REBEL AT HEART

Thinking actor, UNCONVENTIONAL, risk-taker' are just some of the TERMS that are USED TO describe SHAHID KAPOOR, our BAZAAR INDIA MAN cover star. But he is a LOT MORE than that.

- SUHANI SINGH

You can’t stop me from being who I want to be,” says Shahid Kapoor. He is talking about his 18-year-old self who fought with his mother, kathak dancer-actress Neelima Azeem, so that he could ride a motorbike. It’s a decree that he swears by till date. Shahid Kapoor, now 42, won’t be deterred. Raj Nidimoru of Raj & DK fame, who directed him in Amazon Prime series Farzi, calls him a ‘thinking actor’. “He doesn’t look it,” he says. “He’s that student who pretends he has not studied for the exams and then goes on to top it.” It’s why Shahid can essay one of the most divisive protagonists in Hindi cinema in Kabir Singh and do it with such conviction that it goes on become one of biggest hits of 2019. Surprising audiences has been essential to Shahid’s longevity. “You should always have unpredictability as a performer,” he says. “Even if the audience likes you, give them a visceral experience, a compelling experience and shock them.”