Vaani Kapoor: Committed, Carefree and Totally Confused!

Vaani Kapoor 2.0 is committed, carefree and totally confused, and she’s not in a big hurry to change any of that, finds Serena Menon.

- Serena Menon

I don’t think I am a very confident person. I stumble a lot. I get nervous. There is self-doubt,” says Vaani Kapoor, as if reading off a (long) mental list. “I am an awkward person. I put my foot in my mouth. I am clueless. I am indecisive. Even my birth date (August 23) can’t decide which zodiac sign I fit into. I am a Leo-Virgo.”

At 28, Kapoor’s problems are as real as they come. Add to the astrological uncertainty a daunting gym schedule, a Narcos backlog on Netflix, less and less time to spend with her cats Kiki and Koko (she plans to “settle down with them” if she doesn’t meet the right guy) and bouts of homesickness (her family lives in Delhi). And then there’s the more serious task of analysing her last release Befikre, produced by Yash Raj Films, one of India’s biggest film banners, and helmed by one of Bollywood’s most successful directors, Aditya Chopra.

Although the film opened to mixed reviews, Kapoor is not discouraged. “If there was anything that didn’t work [in the film] it was probably me, because everyone who came together for it is so brilliant.” This self-effacing manner appears to be the actor’s armour in an industry that pulls no punches, especially while dealing with rank outsiders. It’s a kind of defence mechanism that has held her in good stead from the start.