Indeed, the young actor in Chandigarh for the Cinevesture International Film Festival, who stayed away from limelight in his formative years, is savouring this moment. And not merely because he has earned fulsome praise for etching the lead role of Sunil Gupta with conviction but also that every aspect of the Vikramaditya Motwane series is exceptionally well made. In his words, “Motwane is a meticulous director with astute understanding of every aspect of filmmaking. He empowers and steers those who work with him and enables the process of collaboration.”
One could easily argue acting/filmmaking races in his blood. If you think he owes his talent to his privileged parental surname alone, let you be reminded, this grandson of Shashi Kapoor also has another very strong filmy family connection. The Sholay fame Ramesh Sippy happens to be his maternal grandfather. Double bonanza which could easily have been a double whammy too; only his parents, actor and ad filmmaker Kunal Kapoor and photographer Sheena Sippy, ensured he did not grow under the shadow of the remarkable lineage he was born with.
He observes, “From the outside, the privilege might seem rather strong but it comes with the weight of expectations and responsibilities. I was afraid of not being able to live up to it. So, I worked hard to earn it.” Indeed, love for theatre must have passed on from his grandmother Jeniffer Kendal too whom he never met since she passed away before he was born.
With so many stalwarts in the family, perhaps he didn’t need to look outside for role models. Yet, he admires so many more like Aamir Khan and his vast body of work. He adds, “Even though several films of his like Dangal, 3 Idiots, Rang De Basanti fall in the mainstream space, these are so very authentic.”
With grounding in theatre, he promises he will always be closely associated with family heirloom Prithvi theatre, started by Shashi and Jennifer, which has since nurtured both theatre and talent. After all it was on stage he learnt to be ‘present in the moment’ and theatre taught him to ‘rehearse, rehearse, rehearse yet surprise yourself’. Interestingly, he is not astonished when people sense an uncanny resemblance with his handsome grandfather Shashi, especially the twinkle in the eyes and oh-so-endearing smile. Only he says, “It’s more like people sharing their love for him, remembering him and the deep impact he had.” Chip of the Kapoor block he might be but with a mind and identity very much his own. With talent to match…look out for more from him who wants to be at the service of storytelling more than anything else.
