. Luv sir doesn’t give a bound script. He gives scenes before shoot and there’s much lesser time to prepare yourself. I thought even Ranbir would be jittery because of this. I thought he would bombard questions to the director. And I used to ask him whether he is prepared himself, and his answer used to be No. But when the director used to say action, Ranbir would be a different person altogether. He used to be totally transformed. His effusion used to be to the point. He did scenes so effortlessly and it was astonishing. I used to tease him that he secretly was taking the scenes from Luv and was coming on sets by ‘Ratta Maroing’ (mugging lines) throughout the night. But jokes apart we were working together for the first time, though we know each other since childhood, and it was a learning experience working with him. He never was an authoritarian person. It’s inspiring to see that such a good actor does homework and puts in a lot of hard work every time he is facing the camera and the result would be polychromatic.

Do you enquire about who your co-star is before signing a film?
Frankly speaking, No. For me, the script matters the most. And I have refused quite a few films with A-list actors because my role wasn’t to my liking. I have always given importance to what my character is doing in the film. The script and the makers are important and also my role has to have an active part of the story. Talking about Tu Jhooti Main Makkar my character was representing the younger generation girl’s aspirations and their expectations from marriage and importance of personal space. I just loved doing this film because my character was super active. It was impactful as well as challenging and was taking the story ahead.

Like I mentioned earlier, co-star or a hero is not a benchmark for me to choose a film. I don’t have any Hero wish list. Ya, but, I do appreciate a few actors. I admire many and wish to do a film with each one of them. But looking at the actor I do not select films. A lot of people advise me that, do a film with this one or so and so banner, but my parents have taught me that you should listen to everyone’s advice but do what you wish to do. Frankly I think very differently. I did not have a dashing debut despite being a star kid. But I don’t have regrets. My choices, even if they are unconventional, are driven by my heart. My thinking has always been simple. I do not plot or plan anything. Even if I do it, I’ll not be successful, for sure. So I go by my gut feeling. I want to do good work with good people. I want to do all kinds of genres. I want to be a part of good films. I feel fortunate that I have been receiving loads of love from the viewers, irrespective of the films’ fate, and I am grateful for that. And I am sure my admirers know that I have been true to myself. ‘Bahut kimti hai ye pyar’.

I want to confess here about my crush. After the release of ‘Kaho Na Pyar Hai’, my biggest crush had been Hrithik Roshan. In fact I had decided to marry him. My room used to be full of his pictures and posters. It was an obsessive crush. After coming to films, I did meet him and told him that how much I loved him. He laughed it out. We did express our desires to work together. Hopefully something may come up, sooner.

How do you prepare for your assignments?
Well, I rely on director’s vision because he knows the best about an overall impact. I do some research about the character, look of the character and decide on the mannerisms etc. From my side, I work on physicality of the character too. Like in TJMM I was supposed to wear bikini and look sensuous as it was the requirement of the script. I am a foodie. I love Vada Pav. And I can have it any time of the day. I just can not resist it when it’s in front of me. I had told my trainer that I’ll diet only during shoots. Other times I want to have food I like. In fact my character in the film too is a foodie. I don’t know whether Luv sir incorporated that after I came on board. But I love Vada Pav and my mother makes the most delicious Vada Pav, Puranpoli and Ukdiche Modak which are my favourites. Anyways, luckily for me we were shooting in Spain and Vada Pav wasn’t available there. And like I mentioned earlier, I was supposed to be on a diet during the shoot. I did that faithfully though.

A lot of people ask me how do I manage to eat what I like and want. I am into fitness and I go to gym regularly. And of course other times I have a balanced diet. During the promotions of TJMM, I was in Ahmedabad and I had all the Dhokla, Patra, Khandvi etc to my heart’s content. Of course, later I sweated it out in the gym.

You have crossed 80 million followers on Instagram and it talks about your popularity. What do you have to say about it?
Frankly speaking, I used to detest being on social media. But my team advised me to be active on Instagram at least because a lot of my fans were urging for that. I feel lucky to get so much love from people. To reciprocate their love I am on Instagram and keep interacting with them. In fact I go through all the comments, I reply to DMs. I even know who is following and since when. Fans have been supportive throughout, even my films didn’t do well. ‘Unka pyar kabhi kam nahi hua hai’. And I know that this love makes me a star. I think it’s a validation about decisions I make or steps I take. I have been grateful for all the encouragement they give me. So when fans support me so much it’s my duty to put in efforts to be close to them.

