After three long hours of waiting (he isn’t exactly famous for his punctuality), Shahid’s greeting comes with a warm smile. What follows is laughter-filled banter, complete with the 31-year-old bachelor’s cheeky humour. He explains, “I just have a funny face.”
“If Kaiser falls ill, first of all everyone is fired because he is not supposed to fall ill!”
One of the most eligible bachelors of B-town, Shahid starts off with “Thanks for the compliment” (that’s for the most eligible bit) and goes on to add, “I am happy with where I am currently. It’s fun (to be a bachelor) because you get a lot of time for yourself and to hang with the boys. I am enjoying myself, so it’s all good.”
And does he think being single impacts his image?
“I never really think about that,” he begins and explains, “I don’t want to restrict who I am as a person by the image I should or should not have. Besides, I think the new generation is not really running after any image. People are getting a lot more intelligent and eventually they want to see an actor doing good work. An image is something that keeps changing.”
And what about the Casanova tag that attaches itself to this image?
He wears it lightly. “It’s a tag. It will come, it will go. But I don’t think being a Casanova is cool.
“I have had some very serious relationships and eventually one does want to find a nice girl and settle down. But if you are an actor and single for a long period of time, there will be people who will talk about you. That’s not something that can be changed.”
Since he talks of some of his ‘very serious relationships’ and settling down, what are his approach and expectations in a relationship? He adopts a serious demeanor as he points out, “That’s the biggest mistake one can make. I don’t think you should ever try and plan where a relationship should go because what’s meant to be will automatically fall into place. It’s too much pressure to put on a relationship when you are just starting out with someone.”
He elaborates, “I think it takes time to reach a point where you know you want to spend your life with somebody. But yeah, some people meet for 20 days and decide to get married. So you can never define it. Personally, I wouldn’t start off with that pressure on myself or on the other person.”
So Sasha (as family and close friends call him) doesn’t believe in initializing a relationship with pressure. But at a later stage, does marriage come into the big picture or is simply being with the partner higher on the priority scale? Pat comes the bachelor’s reply, “I think one leads to the other. First you have to be with somebody and then if eventually things work out, marriage is definitely on the cards.” Hmm, this single guy sure likes the sound of wedding bells.
“I have had some very serious relationships, eventually one does want to find a nice girl and settle down!”
In his film Teri Meri Kahaani, one of the characters that Shahid played (Javed) is asked, “Arre, tujhe apni zindagi mein kuch banna hai ki nahi?” to which he replies, “Banna hai na. Dulha!”
Is he ready for this kind of commitment currently in his life? He erupts playfully, “I feel like you are coming from a matrimonial bureau! You have asked me so many questions about my marriage.” He goes on to recollect and narrate a matrimony ad featuring an old couple and as if on cue, his PR mentions a matrimonial proposal that’s come in for him, from one of her acquaintances. He bursts out laughing, “Lovely! Thank you.”
“I want to dance till I am 65 years old. Even if my children, my grandchildren are embarrassed, I will dance!”
From marriage to family, he affirms, “I like spending a lot of time with my family including both my brothers and my sister.” (That’s a brother each from each of his parents who got married again and a sister from his dad’s marriage to actress Supriya Pathak.)
“Prabhu Sir is fantastic while Hrithik is a brilliant dancer. I come third!”
Yet, he must be one of those few Indian guys who doesn’t share an apartment with his parents. Point out how most of the bachelor guys generally live with their parents, and he quickly grins, “I am not a general kind of guy,” adding, “I actually live very close to my parents (make that his dad, Pankaj Kapur). I live on the 14th floor and they on the 13th of the same apartment. I was old enough to have my own space and this arrangement is very convenient because I have my privacy and at the same time I am very close to them. So I think it’s the most practical way to be.”
His bachelor pad is close to his heart. He ticks off the reasons, narrating, “It’s the first house I bought with my own money,” the pride subtly playing on his face. “It’s my own corner to do everything that I want to do – to live life the way I want, to have my moments to myself, to listen to my music, to watch my movies, to chill with my friends, to play with my dog, to sometimes have my meetings, to sometimes laze around and do nothing. It’s my private space, I really like that.”
Doing it up the way he wanted to in monochromes of black, white and grey, was Shahid’s choice for his apartment with just a dash of green on two walls. Since he wanted to have a bachelor pad, there is also a lot of music (speakers) all over the house. It’s a small apartment with a living room, a small little lounge and one bedroom. “That’s it. That’s my house,” he describes with satisfaction. “There are a lot of places to laze around. I like lazing around, so I have at least three spots, my bed, my den and my sofa in my living room. I can just lie on them for hours, which I really like.”
