Shraddha Kapoor: I Accepted My Audience's Rejection

I remember meeting Shraddha Kapoor for the first time right before Aashiqui 2 released. Her previous two films hadn’t worked, which had affected her a lot. “I had shut myself from everything and cried for days together in my room,” she had told me then. Five years have passed and Shraddha has matured. After a string of successes, the actress hit a rough patch again when her recent films failed to create magic at the box office. But this time, it hasn’t deterred her spirit. “I guess it all comes from experience,” she laughs as we begin our chat. The light-eyed beauty explains what drew her towards the horror-comedy, Stree, and how she has learnt not to take success or failure too seriously. Excerpts...

Stree is unique in terms of its genre and treatment. Was that the main reason you said ‘yes’ to it?

I gave my nod to it mainly because I was laughing my guts out all through the narration. I was like, ‘This is funny. I definitely want to be a part of it.’ I knew after the first narration that I was doing Stree. Everything else — whether it was teaming up with Rajkummar Rao or Pankaj Tripathi — was a bonus. In fact, Dinoo (producer Dinesh Vijan) had told me that he had something funny for me, but I had no idea it would be this good. When I heard the story, I fell in love with it.

Actors always look for screen time while signing a film. Was that ever a thought with Stree?

I can only speak for myself. For me, the first aspect is that I want to be a part of a memorable film. It’s the main thing I look for as that goes down in history more than anything. It has to touch the audience’s heart. Then comes the role. I’ve done a movie like Haseena Parkar in which I played the protagonist because I felt my character’s journey was fascinating. Whether it worked or not wasn’t in anybody’s hands.

l You saw failure right in the beginning of your career when your first two films didn’t fare well at the BO. Did that prepare you well to handle it now?

I cannot deny the fact that a few of my films haven’t done well at the box office. But no one can predict a movie’s success or failure. I have been through a lot of ups and downs in my life right at the beginning of my career, so it didn’t affect me much this time. I had already faced it, so in a way, I knew how to handle things (smiles).

l Also, unlike that time, you still have a number of films in the pipeline...