But with so much love comes responsibility. So I want to do good work. Because I feel that my innings have started, just now. My viewpoint has changed. Now I don’t think that I should have back to back releases. My film released after the gap of three years and yet I did not feel insecure, one bit. I am not in a hurry. I now definitely know what kind of films I want to do. I want to do a lot of work and I am not in a rush. I am comfortable with myself and I keep assuring myself. Abhi asli maza shuru honewala hai. With clarity comes confidence.

Talking about the support and love, how much support you get from family?
Total support. My Bapu always tells me to be independent. He allows me to take my own decisions. I do discuss everything with my family members and they have been my strength. They show me the mirror. But also I am my biggest critic. I always feel that, I should have done better in scenes. In fact, after this interview too, I’ll think about how would I have answered some questions in a different way. I like my own company. In fact a lot of people are scared to spend time with themselves. If you are not connected with yourself, then how you’ll know about yourself? I am true to myself and try to better myself each passing day.

Your dance reel with your father, Shakti Kapoor, was trending…..
Yes. I and Bapu decided to do a reel on a song from TJMM. Bapu did it in one take. He is a fabulous dancer and he was too good in the reel. But I was not satisfied with my steps, so I requested for a retake. He obliged 20 times, because I took that many retakes and in each one of them he was perfect. All the retakes were because of me. But he did not complain once. He has done almost 700 films and still his dedication towards his craft is immense. That reel received the most likes, and mainly for Bapu’s dancing.

Talking about Bapu, he is extremely entertaining. When he is around, there’s no dull moment. In fact when he is not at home all of us feel bored because he keeps entertaining us from his Good Morning to Good Night. My mother is a Maharashtrian and we speak Marathi with each other, most of time. My father doesn’t know much of Marathi, so when we have to discuss a few secret things when he is around, we talk in Marathi, in a muffled way, we masticate words so that he doesn’t understand. He gets angry as he doesn’t understand what we are talking and we don’t tell him either. It’s our little fun. But I am extremely proud of my father and I don’t have to look outside my house for inspiration.
When I was in school he used to play Villain and there would be a snigger around. A lot of students used to say, ‘Are iska baap to Villain hai’. It didn’t affect me at all because I know my Bapu very well. I used to feel to tell them that, come and meet him in person. He is exactly opposite from his screen personalities. But it helped me in other ways. Because if any boy approached I could use that Villain shield and for me it was a double benefit because my brother, Siddharth, too was in my school who used to confront those guys. So I had a double protection in school.

These days OTT is gaining popularity with big stars. Are you interested?
Of course, why not, if a scintillating script comes my way? I have always given importance to the script and my role. And both are challenging enough, I am game for it. On OTT a lot of women centric subjects are being made. But I enjoy doing ‘Theatrewali’ films. I am a theatre lover and love watching films in theatres, having popcorn and samosa. Last few years have been bad for the Hindi film industry but ‘Pathaan’ has opened the doors and hopefully all the films should do well. It’s our collective duty to keep the theatres alive. I have always been experimenting with choices of my films. I have done a Pan India film. Saaho which was shot in Telugu too. So I am game for any language film provided it fits my criteria.

What are you reading right now?
I love reading. Currently I am reading ‘Deep Work’ by Carl Newport. It’s an interesting read. It’s about rules for focused success in a disastrous world. Deep Work proposes that we have lost our ability to focus deeply and immerse ourselves in a complex task. Showing you how to cultivate this skill again and focus more than ever before. Like I mentioned earlier it’s about spending time with yourself.

A few years back Shraddha Kapoor launched her own line of clothing, Imara. In addition to acting in films, Kapoor has sung several of her film songs. She is connected to Mangeshkar family as her maternal grandfather Pandit Pandharinath Kolhapure was Bharat Ratna Lata Mangeshkar’s first cousin. So singing is in her blood. For ‘Ek Villain’ she recorded a song ‘Galliyan’ which was a superhit. Reminiscing about Lata Didi, Shraddha said, “Lata aaji always encouraged me to sing. She said ‘Never give up on singing’ This kind of Praise coming from her is extra special for me because she thought that I could sing.”