“I was old enough to have my own space. I have my privacy and at the same time I live
very close to my parents”
And does he, like a dutiful owner take care of the nitty-gritties in his apartment? Running it, maintaining it? A wide grin flashes across his face as he chuckles, “I actually have a lot of people doing that for me. I have a personal assistant, a mamu (who’s been with him since he was born) and a cook. So I don’t really have to take care of the minor details.”
Perhaps the only thing that Shahid takes care of is his companion, Kaiser, his eight-year-old golden retriever.
“Kaiser is quite possessive about me as well. When I come back after a long schedule, he doesn’t let me out of his sight for at least an hour!”
Shahid, who has had a dog for most of his life, says, “I try and take care of him personally as much as I can. If he falls ill, first of all everyone is fired, because he is not supposed to fall ill.” He justifies, “Dogs usually don’t fall ill on their own. They usually fall ill when they are not taken care of.
“Since he is very close to me I do try and spend as much time as I can with him,” says the doting master. “He is quite possessive about me as well. When I come back after a long schedule, he doesn’t let me out of his sight for at least an hour. I have to be with him for sometime before he lets me do anything else,” he discloses his happy indulgence.“This is the first house I bought with my own money. It’s my own corner to do everything that I want to do – to live life the way I want to”
The bachelor boy who’s quite content letting his life be the way it is for the moment, has a soft spot for dancing, films and cars too.
Counted amongst one of the best dancers of the industry, Shahid rates his dancing abilities modestly, believing it to be more an added asset than a stepping stone to box-office notice. Nevertheless, he admits to being passionate about the skill. He promises, “I want to dance till I am 65 years old. Even if my children, my grandchildren are embarrassed, I will dance, whether they like it or not.”
Shahid, who grooved to southern as well as Hindi film numbers with Prabhudheva at an awards function this year in Singapore, enthuses, “South songs are very exciting. They are so much fun and so dance-able. But I had to learn Prabhu Sir’s style, it is very difficult and different.”
He has also shared the stage in the past with Hrithik Roshan. What was that experience like? “We just had a lot of fun. I think he is the best dancer in the industry. I believe Prabhu Sir is fantastic while Hrithik is a brilliant dancer. I come third, while the two of them are equally worthy of being at the top.”
There have been talks of his inclusion in an international tour with Ranbir Kapoor as well. What’s cooking on that front? On an optimistic note he states, “I am sure me and Ranbir will do the international tour together some time next year. We are already talking about it.”
Quite the movie buff, is turning director anywhere in the pipeline?
He sighs in total filmi style, “Arre, acting toh kar loon theek se, direction bahut aage hain.”
Wasn’t he supposed to star in Vishal Bhardwaj’s next, Matru Ki Bijlee Ka Mandola? He responds, “I don’t really want to talk about this. There has already been so much controversy surrounding it.” In the same breath he continues, “I am very happy that Imran is doing that film. And my dad is doing the film too. So I am looking forward to seeing it. I’m sure Imran, Anushka and dad will make a great combination.”
But dad and he didn’t quite make the grade with Mausam.
He accepts, “Undoubtedly, there were issues with the film. But I think there is no point discussing it after the film has released.” He goes on to add, “Whatever the thoughts, they should be done before a film releases.”
“I don’t think you should ever try and plan where a relationship should go”
After a fallow period of two years, a new Shahid Kapoor film arrived late last month. It didn’t set the box-office on fire but the actor had his reasons for doing the film.
“What I liked about Teri Meri Kahaani was the fact that it was set in three different eras – 1910, 1960, 2012,” says Shahid matter-of-factly. He continues, “It was almost like a triple role to play and the character of Javed that I did in the film was most exciting for me. He is badtameez, badly behaved, a womanizer, a Casanova, and a shayar.”
“I am sure me and Ranbir will do the international tour together some time next year!”
Apart from Javed, Shahid played the character of Govind, a struggling musician, who comes to Mumbai to find a job and falls in love with a big star. And there was Krish, a regular normal guy. All three romanced his real neighbour next door, Priyanka Chopra.
“I’d better be happy with my cars or else my father will kick me out of the house if I buy another one now!” She’s the gal he recently took out for a spin in his red Jaguar. A dream car that’s in his garage now. “Like most boys, I love cars,” he grins. “I think SUVs are the most practical cars to have in this city because we don’t really have roads which are deserving of better vehicles. I actually have two of my favourite cars, a Range Rover and a Jaguar, so I am happy with them. I’d better be happy or else my father will kick me out of the house if I buy another one now!” Huh? Nobody can throw him out coz he lives in his own pad, remember?!
It’s time to leave and Shahid gets back to a bowl of oats. He throws in a last piece of bachelor boy advice, poker-faced, “Oats are so tasty, don’t ever try them. They taste really bad.” The bachelor boy has his own brand of cheekiness.
– Nikita Periwal- From http://www.thefilmstreetjournal.com -
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